Croatia: Day IV (Split)

Monday, July 18^th:

St. Dominius Cathedral in Diocletian's Palace:

            A very long, at times frustrating, but still fascinating day we had today. The day started with a long, four-hour drive from Dubrovnik to Split, Croatia. Along the way we passed a tiny strip of about twenty miles of coastline that belongs to the nation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was given to the country as concessions to the Bosnian war for transit and as a link to the sea. Both Max and I thought it was cool that we were in Bosnia, so we took pictures of ourselves there before continuing back into Croatia for the rest of the drive. One highlight of the drive was the Great Wall of Croatia, a mysterious medieval wall on one of the Dalmatian islands off the coast that resembles the wall of greater namesake in the far-east.

The Great Wall of Croatia:

            We did have one hilarious gaffe on our drive that provided further adventure. Since the country is still developing and building new highways our GPS device did not know some of the roads we were driving on existed. We followed signs to Split before we came to a dead-end at an unconstructed road. We decided to try it anyways and off-roaded for about a mile before finding the road again, only we were on the wrong side of a concrete barrier. Shortly after contemplating trying to move the barriers we had to backtrack across the construction site to find the way around. It is probably a good thing we did, because we discovered that there was a toll-highway we needed to get a ticket for on the other side. This highway was pretty awesome though, as it was five-lanes wide and had a speed limit of one hundred forty-five kilometers (roughly one hundred miles-per-hour)! We sped along to Split and arrived at the port city in no time after that.

Max in Neum, Bosnia and Herzegovina:

            We checked in to our hostel for the night, the Split Beach Hostel, and went straight to Bacvice Beach, named one of the top party beaches in Croatia. We got lunch here at this beach lined with clubs and restaurants. We sat next to the water and went swimming while enjoying some Leo Dicaprio Pizza (ham and mushrooms) at Pizzeria Karaka. We also drank some Karlovacko draught beer and hung out until we needed to return the car.

Bacvice Beach:

            The next adventure began when we had to find the dealer to return our rental car. We had arranged to drop off the car in Split but the rental shop was in a very difficult-to-reach location near the walled-in old city center of Split. After driving the wrong way down several one-way streets and me walking some of them on foot to get directions, we finally dropped the car off. This was not without issue, however, as someone had stolen one of our hubcaps. Fifty Euros later, we angrily left the rental car dealer to make our way to the old city.

The Old West Gate to Diocletian's Palace:

            The Old City of Split is basically the ruins of a giant Roman palace, Diocletian’s Palace. We walked around this area for a while, exploring People’s Square, St. Dominius Cathedral, the Temple of Jupiter, and the basement halls of Diocletian’s Palace. We also climbed to the top of the bell tower of St. Dominius Cathedral to see the views of the port and the surrounding mountains that it offered. The area is very small but very charming and offers a glimpse into the Roman lifestyle that we will soon experience in Rome, Italy! We walked around the adjacent markets before heading back to Bacvice beach for another swim and more Karlovacko. We hung out there before getting dinner at the same restaurant as before, Pizzeria Karaka. This time I had a Captain Nemo salad with bacon and squid.

Ruins of the East Gate of Diocletian's Palace:

            We hung out at the beach for a while and explored the scene before heading back fairly early for some rest. This hostel was one of the most uncomfortable of the trip because there was no air conditioning and there was barely even a window offering a light breeze in the 80+ degree heat! We also had some problems with obnoxious Danish neighbors who kept us up half the night before our very early morning flight to Rome, Italy. It didn’t help also that there was no toilet paper, no hot water, and only one bed for the two of us. Hopefully our sleeping situations will improve when we get to Italy! Croatia is a beautiful country with some great things to do and see, and I would love to return here in the future to see how quickly it is developing and improving its amenities.

Zbogom Croatia!

Croatia: Day III (Dubrovnik) - Montenegro: Day I (Kotor, Budva, Lovćen National Park)

Sunday, July 17^th:

St. George's Island at Perast, Montenegro

            Today Max and I woke up and said goodbye to Chris before we rented a Volkswagen Passat for our drive down to Montenegro for the day. We drove down to the Old City of Dubrovnik first to do the hour-long walk around the city walls. This was one of the most beautiful days of my entire trip so far, but also the hottest as it was over 100 degrees Fahrenheit! The walk around the city walls was really awesome, but we hurried through it a little bit because we wanted to get down to Montenegro. There was a ton of traffic at the border and I had to offer up some extra money for agriculture taxes, but we were across the border in no time. The Balkan Mountains around us became more jagged and taller with each passing kilometer, and I stopped all the time to take pictures of the beauty.We also passed some scenic old cities such as Perast and Herceg Novi, but we did not stop for more than a picture.

