Here's the scoop on the trip:
Day 1 and 2- Washington DC
Washington DC was very cool!! We saw as much as we could in the two short days we had there. I have to mention that everything around was in bloom! Spring had sprung early in all the places we had visited on our trip. I have tons of pictures of flowers and popcorn trees!!
Our first stop in DC was the Holocaust Museum. They didn't allow cameras inside, so I wasn't able to get pictures, but it was a neat experience. The Holocaust has always been something I thought I knew a lot about, but I learned a lot more information about the events that caused so many people to die and to be treated so horribly. I didn't realize that Hitler used propaganda so much to get the German people to hate the Jews. It was heartbreaking to learn about the different camps and "gettos" the hated people were inprissioned in. I didn't realize that is where the word "gettos" comes from, and I will probably not use it so freely anymore.
Later that day we walked around the government mall. We had to go through security to get to the food court inside. They asked for id, but Josh didn't have any on him. Luckily, I had mine, and we told them we were married, so they let Josh go in. Funny that I remember pretty much everything we ate on our trip. That particular lunch was Gyro wraps. ha ha
We saw the White House. It was neat. There were secret service vehicles everywhere. I would like to say I met President Obama, but that would be a lie, however, we did see his caravan. It was really neat. There were about 10-15 cop cars/motorcycles in the front and back, an ambulence, black suburbans in the front and back of the line, and of course in the middle- two black limos. They were cruising through the traffic. Josh tried to get a picture, but we were too slow getting the camera out and what not.
We saw the caravan just as we were approaching our Nations Capital Building. It was huge. We walked around it and saw the Surpreme Coart building. We also bumped into a congressman, but he was on his phone, so we didn't really get to talk to him.
The next day we rented bikes and saw all the awesome monuments and memorials around DC. It was a beautiful day outside, so it was perfect for bikes. (I highly recommend doing the same thing if you go to DC). It saved us a lot of time walking, and saved our feet, since we both aren't use to being on them so much.
We also rode the subway to see the Pentagon memorial. I didn't realize there was a bundle of children who were in the Pentagon that also died as a result of the plane crashing into the pentagon on 9/11.
That particular day was St. Patrick's day. It seemed like when we were going to get our dinner that night, every bar and resturaunt was packed, but we finally found a Mexican resturaunt that wasn't too pricey.
Day 3- New York: Long Island
Our first Friday of the vacation we had a 12 hour layover in New York City, so we decided to take advantage of the layover and see Fire Island on Long Island. Both Josh and I have been to Manhattan and loved it, so we thought we would go see something new. (We also knew we would be seeing lots of big cities on our vacation, so this was a chance to get a break from people everywhere).
We drove out to the seashore and saw the Atlantic Coast and a lighthouse. We also saw one of MANY field trip groups. It's field trip season because we saw groups of students and teachers almost everywhere we went. After going to the seashore, we wanted to get some good seafood, so we stopped at a Seafood joint in a small town. We were the ONLY young people in the whole place- maybe even in the whole town). It was definitely a town of retired people. We both ordered soft-shelled crab sandwiches, which ended up being a WHOLE fried crab between buns. It was different, and I'm glad I tried it, but it was really wierd eating the claws and everything.
Day 4, 5, and 6 Ireland- Where there was MANY firsts for us!!
First of all, this is the place where I drove on the left side of the road, and stayed in a hostel. We rented a car, and put me as the driver, so it was an adventure driving around Ireland, but it was a lot of fun, until I scrapped the stinking car on a bush. I am claiming that it wasn't my fault because the car coming the opposite way was way over the white line and it was a curve, curving not in my favor. Hopefully we won't have to pay too much for the scratch.
On a better note... Ireland is Beautiful. It is so green everywhere. No wonder everyone wears green on St. Patty's day. The first stop we made was the Rock of Cashel. We didn't go in; instead we saw an old abby and walked down to it. Josh and I were the only ones at the abby, so we had a great time taking pictures and exploring the old abby.
Our next stop was Blarney, where we met my cousin, Mindi, and her cute family. It was so good to see them, and they gave us some great tips on Ireland. During our dinner together, we ordered a full Irish Breakie, which was another first for us.... Especially the part, where we tried blood pudding (dried up goats blood).
That night we drove to our Hostel, which ended up being really nice and clean, but had a very interesting shower. We had to share a bathroom with some other people, but we never saw them, so it wasn't a big deal. Check out the picture above of the shower. It was a shower for midgits!;-)
Sunday we didn't get the chance to go to church, since it was two hours away and the little branch was in someones house. We thought we would try to enjoy what Heavenly Father created and his beautiful nature in Ireland. We drove along the Ring of Kerry, which is along the coast. We saw lots of sheep and beautiful views. Then we went to Killarney National Park. It was so peaceful! During our time in the Park, we saw the water, lake, beautiful views, and the outside of a big Estate/house. We also saw the abby, which was Josh's favorite part. This abby was different from the first one we saw because we could actually go upstairs. Both abbies had graves, and it was interesting to note that some of the graves were REALLY recent, like only 10 years old. Others, of course, were as old as the abby.
