not seagulls, wales.

today has been a wonderful day! i love wales! at first, i wasn't so sure about it because i don't know much about the history or the sites that are here. but it has been amazing so far. 

we woke up early this morning (5:30 am) to be checked out of our hostel by 6:30. we ate that disgusting breakfast one last time and went out to the bus. nearby was the port for the ferry we were going to take to wales. it was so interesting because all of us were sitting IN the bus as it pulled onto the ferry. as we were pulling on, i was reminded of the movie deja vu (with denzel washington, ever seen it?) it's a great flick, but in it, there is a ferry and it blows up! it scared me a little bit but we made it safe and sound. 

hilary and i loaded the ferry and we could hardly walk we were so tired. we found the best seats, well actually benches, and we plopped our stuff down and fell asleep for the whole ferry ride! like two hours. haha. everyone else was playing games and now they are so tired but me and hilary are feeling great!

it was a small, winding road to get to our small town of beaumaris. there may have been some throwing up of some girls, not me though. 

we headed straight to the beaumaris castle. i was thinking, oh great another castle, but this one is my favorite one so far! 

it was so beautiful and different than the ones in ireland. there was a large grass courtyard area in the middle and the castle was surrounded by a small water trench. way cool. 

we are also in an amazing hotel. and compared to the hostel, it's even more amazing! we are close by the beach and that makes it better. dinner was served to us, provided by the hotel, and it was phenomenal. i'm not kidding. this tops the bagel with peanut butter and bananas. haha! 

choices of fruit or bacon & lentil (remind you of marcel the shell? watch it on youtube!), pork or tuna for a main course and some dessert choices. 

i went with the fruit that was presented gourmet style and a perfectly cooked pork cuts! it was so so good. i am a happy girl right now!

i am very impressed with wales. this small town is gorgeous and so warm and homey. a big plus, the people are actually friendly! dubliner people were not and it made me really frustrated, i tried to be friendly regardless (there mom).

ferry dock in wales.

beaumaris castle.

me and catie.

shorty door.

beachy beach.

ice cream.

of course. (i love this picture, ha!)

yesterday, we trekked to the gaol (jail) and when i say trekked, i mean it. i decided to keep my mouth shut and just follow the person "in charge" of our group. it took way too long. the gaol was so cool! there was a lot of irish history that took place there and the tour guide was very informative. along the way was the modern art museum, cool as well. 

and riverdance! the dancers are so talented. a main guy and main girl were incredible. it was a little corny in some parts and some lip syncing i'm sure throughout their little program. but the dancing was great!

don't forget about the huge rally outside with the irish people chanting "shame on you riverdance". i guess riverdance is performing in israel in september and that's going against ireland's original belief in not siding with israel in the whole thing with palestine. i don't know much but that's what i heard? very funny. 

we were in dublin at the best times, the gay pride week and political uprising!

just one.

i've been thinking about this today, only one more night here in this gross hostel! 
then on to the land of the welsh and a couple nights in some hotels. 
can't wait. 


today was another day of lots of walking. we did take it a little easy though. tomorrow we need to check out of here at 630 am. that's a little too early for me! but we do what we have to do. 


off to riverdance tonight! i will come back to the US a professional clogger! 

me in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral.

the food.

i forgot to mention that the food here isn't the greatest. i've had a pretty good variety, hamburger, pizza, fish n' chips, seafood chowder, lots of sandy's. but the best thing i've eaten thus far... 

a toasted bagel with peanut butter and bananas! not very authentic, but i had it today and it was amazing. made my day complete! 

pictures of Christ's Church Cathedral below - 

dublina.

today was our first free day in dublin! the weather cooperated very well so i was pleased. i hate being rained on and wet and rainy. it was a little overcast but totally great.


our first stop was the writer's museum but it was a little more expensive than we had expected so we didn't go inside. i heard it was really cool though.