St. Lawrence Fort from Atop Fort Minceta on the Dubrovnik City Walls:

            Max took a short nap while I drove around the Bay of Risan and the Bay of Kotor, and we arrived at the Old City of Kotor at around noon. This city is another medieval walled-in city of old, but it is smaller than Dubrovnik. It does not lack Dubrovnik’s beauty, however, because Kotor is tucked in the biggest fjord in Southern Europe, and is surrounded by tall mountains on each side. We walked around the city for a little while, exploring some of the small churches, before we stopped to have some lunch at a place called Scorpio Caffe. I went a little wild here and tried the Shark Medallions in Orange Sauce which was very good, and we also drank a local beer called Niksicko. After lunch we went inside a tiny church called St. Luca’s before we decided to climb the 1300+ steps up to St. John’s Fortress. The Fortress is over 850 feet above the city of Kotor and was built to protect it from invaders.

The Walls of Kotor:

            The climb was not very rigorous, but it sure felt pretty tough in the sweltering heat. We had to take a lot of water breaks, and thank God I brought my camelback backpack filled with water. We finished it by the top, but boy was the climb worth it. The top of St. John’s Fortress will stick in my mind forever as one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen (and I had another that trumped it later in the day!). We descended slowly before we left Kotor to drive farther down the coast to another medieval walled-in city called Budva. The drive did not take very long, and we quickly noticed how much of a beach vacation destination Budva was. There were tents set up along all the beaches and the traffic was heavier for sure.

St. John's Fortress Above Kotor:

The View from the Top of St. John's Fortress:

            We drove passed Budva down the coast farther a ways before we found a tiny island connected by a small foot causeway called Sveti Stefan. This island has been turned into a resort, and it sure looks funny and cute jutting out into the Adriatic and covered with old Mediterranean buildings. We tried to walk out to the island but we were not allowed unless we were a resort guest, or we had restaurant reservations. We hopped back into the car and made the rather quick decision to drive way out of our way to Lovćen National Park. The drive to Lovćen was over an hour out of the way in both directions, but it was one of the most scenic drives of my life. Switchbacks climbed higher and higher up the mountains and breathtaking views of the coast, the Old City of Budva, and Sveti Stefan existed on every corner. We finally got over the first row of mountains before driving through the old capital of Montenegro, Cetinje. It was a pretty small city, and once again we were climbing, this time into Lovćen National Park.

Sveti Stefan:

Budva from the Climb to Cetinje:

            We got there very late in the day, and the weather was quite temperate on our drive up to Jezerski Mountain. The park information was closed, so we had to feel our way to the top, but I was on a mission. I had heard about a mausoleum that was built atop this National Park, and I was determined to find it. We passed multiple broken-down buses on our drive but we made it up just before the mausoleum was closing for visitors for the day. Thank God we came up here, because this trumps St. John’s Fortress as the most stunning sight my eyes had ever seen. The view at the top of Jezerski Mountain offers miles and miles of untouched mountains above the clouds in all directions. What a beautiful country Montenegro is! Max and I remained up here for a while and also went inside the Njegos Mausoleum to visit the bronze statues inside and the tomb of Njegos before heading back down. On the ride down we offered a ride to three backpackers who were planning to sleep up there but found out it was forbidden. The trio each hailed from one of Austria, Poland, and Spain, and were quite nice on our drive back down (which was much quicker than going up) to Budva.

The View Atop Jezerski Mountain in Lovćen National Park:

            We got to Budva famished for dinner, so we found the nearest parking spot on the main strip before looking for some food. Little did we know that our parking spot was a metered spot, but I will get to that soon. We walked through the Old City of Budva for a little while before settling on a place called Konoba Stari Grad right on the beach. I ate some absolutely wonderful Grilled Octopus here and Risotto with Sea Fruits while we both drank some local beer. The Octopus was served with head and all, and it became a favorite of my trip immediately! I don’t know what I would do without seafood in my life. After dinner we were thoroughly tired from our long day, and knew we had a long drive left, so we quickly walked by the Citadel of Budva before going to find our car.

The Budva Citadel at Night:

            When we got to our parking space, our car was missing. We looked around for a while before noticing a sign showing a tow-truck towing a car, so we went to find police to figure out the deal. The local policemen laughed at us, told us it would be two-hundred euro to get back, but then said it was merely twenty euro and that we had to only walk about a kilometer to retrieve the car from a nearby lot. We walked to the lot and an argument ensued between myself and the clerk, and it was only made worse by the language barrier. After asking a cop nearby if my two-hundred euro bill was counterfeit or not, he finally accepted it and we were on our way. The drive back home was fairly uneventful and quick, and both of us crashed in bed at around 2am. What an amazing, crazy, and awesome adventure! Tomorrow we are off to Split, a four hour drive to the North.

