11 days, 5 flights, 3 friends, 1 backpack
Obviously 1 backpack per person, we're not animals.
I would imagine Spring Break was a little different for us than most other college students, but for me that meant it was infinitely better. We left chilly Florence for even colder locations, but they were by far my favorite thus far: London, Edinburgh, and Dublin.
Maybe it was because we spend very little time in Edinburgh, a quirky, smaller, and beautiful city, but London and Ireland were my favorites. London probably tops the list because of my lifelong dream to be a boss living in a big city, but it is closely followed by Ireland because of my love of the countryside, the color green, and the luxury of silence. They were both more than I can write or verbally describe in words, which is saying a lot because talking and writing is pretty much all I do.
See also London as the city of my dreams and also my nightmares in another horrifyingly dramatic post.
(fun fact: (potentially of my stupidity) double decker buses really are a huge thing there and are just normal buses, not a oversensationalized product of movies)
See? London is Awesome. It's the perfect mix of modern, historical, and suburban with reallly good and kind of expensive public transportation. It felt like home and honestly, I didn't want to leave. Even when were doing lame stuff (like eating at Chipotle 3 times yeah that was a lot sorry okay we really miss it) it was my favorite place to be.
It was all of my favorite things.
Notting Hill - I was scared the whole time that whoever lived there would come outside while I was weirdly sitting on their step.
The changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace
Hyde Park
Livin' the dream
Some clock
Tower Bridge
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Edinburgh was short, but delightful and mostly full of fun facts and things that inspired J.K. Rowling. It's known as "The Athens of the North" to just about no one but us and the people we met on a free walking tour.
The castle that inspired Hogwarts
Tom Riddle's grave. Not the true Lord Voldemort, but the inspiration for the name. On the bottom left you can see someone drew the deathly hallows symbol on the ground.
Our tour guide named Greg and the epitome of what you expect in a Scottish man. He even wore a sweater and told jokes about his critical dad.
Edinburgh Castle
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I think I lost picture-taking steam in Dublin because I later found I don't have many. And I did this really cool thing where I forgot to take my camera to The Cliffs of Moher, which, in the end, turned out to be very enjoyable without the extra distraction.
Dublin was colorful, more relaxed, and livable. We visited the Guinness Storehouse and had a blast learning about beer and getting "free" Guiness. We poured pints and Madi had an amazing introspective discovery that she is now a "beer girl." I don't understand people who don't love Guinness, I just don't.
The Cliffs were straight up the most beautiful things I've ever seen. I could've layed there for hours watching the sea rush in many feet below and feeling the breeze on already windburnt face. It was impossible to photograph their heigh in good perspective, but I felt it as I stood on the very edge with small panges of fear and great bits of freedom.