Our last day in Ireland we went to the Cliffs of Moher. On the way we saw lots of old Castles, towers, and other buildings. Usually there was no one around, so we pulled over and explored these Medival buildings by ourselfs. At one of them, we were even able to climb to the next level. At one point we saw what seemed to be a village, but it turned out to be a lot of different churches, with a tower that monks could go to if they needed protection.
The Cliffs of Moher were awesome. Dave, Mindi's husband, told us that some people have been blown off the side of the cliffs, and sure enough, when we were there we saw signs all over that warned people about going past the barrier and going to the edge of the cliff. Ireland nominated the cliffs as one of new 7 wonders of the world. I think it might be a good choice!!
Days 7 through 12- England with my parents
My parents picked us up and the Birmingham airport, and it was so good to see them!! We had tons of fun with them, and I'm glad they invited us to come. England is also the place where we stayed in the nicest hotels of our whole trip.
The first thing we did after our pick up, was to see the catheral in Cambridge that was bombed during World War II. It was neat for me to see because I didn't know that England was at war with Germany as part of the war. We then got some lunch and bought some bubbly chocolate!! Side note: I love bubbly chocolate, which we don't have in the US.
In Cambridge there is a square where Lady Gudiava rode nacked on a horse to lower taxes, and no one was suppose to look. This story is where the term "Peeping Tom" comes from because he is supposedly the only one that looked. The square had a statue of Lady Guidiva on her horse, and a clock on a building. At every hour Lady Guidiva rides around the clock and Peeping Tom comes out of the bird hole to peep on her. It was funny to watch.
Later that day we saw an old castle that had been bombed. It was pretty cool. We only walked around the big wall on the outside because they were charging a lot to see inside the buildings. At one point on our walk around the wall, my mom climbed up the hill next to a pheasant. The pheasant didn't mind her, and my mom got pretty close, but right as I snapped the picture, the pheasant dropped off the other side of the wall.
The next day we went to the Warwick castle, which has been up-kept really well. My camera died at the castle, so I didn't get any pictures of the real Mediaval materials that were kept in the castle for show, such as Queen Victoria's bed and what not. It is amazing to me how some of the stuff has been preserved all these years. We also went to the Cotswolds that evening, but by the time we got there everything was closed. It was still a cute little place where you could still go have afternoon tea.
Our third day in England mostly took place in Oxford. Oxford is a city of many old and brillant universities. There was people everywhere, so we were lucky to get pictures with out other people in them (as in most the places we went in the cities). The architecture of the buildings was fascinating. After Oxford we went to our next hotel just outside of London and took naps, which were much needed. :-) My mom and dad and me went to a large mall, got dinner, and window shopped while Josh stayed at the hotel and worked on homework. (He didn't finish it before we left).
Friday in England we spent the day in London. We saw a lot of things in one day by buying 24 hour tube and bus tickets. Many of the things we saw, I had seen when I went to London the first time the summer I ment Josh, but it was cool to see everything again with my family. We saw Buckingham Palace, the Eye of London, Parliment (which by the way had a huge riot just outside where we were the next day), famous London squares (I can't remember their names at the moment), Picadilli Square(which is sord-of like Time Square in NY)., the theater district, Shakepear theater Company, and Westminster Abby. London was also where Josh and I had the famous fish and chips.
Our last day is England was special for me. I had the opportunity to do a session in the London temple with my parents. Unfortuntely Josh left his Temple reccomend at home, so he ended up doing homework while we did our session. The temple grounds were huge, and my dad finally got to meet some missionaries. (He had been looking for some the whole trip). If you didn't know my dad served his mission in England, hence why we went on a trip there.
It was sad to say goodbye to my parents, but I will get to see them in June (or maybe sooner if I go see my new nephew that was born while we were gone). They stayed in London two more nights, and Josh and I continued on our journey.
Day 13 Paris, France
We only had one day in Paris because it was our LONG layover from Dublin to DC. Since it was an overnight layover we opted to get a hotel room, but to save money we booked a crappy one. I swear the room use to be a dorm and the bathroom was like those on cruise ship cabins. Paris was not what I expected. It was dirty. There was a lot of trash, except for in the gardens, where we got delicious crepes. We tried to see as much as we could in our half a day in Paris, and we did pretty good. We saw Notre Dame and the tower that the Hunchback lived in. We also saw the huge architectrual arch and, of course, the Eiffel Tower. I would go back to Paris someday, despite the trash.
Day 14 was a Super long day of TRAVEL
I won't bore you with the details of this day, but basically we flew three flights in one day, with our first one being 8.5 hours long. The plane was very nice, and we had our own tvs, but the other two flights were just plain annoying because I wanted to be home and in my bed!! Well, I'm not complaining about the trip. I loved it!! It was a lot of fun and we learned a lot of stuff. I am just ready to take a break from travelling for a bit. (Plus going going going during the whole trip made Josh and I under the weather).
Sorry the blog post was so long and I didn't proof it, but if you decided not to read it, at least you got to see some pictures. If you want to see more pictures, I will be posting a bunch on facebook soon!!