The Adriatic Coast at Budva and Sveti Stefan from the Climb to Cetinje:

Croatia: Day II (Dubrovnik)

Saturday, July 16^th:

Orlando's Column, St. Blaise Church, and St. Saviour Church:

            Another awesome day in the paradise that is Dubrovnik, Croatia. Today was much more low-key as we got to really relax and enjoy the sun and hot weather on the Adriatic. We woke up pretty late after our very long night of clubbing and headed down to the Old City to get some food. We ate a place called Café Dubravka right outside the Pile Gate to the Old City and I had some Shrimp Salad, a beer called Favorit, and Mussels Dalmation Style. Max and Chris were struggling a bit from the night before and wanted to hang out by the water, so they headed back while I went into the Old City alone to explore the sights. I walked down the Placa-Stradun, the Main Street of the town, over to the St. Blaise Church at the center of town. This church was closed, but I did get to explore inside another one nearby called the St. Saviour Church, as well as the magnificent Rector’s Palace where the Senate of Independent Dubrovnik ruled for almost 400 years.

Rector's Palace:

            After that I walked up to the Dominican Monastery Museum which is inside a working monastery and houses lots of religious artifacts from Dubrovnik of old. The little courtyard inside this monastery was filled with flowers and lemon trees and it was a really quiet and peaceful place for me to relax for a little while. I really enjoyed my time walking through the town, but headed back after getting a phone call from Max to hurry back to rent jet-skis! I nearly ran the fifteen minute walk back to the Rixos Libertas Hotel to meet my friends, and after waiting about forty-five minutes and swimming a little bit, our three jet-skis arrived. This might have been the most fun activity I have done so far on my trip. We spent almost an hour jet-skiing around the glass waters of the Adriatic near Dubrovnik, in and out of tiny Southern Dalmatian islands before heading back near our hotel. Right before we went in we followed a massive ship into port that kicked up huge waves for us to air off of! A couple of times each one of us was in the air for up to three seconds! We went back in pretty beat-up (those things really take a lot out of you and your biceps) and took a short nap before going back to the Old City.

The Courtyard Inside the Dominican Monastery:

            Just before sunset we decided to take the Dubrovnik Cable Car up to the top of the Balkan Mountain that overlooks the Old City. It was a pretty cheap and quick ride and offered great photo opportunities and sights of the setting sun on the Croatian coastline. We were going to eat dinner up top, but found out that the restaurant was more of a snack bar, so we headed back into the Old City to find another restaurant. Max was craving Italian food so we settled on an Italian place right on the Placa-Stradun in the center of town. We had a feast and all shared each other’s dinners of Tuna Steak-in-Mediterranean, Bruschetta, Spaghetti Bolognaise, and Arrugala Risotto as well as a nice local Croatian white wine. We ate here slowly and enjoyed ourselves before heading back home. Chris had to wake up early to head back to London to work, and Max and I had a long day ahead of us to awake, walk the walls of Dubrovnik, and then head down to Montenegro for the day!

The Southern Dalmatian Coast at Sunset:

Croatia: Day I (Dubrovnik)

Friday, July 15^th:

The Old City of Dubrovnik:

            Today was an absolutely crazy day, and one of the most fun filled ones so far on my whole trip. Max and I woke up, had some cereal at the hotel, checked out, and then took the train across London to Stansted airport with our friend Chris Burt. We got on our EasyJet plane with ease after some airport food, and off we went on a three hour flight to Dubrovnik, Croatia. Thanks for the good time, London, and all of Northern Europe, but it’s off to the South!

Zdravo Croatia!

            When we landed, Croatia, or Republika Hrvatska, was much hotter and much more humid than I had become accustomed to. It was well over ninety degrees Fahrenheit when we got there, the hottest for me so far on my trip. We got our bags after passport control, rented a car for the weekend at the airport, and drove the twenty-five minutes or so to the city of Dubrovnik. This part of the world is so foreign to me, but absolutely beautiful. The drive to the city of Dubrovnik is all along the coast, and that part of Croatia is literally just a strip of land between the tall Balkan Mountains and the Adriatic Sea. We got our first glimpse of the walled-in old city, or Stari Grad, of Dubrovnik at a scenic lookout on the road, and it was one of the prettiest sights I have ever seen. No wonder nobody tried to attack these guys for over one thousand years!

