Weekend in Wales

After last weekend's trip to London, Melissa and I were determined to go away for the weekend again. Looking for a little more of an adventurous getaway, we found a 2 hour ferry to Holyhead, Wales, booked a B&B and planned to do some outdoor activities.

We boarded the ferry Friday afternoon, slept most of the way and were in Wales before 5 o'clock.
We stayed at a nice B&B, the Wavecrest for the weekend. Located 100 yards from the water and a short walk from the ferry port, we couldn't have been happier with the place.
After dropping our bags, we headed down toward the water to explore the area. We could see the a lighthouse on a pier from where we were, so we figured we'd walk out to check it out.

Melissa and I made some new friends on our walk too.



Here's a good shot of the Holyhead harbor.
We passed two different abandoned homes, both looked like old hotels. We joked about buying and fixing them up into hotels. The views from both were pretty incredible!
We started walking the pier just as the sun was setting.

Our short walk to the lighthouse turned into a 30-minute walk along the pier.


Finding food at night was difficult, as Holyhead doesn't seem big on tourists this time of year. After several attempts, we finally found a pub still serving food. I had really good Guinness and Steak Pie.

We headed back to the B&B, hoping to do some kind of outdoor/water activity on Saturday. Both exhausted, we were happy to get some sleep.

Saturday morning started at 8:30am, with a full Welsh cooked breakfast. Here's the rundown of what you see: fried egg, toast, tomato, beans (similar to baked beans?), sausage, mushrooms and Canadian bacon. Not mention, orange juice, coffee and cereal as well. We were completely stuffed!
Next, surf kayaking! Our guide, Andy, picked us up from the Wavecrest and drove us around to a few different spots so we could choose where we wanted to kayak. I think both Melissa and I were surprised by the intensity of the waves, and what we were about to do. We chose the 'moderate' waves, and headed to the adventure headquarters to get dressed. We were decked out: full wetsuits, gloves, socks and bright-colored helmets.


I didn't manage to get any photos of us kayaking, but I can for sure describe in detail how it all went. After a few failed attempts to even get in the kayak, we both made it off the shore and past where the waves were breaking. Slowly, we each got the hang of paddling out and riding the waves into the beach. We had to be careful, as they were cliffs on either side of us and rocks near the shoreline. Melissa ran her kayak up on the rocks, and I managed to avoid them by falling out of my kayak, but then getting stuck near the rocks. The water was cold, but with the wetsuits we were warm. We had such a good time!

After showering and grabbing some lunch, we decided to hike toward the South Stack lighthouse. We were told it would take about an hour to walk there, through the Breakwater Country Park.









After an hour of climbing uphill for most of the way, we finally spotted the lighthouse!

Unfortunately, this was as close as we got to the lighthouse. It would've taken us another hour as least to reach it on foot, and another few hours to make it back to town.
But we had a good time, and can say we reach the top of Holyhead mountain.



We headed back to the Wavecrest to relax for a few hours before dinner, as we were both dead tired after everything we'd done. Again, dinner proved to be a little challenging and we wound up eating at an Indian restaurant. Neither of us really knew what anything was on the menu, but picked two different items hoping at least one of them would be good. We were both pleasantly surprised, and loved what we chose. I had Chicken Korma with white rice.
Another early night for us. We lost an hour of sleep, as Europe sprung forward an hour today, only three weeks after the U.S. After another full breakfast, we departed from the B&B and headed back toward the ferry. The sun was bright, and we sat outside to wait for an hour before leaving Holyhead.

Downtown Holyhead

Last Paper of Jr. Year

I don't have much to report on today. Week 2 of interning finished up today, and I've gotten to work on some pretty interesting projects so far. I just finished my 2,200 word essay for my Mass Media in Ireland course, which is the last assignment (not counting our final exam at the end of next month) of my junior year of college. It's hard to believe I'll be a senior next year!

In other news, Melissa and I are headed to Wales this weekend! We're taking the ferry across the Irish Sea to the coastal town of Holyhead. We're not sure what we have planned for the weekend's activities, but we're both excited to go. Check back Sunday for an update and pictures!