we headed down to henry street, one of the main shopping streets in dublin. and let me tell you, there were so many shops! most, i had never heard of but very cool. we went into this natural made makeup store. they were selling all natural soaps, bath fizz and lip balm. the soaps were amazing. you could tell them how much you wanted and they would cut it and wrap it up. almost like cheese in a deli. most of the shops were fairly cheap and so different than anything we have back home! i purchased a few "souvenirs" to help me remember dublin.


we passed by the bank of ireland that used to be the parliament building so it has no windows, very interesting. christ's church cathedral was beautiful! we went inside for 3 euro and it was worth it. i can't get over how amazing the buildings are - the detail especially. the WAX plus(+) museum was way cool! i had never been to a wax museum and they had all sorts of things, not just wax figures. most of the figures had to do with ireland's history of civil wars and all that. there were some celebrity figures as well. the library/history museum was also really cool. there are so many sites here it's hard to remember!


our group met at 4:45 at the fountain in the park near st. patrick's cathedral. we went inside for evensong and the service and had a thought after for a small fhe. it's so interesting to see the service that was held. so different than what i am used to. but people worship in different ways i guess!
it's kathryn's birthday so we all went to dinner at o'neil's pub. hilary and i split the roasted chicken which was fantastic. most of the food here is good but i am always hungry so it's hard to find food for cheap! i'm glad we purchased groceries!


we all attempted to go "pubbing", that was kathryn's birthday wish, but it was hard with a group of 12 and walking into a pub without attracting stares from those drunk off their guiness (most popular beer in ireland!!).


only 2 more nights in this hostel! none of us are loving it. it's just kind of gross to be honest. the rooms are quite small with 10 girls to a room. one shower room that we all have to share. i have no idea how often it gets clean. i am coping, but it's pretty nasty. i can't wait to leave. the first two nights in wales are set up with hotels and i am looking forward to that!!


a few of us girls have been talking about the fact that we lucked out with our professors. i wish you all could meet them! they both are relaxed and easy going about everything. they definitely trust us and it's fun for us to have freedom to do things without needing to be checked on every second. we all agree that having a buddy is crucial. i mean, think of the movie, taken. i love the thing, but it's pretty scary if you think of it! the girl just gets TAKEN out of her room! her dad is listening on the phone. my worst fear is getting kidnapped, by the way, but i am pretty cautious to say the least.


ireland is amazing. i can't wait to get to wales and most of all, london! we will be staying in flats there and can actually settle down. it will be wonderful. i will be an expert before you know it!


i apologize if these posts are so long to you all... it's just hard to not include everything! they're probably boring too but this is somewhat of my journal as well. i am loving loving loving europe. i hope to come back someday and you all should try and make the journey. it doesn't have to be with me of course, just sometime.


i'll try and post pictures when i can. hopefully wales will have better internet! this one just takes forever. 
cheers.

my momma.

last night when arriving at the hostel, each bunk bed was provided with 2 flat sheets and a pillowcase. each guest that stays here is given that to cover up the mattress and pillow, that way the hostel can save money. this hostel is trying to go green apparently, so the showers and sinks don't stay on, you have to keep pushing and pushing the knob for more water. it's a little obnoxious, but it's understandable i guess. 


anyway, me being me, i made my bed first thing. carefully placed the first sheet over the mattress and tucked it in. 
second sheet went on and i continued to make my bed like i would at home! fold over the top part about 4 inches. tucked in the bottom, then the sides and tried to make corners like the dear shar bear does. it wasn't quite as good, but pretty good i would say. 


soon enough, i was looking around and everyone was watching me! i was just making my bed! but as i looked at everyone else and their beds, the sheets were thrown on, not straight. 
isn't it interesting how every single person is different? different habits. some are more clean some are not. some are considerate. some are not. 


my momma taught me well. she is the queen of being clean and perfect. that being said, i am just like her. thanks shar!! 
it makes my travels a little more tedious but i am okay with it. 

sundee in dublin.

you'd think sunday would be a little less, but it was an adventure in and of itself! 

we had planned to leave to church at 10 am (this would be our last day with peter) and get to the meetinghouse for meetings at 11. not so.