The View of New Dubrovnik from the Dubrovnik Backpacker's Club Hostel:

            We kept driving on passed the Old City of Dubrovnik to find our hotels. Max and I had gotten a room in a hostel called Dubrovnik Backpacker’s Club before we knew Chris was coming, so we went in to check in there first. We were greeted by the charming old couple who runs the hostel and a couple of shots of a local Croatian alcohol—one straight, and one with honey which tasted much better. We checked in there, got our bearings on a map of the city, and then went over to Chris’s hotel, the Rixos Libertas Hotel. This hotel is a massive resort-style hotel and much more expensive than Max and I were willing to shell out for, but Chris was only there for the weekend and was also generous enough to offer us beds to sleep in there as well. We checked in here, went down to the ocean-side and immediately jumped into the super warm Adriatic Sea before sunset. It was a beautiful location offering safe cliff jumping from over twenty feet up, as well as very clear water for snorkeling.

The Rixos Libertas Hotel:

            After our swim we headed down to the Old City of Dubrovnik for some dinner and to check out scene. The city was surprisingly really busy at night, but it was gorgeous. The lights of the city are very charming, and there was not a cloud in the sky so the sky seemed a certain tint of deep blue that I have never seen before. We asked around where a good spot to get dinner was, and ended up going to a restaurant called Gil’s. It was slightly expensive, but it was perched atop the old medieval walls of the city and overlooked the old port of Dubrovnik and the whole city. I had an excellent meal of Turbot with Peas and Prosciutto while we enjoyed some Croatian white wine called Benvenutti. After dinner we did some bar hopping, checking out some local spots such as Skybar and The Gaffe. Skybar was a club-style place with many young people and lots of group-style drink specials. We tried some redbull-vodka drink that was served in a sand bucket before moving on to The Gaffe, a traditional Irish-style pub. Here we tried some Croatian beers (pivo) such as Karlovacko and Ozujsko. We hung out at The Gaffe for a while because they had a live band before we headed to a club called Eastwest right on the beach. We had heard that it was free entry before midnight, and we successfully pleaded with the bouncers to let us in for free after walking up just following the ringing of the midnight bells in the Old City. We spent a good time dancing and socializing at this club for hours before heading back to the hotel. All three of us jumped into the Adriatic again at sunrise before heading in for some much needed shuteye. Props again here to my friend Chris for the table service at Eastwest.

Placa-Stradun (Main Street) in the Old City of Dubrovnik at Night:

England: Day IV (London)

Thursday, July 14^th:

The British Museum:

            Today was another really cool day in London, and I really enjoyed finally getting to the British Museum. We woke up late, as we have had issues trying to get up in time for breakfast all week. We grabbed a pastry, again at Starbucks as it was just about the only place that didn’t serve Middle-Eastern food (little did we know, we were staying in what Londoners call “Little Arabia”) before heading over to the British Museum. The Museum is the most daunting place I have ever been to, as it is spread out into wings based on location and time period covering over five-thousand years of human history. Without a guide there is no clear direction on where to go or what to see, as exhibits line the walls, floors, ceilings, and just about everywhere. We decided to go to the Egyptian area first and see the world-famous Rosetta Stone. This stone is a slab of rock covered in ancient Egyptian writings. What is so important about it, however, is that it contains the same text written in three different languages, so historians and archeologists were able to use it to translate other writings on different ancient Egyptians items found throughout the Middle East.

The Rosetta Stone:

            Shortly following, after walking around the Egyptian section for a mere twenty minutes, Max and I noticed a massive gathering of people heading for the exits. We did not realize what was going on, thinking maybe it was a massive tour group heading out, until a woman told us that we had to evacuate, calmly of course, because of a bomb scare. Kind of freaky, but on our way out we asked a curator if the museum would be open again today and he replied, “Of course,” which gave us the impression that this happens often. We went across the street for a Guinness at a place called the Museum Pub before walking back over and going back inside when the gates reopened (after only about forty-five minutes). Back inside, I got to explore the Egyptian and Assyrian areas much more in depth. The ancient art absolutely blew me away, and it was just two of the dozen-or-more massive wings the museum has! One could spend a whole day in the museum (for free!) and still not see half of it.

The Assyrian White and Black Obelisks:

            Next I walked over to the Ancient Greece area. The crown jewel of this wing of the museum is the Greek friezes that were rescued from the Parthenon. There is one massive room that represents the shape of the Parthenon in Athens, Greece, and shows the positions in which the friezes used to lay. Most of them are much worn and they are not quite as impressive as the Pergammon Altar friezes in Berlin, however these are much older and still awesome to look at. Some of the Assyrian artworks that I really enjoyed were scenes depicting royal lion hunts, which made me think that these ancient events led to the small number of lions that remain in Africa and the Middle East. It still made for very spectacular and historical art, however. After admiring the Parthenon exhibition I made my way upstairs where I found another Egyptian section, this time filled with hundreds of mummies. It was really cool to see each layer of the mummification process laid out in front of my eyes; it is a strange custom, but a very interesting one at that.