Spring Break: gorgeous Paris, take 3

Day 9
Saturday, March 13th

Our last day in Paris, and the final day of our spring break had finally come. We decided to sleep a few extra hours, still exhausted from all of the traveling. Meghan and I got up, showered, re-packed our bags for the last time (woohoo!). I made sure to get a photo of our beautiful balcony before we checked out.

Meghan had a little trouble fitting everything into her suitcase, and I made sure to capture it on camera.
We headed up the hill to explore the Basilique du Sacre Coeur de Montmartre. It was a steep climb to the top, so we stopped to take photos along the way.

We sat on the steps in front of the church for a few minutes to take in the beautiful view!
As we were sitting taking it all in, I saw a few familiar faces in the crowd. A couple of the girls that lived on my floor in Warren Towers freshmen year. Of all places, in Paris, we run into each other! It was great to see them; they met up for the weekend in Paris, several of them are studying in London, and one is studying in Madrid, for the semester.
After seeing the beautiful inside of the Sacre Coeur, we wandered around the corner to a smaller part of the city, called . The one courtyard was filled with artists' drawings and paintings of Paris. Some of the artists were sketching portraits of people, and others were working on new artwork.



We were starving, and decided to grab lunch at a cafe, La Boheme. I ordered my last Croque Madame and Orangina, which were both delicious.


And then the real indulging started! Another crepe, just sugar and butter. We stopped in a bakery and grabbed some chocolate croissants and cookies. It was a really neat area to walk around, and we all found some great souvenirs!
Next stop was the Modern Museum. I thought the exterior of the building was pretty abstract to begin with, let alone the artwork we saw inside.
We spent a few hours wandering around the gallery exhibition. It was interesting to view some of the different pieces, and I did my best to try to interpret what I thought the artist was trying to convey.


Everyone was more than exhausted by the time we left the museum to work our way back to the hostel. Of course, it was only appropriate to end our time in Paris with one last crepe, this one was just banana (my favorite).
We made it back to the hostel, picked up our bags, and slowly made the two hour trek back to the airport. I think it was almost midnight by the time we made it back to campus. We were all completely exhausted, but couldn't have been any happier with our spring break traveling.
I can honestly say I've never laughed so hard, ate so much or taken as many pictures as I did during our trip.

I loved both Italy and France, and can't wait to go back and visit someday soon!

Spring Break: gorgeous Paris, take 2

Day 8
Friday, March 12th

Our second full day started before we were all fully awake. We'd been traveling for over a week now, and our lack of sleep was definitely starting to catch up with us. However, we were in Paris, so off we went!

I grabbed a sugar crepe for breakfast, and we walked down the Jardin des Tuileries on our way to the Louvre.

Not only does the picture not do it justice, the Louvre is massive. Meghan said she read something once that if you spent 10 seconds looking at each painting, you'd spend a few years wandering through the museum.

We got to see two famous pieces: Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo.

For those of you familiar with the DeVinci Code, you might know/understand this.

We headed down into Le Maraisarea, a predominantly Jewish area of the city, for falafel. I'd never tried it before, and with Tara's encouragement, I willingly tried it. It was amazing!
We wandered around that area for a few hours, and met up with another girl from our program, Marion, who was visiting family in Paris. And, of course we grabbed crepes. This one is just banana, my new favorite.
After attempting to head back toward the Champs Elysees, we found a carousel, and of course we had take a turn riding.
After saying bye to Marion, the four of us headed back up the Champs Elysees toward the Arc de Triomphe. We climbed a few hundred steps to the top, and got another glimpse of Paris from a different view.


After a long day of exploring, we were all more than ready to sit down for a while. We stopped at a cafe near the Arc of Triomphe, and decided to try Kir, a French cocktail: white wine and fruit blackcurrant liqueur.
After a few Kir and dinner (more Croque Madame for me), we headed toward the Eiffel Tower. We were told to see it at night, as it sparkles at the top of every hour for a few minutes. Before making it all the way to the Eiffel Tower, we decided to ride the Seine Riverboat cruise. For an hour we cruised the river, checking out the sites all lit up at night.

We got back just in time to grab another crepe (nutella and banana) before catching a glimpse of the sparkling Eiffel Tower.



Check out the video below to see the Eiffel Tower to see it sparkle! What a great way to end our last night of spring break!