we were all ready to go after eating at the sub par continental breakfast, on the bus, and driving to the church. at this time, it was 10 am, so 3 am at home, i was getting so tired. hilary and i laid down to sleep. jet lag is still a factor. love it. not!

come to find out, the church is locked and we assumed that it is stake conference, that's what we had heard. we sat for a while. peter was trying to google a different church to meet at, his internet was freezing on him.

a car pulled up and a lady walks out towards our bus. she had met with the missionaries two days before and they invited her to church, most likely forgetting that it was stake conference of some sort. her name is Amoke from Nigeria. she said she would go back to her house and get the missionaries contact info and see what's up. twenty minutes later, she came back with a sure fact that it was stake conference. 

we decided to head back to our hostel and figure something else out. brother anderson thought we could hold our own meeting. which we did!

we found the conference room, set up the chairs in an orderly manner. some girls we assigned to speak for 5 minutes and i was to lead the music. brother gardner called his bishop at home (530 am in springville, utah) to ask for permission to have the sacrament. it was granted and we proceeded with the meeting. 

it was an improv meeting as you can tell. but it was wonderful. 

the music came from lds.org and i looked at an ipad for the words. we weren't on key, we were a little too fast, but it was a great experience. 

i could tell we all felt the spirit so strong. 

i hope we can get to some meetinghouses while we are here, i would love to see what church is like in europe!

the more the betta.

yo ho, yo ho, an irish life for me!
we had a wonderful day today. wonderfully beautiful too. it was fantastic. 
an early wake up call again, breakfast at 7:45 and departing the luxurious hotel at 8:30. 
on our bus ride from killarney from dublin we had planned to stop at some castles on the way.
we had an appointment at Blarney Castle and 10 am. 
it was so beautiful! i can't believe that these castles were actually built in the 1400's, if not earlier. they are so elaborate and there were no cranes or anything used like we use today! unbelievable. 
the main attraction at this castle is to kiss the blarney stone. why it is so significant, i couldn't tell you. none of us really know. but we had to do it! the stone is in such an awkward and scary place. some people were a little weezy at its location. 
blarney castle is my favorite castle so far. 

me and hilary in the little cove at the front.

as awkward as this picture is, the stone was on the side of this little open area. it was so weird. 

p.s. i'm sure this creeper of a guy loves his job! he gets to tell people to lay down and literally hold on to their body while they go to kiss the stone. needless to say, it was very awkward.

this castle also had the coolest poisonous garden. it was full of plants that were poisonous and had their names and descriptions.

this green color is all natural. it's amazing! 

next stop was the Rock of Cashel Cathedral. another place from years and years ago. it is going through some renovations to keep up its status so there were some scaffolding things set up. the microclimate inside of it also adds a lot to the erosion inside. it gets wet and stays damp because of all the shade so there was green moss everywhere! outside the cathedral were quite a few ancient tombstones. 

this was my tombstone.

we only had about an hour at the cathedral before another 2 hours to drive to dublin. it's about 4 hours from dingle to dublin but it was nice to split it up!

we are staying in our first hostel, dublin youth hostel. look it up if you'd like. man, were we spoiled in the b&b in killarney. this is interesting and i will have to admit, i'm not the biggest fan. 

there are 10 girls to a room with bunk beds. two rooms for showers with two showers each i think. and some small bathrooms. there are quite a few rooms here on our all girls floor so i don't know how it's going to work in the morning with at least 40+ girls needing to get ready. but we will see wont we?

we are here for 4 nights and have three full days in dublin to do things. all of us are going together to see the riverdance on tuesday night. that will be so awesome! can't get more original than that!

there are museums to see. churches, streets to shop, and more places to visit. it will be a fun few days. we were instructed to stay in at least a set of two girls at all times, and i see why! we walked around still earlier in the evening and it was a little creepy. but that's what you get. (in a hostel area too).

some of the girls in our little little room.

bunks.

dublin youth hostel.

dublin streets have the coolest doors!

yummy thai in central dublin.

miss you all! i'll have fun for you!