The Parthenon Gallery:

            The next wing of the museum for me was the North American wing. I kind of skipped through a large section of Asia to get here, but I was really curious to see some of the Aztec, Inca, and Mayan artifacts that the British Museum had collected. They had a collection of Aztec carvings, Mayan statues, and various death masks made out of sapphires, topaz, and turquoise stones. I also walked through a short Inuit exhibit before heading back up to the Asian areas. Here I was confronted with literally thousands of idols and statues of Buddha and other gods in the different major Asian religions such as Hinduism, Taoism, Daoism, and more. It was a massive hallway filled with tons of really cool artifacts that really showed me how little I knew about that part of the world. Finally in this wing I walked through a tiny hallway filled with a massive collection of Chinese Jade jewelry—very pretty!

An Aztec Turquoise Mosaic of a Snake:

            The next wing I went to was the Europe wing, filled with a lot of Christian items from the Roman and Byzantine times, as well as artifacts from the medieval era. Lots of items in here were made from ivory elephant tusks, and I particularly liked a hand-crafted ivory chess set from medieval Britain. I then walked through a very short but interesting exhibit on clocks through time on my way down to the African wing. I also passed one of the famous Moai statues from Easter Island on my way. The African wing was very cool because it mixed items from Tribal and ancient Africa with very ultra-modern works of art, such as chairs and trees made from scraps of gun metals from the recent civil wars on the Continent. There was also a really interesting display of tribal swords and celebration masks. The museum was closing pretty soon, so we decided to leave and explore more of the city. I felt like I had merely scratched the surface, but I am sure I will be back again someday to dive into more of what the museum has to offer.

A Metal Tree Created from Gun Scraps in Africa:

            Max had wanted to check out the Tate Modern museum for its last thirty minutes of operation that day, so we walked to that part of the city. From here I noticed that St. Paul’s Cathedral was just across the bridge, so I left him to go check it out. Normally the cathedral is a tourist attraction and visitors must pay an entrance fee, however a service was going on when I went inside, so I got to sit and watch (and admire the church) for free. I was only inside for about twenty minutes before the service ended, but I could see just how beautiful it was and why, along with Westminster Abbey, it has been used in the past for Royal weddings of Britain (notably the wedding between Prince Charles and Princess Diana. I walked back across the ultra-modern Millennium Bridge to meet up with Max, and we walked by Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre on the way to the tube station. We also found a nice little bar called the Sea Horse, where we both ate burgers and enjoyed some beers before going home. We wanted to take it easy tonight because tomorrow we will wake up and catch a train to Stansted airport and fly with our friend Chris Burt to Dubrovnik, Croatia!

St. Paul's Cathedral:

England: Day III (London)

Wednesday, July 13^th:

Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery:

            Today we got to see some really cool art at the National Gallery of London. We woke up (late, again) and grabbed some lunch at a little cafeteria near our local train station, Edgemore Road. We rode the tube over to Trafalgar Square where we got to see the countdown clock to the London 2012 Summer Olympics, as well as check out the National Gallery. The National Gallery contains art inside it from the 13^th until 21^st century. Nearly all of it is paintings or Altar-work from the gothic times. A lot of the early stuff is mostly Christian art, depicting scenes of Jesus and Mary, and the stories of the bible and the Christian saints. It is not very big on Renaissance or Baroque art like some of the Italian art galleries we hope to see on this trip, but it does have a few works from famous names such as Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Raphael. It also contains a great collection of modern art, including lots of works by pointillist artists, Monet, Van Gogh, Pissarro, Manet, and Gauguin. I particularly enjoyed this section, but the whole museum was impressive, and it took us over four hours to walk through!

Charing Cross:

            We left the National Gallery starving, and found a nearby Italian restaurant to feed the craving of Italian food that Max had. I had some tasty truffle oil risotto and we headed back home to take a nap—that museum really took a ton out of us, as it was a lot of standing and walking. I never really slept, but got in some good rest and spent a lot of time uploading some of my photos to my computer and to the internet. We grabbed dinner at a local Turkish Kebab place before heading to Piccadilly Circus and to Oneill’s again (the only late-night, no-cover place we found). We hung out there for a while before getting fed up with the scene. We walked around back towards the tube station before a guy tried to persuade us to pay ten pounds each to go into his club. We saw that it looked fun, haggled him to five pounds each, and went into Bar Rumba for the rest of the night. We laughed at the crowd in there as well as the four-foot martini party-drinks they served, but we had a good time and didn’t make it home until around 3am again.

