Just before leaving Paris I finished up my internship, then jetted off to London. I spent three days there, and I saw just about every London sight. I took a tour of the Tower of London, walked across Tower Bridge, which is boasting the Olympic rings at the moment.
I saw Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Parliament Square, Piccadilly Circus, some major churches, etc. My hostel was I think my favorite out of every one I've stayed in, though it was also a bit expensive. London in general is ridiculously expensive, though- a one-way metro ticket is 4.50 pounds, which comes out to about $7. The museums were free, but things like the Tower and Westminster Abbey were 16 pounds for the entrance fee (though they did come with free tours). I spent so long in the Abbey, and I wish they had allowed pictures! Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots, Anne of Cleves, Charles Darwin, Isaac Newton, and a host of others are all buried there.
My last day in London I went to Hampton Court Palace and had an absolute blast. I am a huge Tudor nerd so it was amazing to see all the rooms and paintings and the chapel is so gorgeous! I ran around the gardens for a bit, too. There are lots of pictures of the palace on my Facebook- I took almost 500 pictures during my London trip.
Unfortunately I stayed at Hampton Court Palace a bit longer than I intended, then when I got back I got lost, so I was freaking out trying to catch my shuttle on time to get to the airport. I made it with time to spare, but it was nerve-wracking all the same. When I landed in Dublin I found my hostel and then spent the rest of the night inside.
The next day I found O'Connell Street, which is the major street in Dublin, and got one of those cheesy tour buses to take me around. There isn't much to see in Dublin, unfortunately. I ran around Trinity College for a bit, which was established by Elizabeth I, and the bus went by the Guinness factory and the Jameson distillery. I saw quite a few churches there, too, and got a printout of the history of my last name for my Dad. I also took a trip down to Walkinstown, about a half hour from Dublin, and stopped in to a pub there just to brag about my last name and get some lemonade.
The town is tiny, only about 5,000 people total.
After Dublin I only had one more day in Paris, so I packed and did a bit more sightseeing, then got up at 4:30 am to catch the RER to Charles de Gaulle airport, caught my 8 am flight to Iceland, then had an hour and a half layover until my flight to Boston. I arrived in Boston at noon local time, but that's 6 pm Paris time, so I'd already been up for over 12 hours at that point. J picked me up and spent the rest of the evening keeping me from sleeping, though I was allowed a nap.
It's now been two weeks since I got home and Europe feels so far away. I went through my souvenirs from the trip and I have over 60 postcards! All the more to decorate my room with, I suppose. My family all loved their gifts and I've finally got my room back in order. Now only another week and a half until I leave for school, when I'll pack my room up again.
Thank you all for following this blog throughout my semester/summer abroad! I hope you enjoyed it, and if I go back to travel some more in Europe, I'll come back to this. Bye, everybody!