A Lion Statue in Trafalgar Square:

England: Day II (London)

Tuesday, July 12^th:

Tower Bridge Over the Thames:

            London is a really fun city by day filled with tons of beautiful sights. Today we slept in a little bit and then made our way over to the Tower of London by way of the London Underground after eating some pastries from Starbucks (yay…). The best way to travel this mode of transport is to pick up an Oyster Card, which is a rechargeable card that scans you in and out of the subway stations and automatically calculates the fees. It is unbelievably efficient. We rode it over to the Tower of London to see our first real tourist site of London. The Tower of London is a giant fortress which was the seat of the British crown for centuries, and now is the location of, most importantly, the British Crown Jewels. We toured the area, seeing old prisons, palaces, and the old chapel royal (which is closed unless you have a guided tour) before we waited in the rather long line to view the crown jewels. It is definitely worth it, and this collection is the most powerful and impressive I have seen yet. And what’s more, these jewels are still in use! There are tons of scepters, orbs, trumpets, crowns, jewels, robes, ceremonial plates, and beautiful decorations on display in each room, and the wait was a mere fifteen minutes.

The Tower of London and the Gherkin Building:

            Following the Tower of London, we walked over to the iconic Tower Bridge which stands tall over the Thames River. We rode the elevator up to the top to check out the views and see the exhibit about bridges around the world before making our way back down for lunch. On our way, we got to see the Tower Bridge road actually rise up to allow a tall sailboat through, so that was pretty cool. We stopped at a local brew-pub called The Draft House for lunch and enjoyed some of their home-brewed ale and some beer-battered fish and chips. From here we walked to the nearest underground station to make our way over to Westminster to check out Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. When you exit the underground station at Westminster, you are literally greeted by the massive bell tower that you have seen so many times on the media, but (for me anyway) nothing compares to seeing it in person.

Big Ben and the Palaces of Westminster:

            We walked around the area taking pictures of the Houses of Parliament inside the Palaces of Westminster before making our way over to the Abbey. Unfortunately, tourists are not allowed inside the Palaces unless they are with a guided tour (only on Saturdays) or unless they go in to watch the debates in Parliament, which carried a two hour wait. Instead, we walked inside the world famous Westminster Abbey, the center of the Church of England for over a millennia. No pictures are allowed inside, but this church has one of the most impressive interiors that are to be found in the entire world. The original church dates back to the 8^th century, and nearly all the kings, queens, and important figures of British history are buried here. It is covered with lavish gothic decorations, coats of arms of knights passed, and just beautiful tombs. We spent over two hours here, checking out the graves of the kings and queens of old as well as the Shakespeare monument and the graves of Charles Darwin and Isaac Newton, to name a few.

Westminster Abbey:

            Next we walked over towards Buckingham palace again, walking by the government buildings of London where the Prime Minister resides. We discovered this by asking a police officer who he was guarding as he stood outside a building with a submachine gun. He asked us to guess, and then told us jokingly it was Simon Cowell before telling us the truth. He then offered the best quote of the trip, saying “If Simon Cowell was inside that building I would go in there and shoot him myself.” Classic. When we got to Buckingham Palace we discovered that the Palace was closed to tourists while the Queen was living there, and that she would not again leave until the middle of August until October. Bummer, but it was also funny because the Queen was hosting a private garden party for select guests, who came pouring in and out of the palace wearing the fanciest hats and penguin-tail tuxedos I had ever seen. We grabbed a beer at a really cool and old bar called Westminster Arms near Buckingham. We both tried Spitfire Ale of of the cask, and decided that it was not cold enough to support the bitter taste it offered, but it had potential. We decided to walk back to the Thames and Westminster to check out the London Eye Ferris Wheel. We decided that it was way too expensive and not worth the wait, so we went home to get some rest before we planned on having dinner with another friend of ours from Cornell, Joe Salameh, who also works in London.

Buckingham Palace:

            Joe met us at our hotel and we rode the subway to find a place to dinner in the Notting Hill Gate area. We found a place called the Kensington Wine Rooms where we sat down for a nice dinner. I had some cold pea and watercress soup, as well as a duck-strip salad, and we drank down some New Zealand Pinot Noir with dinner. After dinner we walked over to another really awesome pub called Churchill Arms. I literally think we stumbled upon the oldest pubs in the city, and I could not be happier about that. Here we tried some more British beers, such as London Pride, Fullers ESP, and Fullers Honey Dew, before we moved on. We tried to ride the bus back into the city center, however found ourselves on the wrong bus and ended up deep in the suburbs of London. Here we realized that we had to wait twenty-five minutes for the next bus, and by the time we got back to the City Center, the pubs had closed. We walked around looking for clubs with low covers, but this is my qualm with London night life. All of the fun pubs close at midnight, and nearly everything open later has a membership requirement, a big cover charge, or is a strip club—none of which I am particularly interested in at this point.

The London Horse Guards Building:

            We did have a funny run-in while walking around. Joe was looking for a certain club before he suddenly stopped, knocked on a random black wall, and randomly a light came on and a door opened. Turns out that he had found “Milk and Honey,” one of the most exclusive member bars in the city. Unfortunately, however, we needed to be members to go inside. Joe went home after this because he had work the next day, but Max and I found our way back to Oneill’s before realizing that it is just about impossible to get inside after 1am. We also found out that the bar called “O-Bar” that we had gotten denied entry into last night due to us wearing shorts was actually a gay bar, so that’s kind of lucky…We decided to take a cab back home and to call it a night. While our night was fun, we wished that the pubs we enjoyed so much were open later.

England: Day I (London)

Monday, July 11^th:

An Evening at Buckingham Palace:

            Another awesome day in the books! London is a sweet city. I woke up late this morning and took a taxi to the airport, had lunch there, and hopped on my plane to London. When I arrived, Max was already waiting at our hotel, the Hamiltons Hotel. He was jetlagged, so he rested while I planned the next four days of sightseeing and fun. I finally got him out of bed in time to go get some early dinner and a drink at a place called The Albany. I ate some Shepherd's Pie with chips and salad here while we sampled some local drinks. My friend Chris Burt from Cornell, who works in London, came to meet us at The Albany and show us around a little bit. We took the Underground, which is the most efficient subway system ever, over to Buckingham Palace for a few minutes before we took a cab to find another bar. We settled on a place called The Coal Hole, which ended up being one of the oldest pubs in the city. We tried some other British beers here, such as Titanic and London Pride, before Chris went home (he had to work the next day) and we went to another bar.

A Clock Tower in Western London:

            While looking for this other bar, O’Neills, we were told that we weren’t allowed inside one bar because we had shorts on, which set the tone for some of the night life in London. Pubs close at midnight or earlier in London, and nearly everything you can get into later requires a club membership or a large cover charge, and is most often than not a club. Anyways, we found O’Neills with the unneeded help of a street girl who tried to hustle money out of us for the information we already had, and went inside. O’Neills was recommended to me by friend Matt Collins, and in typical Collins flavor it was a bar of mostly Americans and people crowding the room dancing to (pretty bad) local music. Nonetheless, we had a good time there and left to go home to sleep around 2am.

Ireland: Day III (Dublin)

Sunday, July 10^th:

The Old Jameson Distillery:

            Today was yet another great day in Ireland, with (amazingly) no rain, and a lot of Irish traditions. As my hostel was near to the Old Jameson Distillery, this was my first tourist site of the day. I got there around noon and waited for a guided tour of the Old Distillery. Jameson is the fastest growing whiskey in the world, and it was brewed here for over two hundred years before moving to a place near Cork, Ireland. The tour was informative and cool, and topped off with a complimentary (read: included) drink of Jameson. It may not be my favorite whiskey in the world, but it sure is smooth. To continue the Irish theme of drinking for the day, I made my way towards the Guinness Brewery and Storehouse at St. James Gate next. On the way I got to see the Old City Walls and St. Audoen’s Gate and Church, which was cool. I stopped for lunch at a cool little place called Café Noto and ate a Chicken Pesto Sandwich with dried tomatoes, lettuce, and roasted pepper, and drank yet another tropical fruit smoothie.

St. James Gate, the Site of the Guinness Factory:

            The Guinness Storehouse is the biggest attraction in Dublin, as well as the city’s tallest building. It is the largest beer brewery in the world, churning out over three million pints per year worth of beer. The tour is very interactive and fun, and you learn what goes into each pint and how it all began. I personally enjoyed the floor of the building dedicated to over one hundred fifty years of advertising that the company has put out. All visitors get to taste a small sip of Guinness, then they can either redeem their ticket stub for a free (again, read: included) Guinness at the Gravity Bar on the top of the building, or at the Perfect Pint Bar, where the workers teach you how to pour the perfect Guinness, which takes exactly 119.5 seconds. If you pour the best Guinness in your grouping, you are given a certificate, which I naturally earned for myself. I had another beer at the Gravity Bar, which offers a three hundred sixty degree view of Dublin through its windows before leaving to go back towards Dublin Castle.

Christ Church Cathedral and the River Liffey:

            Inside the grounds of Dublin Castle is another museum called the Chester Beatty Library. It is a free-entry museum, and it houses tons of old literature, including some of the first accounts of the bible ever found, written on papyrus strips. There were some truly remarkable things in this museum, however I only had thirty minutes inside before it closed. I was pretty hungry by now, so I walked over to the Temple Bar area again and found a restaurant called the Porter House Brewing Company. I was astonished that they did not serve Guinness at a restaurant in the middle of Dublin, but alas, they only sell draught beers that they themselves brew. I tried their Plain Porter, which is close to Guinness, as well as their Brain Blásta seven percent alcohol IPA. I enjoyed both of these, as well as a Whistable Bay English beer, with some amazing Irish Lamb Stew with carrots and potatoes (of course…). I hung out at this bar for a while watching some football (soccer) on TV before heading home for sleep before my flight to London the next day. Tomorrow my friend Max Weisz from Cornell comes to meet me in London for the rest of the trip. It should be sweet!

Ireland: Day II (Dublin)

Saturday, July 8^th:

Trinity College (Founded 1592):

            Very cool and fun day today! I started my day off by walking straight over to the nearby Trinity College of Dublin. Trinity is one of the oldest universities in the world, and it is within its library that the Book of Kells remains. The Book of Kells is a hand illustrated version of the four gospels written by a monk in the 8^th century. It is one of the oldest books in the world, and an important work in early Christian history. The Trinity College Library holds thousands of other books, but it is this one that it is known for. Visitors walk through a series of rooms explaining the book of Kells along with other information about early Christian works. At the end of the exhibition is the book, though to preserve its illustrations, only two pages are shown each day, and no pictures are allowed. One of the two pages is a fully illustrated one, and the other shows the normal text pages of the work. My illustrated page-of-the-day happened to be the portrait of Christ, one of the most famous pages in the book—pretty sweet! After I looked at the pages for a few minutes, I made my way upstairs to the other exhibition in the great library of Trinity College. It is up here that they also display the lire, or harp, that became the national symbol of Ireland. It is one of the oldest harps in the world.

St. Patrick's Cathedral:

            After walking around Trinity College some more, I left and headed over to St. Stephen’s Green for lunch. The park is Dublin’s biggest park, and I stopped at a café for a Tex-Mex Panini and a tropical fruit smoothie (starting to like these a lot when I skip breakfast…). I walked around the park for a bit before walking across the city to St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the biggest in the city, and the namesake for the famous Irish holiday. This church is absolutely huge, and stunning. The inside is filled with towering altars, beautiful stained glass, and many banners of knights of the past. While in here I also pretended to be a part of a guided tour that allowed me to get access to the choir and Lady Chapel, where normal visitors are not allowed! I took a lot of pictures, then left to walk to another church, Christ Church Cathedral, which is the oldest established church in the city. The original church on its land was built when the Vikings lived in Dublin. It is another big and beautiful church filled with tons of stained glass windows. What I liked the best was the baptismal room, filled with windows of saint portraits. It also had a cool crypt with some old Irish church treasures.

Christ Church Cathedral and Synod Hall (Formerly St. Michael's Church):

            I continued my tour of the city by walking to the Dublin Castle area. Here I walked by city hall and through the gates into the castle grounds. The state apartments of Dublin Castle were closed for the weekend for state use (lame) but I got to walk around the grounds and into the Chapel Royal with its wooden vaulted ceiling and beautiful artistic decoration. I walked back to my hostel next to move my luggage to the hostel I would be staying at for the next two nights, the Generator Hostel. On my taxi ride over, the cab driver informed me that it was just on the news because it was brand new and got great reviews! That excited me and I was eager to check it out. It is a brand new and awesome place, but unfortunately it was so new that they had yet to install internet, as advertised on the internet booking website. Anyways, after moving my luggage in I went out again to find food. I ended up eating some “New York Pizza” at a place near Temple Bar, the party district. The pizza was decent, but filling, so I moved on to a place called John Mulligan’s Pub, which advertises as having the best Guinness in Dublin—I can attest to its tastiness.

Bedford Tower of Dublin Castle:

After this I tried jumping in and out of bars, including a fun stop at a bar called Fitzpatrick’s where I watched cricket for a while (trying to figure out the rules) and listened to a local band make fun of some American guys who were in the bar in a group. I was about to head home again sort of early when two girls asked me for directions to meet up with their friends at a bar called Sin É (Gaelic!). They told me I should come along, and I ended up hanging out with them and their four or five guy friends until almost 5am. I was happy I found some people to hang with again, and went to bed after a busy day and fun night. Another fun note: the city of Dublin lights their bridges over the River Liffey with bright green lights at night, which looks astoundingly…Irish.

The Record Tower and Chapel Royal of Dublin Castle: