For summer vacation, I went to Europe with a friend from work, Matt. We spent 4 days in London Dublin and Paris. This was my first time to Europe
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After an 8 hour flight delay in Shanghai, on top of a 7 hour layover and a 2 hour train ride from Paris to London. I finally made it. The first thing that was evident in London was the Olympic atmosphere. I don't think you could walk 2 inches without being aware of London 2012 or the Olympics. Secondly, people spoke ENGLISH!! I love it here in Japan but its a beautiful thing when you can understand what people say (albeit British English).
We got there on a Friday evening but honestly were so exhausted by the time we made it to the hostel it we basically just ate pizza and went to bed. The hostel was pretty nice and above a bar like every other one in London. The people there were very friendly. Honestly, most places were price gouging for the Olympics so this one was pretty cheap. It was also in a great location in Greenwich. The most important thing you'll want for a hostel in London is its location by a train station. This one was less than a block away.
Saturday morning, we were up and rollin by 8AM. Unfortunately nothing seems to open that early, so we walked around town. From our hostel, there was this cool tunnel that went under the Thames River to this historic section. All the old building were just amazing to see and a breath of fresh air from boring Japanese architecture (excluding temples and pagodas). Also, this section had a nice park that you could watch the Olympics from any time of the day. They also did all the equestrian events here.
Speaking of the Olympics, let me just go off on a tangent here. When I realized that my break coincided with the Olympics, I knew I had to try to get to London just to say I did it. I kinda figured it would be super crowded but how can I pass up the atmosphere? I had looked into getting tickets but most games were in packages. The cheapest I found was around $200 (were talking about 3rd round badminton losers bracket). Closing ceremony tickets were going for over $1000.
The Olympics actually turned out to be the best weekend to go to London in all honesty. There were volunteers at every train station that were very friendly and could help you find anything you needed. Public transportation is pretty easy anyway. Also, the Olympics were so spread through out the surrounding areas that it wasn't too crazy. There definitely a few trains that were super crowded at certain times but it wasn't as crazy as I thought it'd be.
Tangent over...
Saturday, we also met up with a friend that Matt had met in a hostel in Tokyo. Hostels are all about connections. The guy lived in London and worked for some opera company. He took the day off to show us around. It was really great to have a person that knew the lay of the land to show us around. We made it to Buckingham palace first, where we bumped into the 15k Race/walk. The other interesting thing about the Olympics is that you just random find yourself at an event without trying. We couldn't really get close to the palace but it was cool seeing the countries all cheering on their competitors live.
After the palace, we bounced over to the Parliament building for a tour and then went to check out Westminster Abbey. Both places are pretty awesome. Westminster Abbey is where the big wedding took place. Its also where Churchill, Darwin, Newton and several other famous people were buried (outside of the royalty). It was also interesting hearing how they run things in England compared to America.
From here, we went to the Globe theater for Shakespeare. To be completely honest, I was pretty tired for this and couldn't even tell you what play it was. Some king did something and killed people, the end.
Sunday, we went and checked out Olympic stadium...from a distance. You couldnt get within 500 feet of the buildings without a ticket. There was a nice mall there though and had quite a few athletes just wandering around. I didn't see any Americans but there were tons of beautiful Spanish athletes signing autographs. We also went to see the Tower of London (where the crown jewels are held). On the way, we got caught in the middle of the Marathon. Luckily, I didn't pull a Kramer (Seinfeld reference Fastforward to 5:12). We also went to check out this Rock experience museum and happened to stumble upon the basketball arena where USA was about to beat Spain for Gold at the Olympics. I almost thought Spain had won when I got there because they were all dancing around cheering right at the entrance to the arena.
For closing ceremony, we went to the park from the day before and watched it with about 10,000 British people. It was an atmosphere that you just had to soak in to believe. There was such a great sense of pride in the air because of the success of the Olympics.
Monday was our final day in London. We also had to change hostels. It turned out to be pretty inconvenient though it was right downtown. It was further from the train stations. Monday just happened to be the day of the Summer Opening of the State Rooms in Buckingham palace. Apparently, once a year they open the state rooms to the general public to check out. Naturally, we felt called to check it out. It was actually pretty interesting to check out.
Tuesday it was off to Dublin.
The beauty of the vacation is just when we kinda felt settled in a location we picked up and started a brand new one. I'd highly recommend it if you've got a short time in Europe and want to see many places.
Dublin was probably the most friendly and welcoming city. People seemed to be genuinely nice and enjoyed their Guinness and music. Our hostel was awesome. If you stay in Dublin, I highly reccommend Barnacles. We had our own bathroom in a 8 bed room. They were also super friendly and cheap: $19 a night right in the heart of the Temple Bar district (basically where you should be).
Dublin was a bit more relaxing compared to London. We didn't have a ton we wanted to see. We just wanted to soak in the life and wander around. There are a lot of cool historic buildings set right in the middle of the town. Christchurch Cathedral was amazing and a definitely must see. We were also really close to both Trinity University and Dublin castle. We never had to take a cab anywhere.
We also checked out the Guinness factory and Old Jameson Distillery. Both were interesting if you like beer or whiskey. They also give out free samples with your tour which is great.
All in all, Dublin was a good laid back visit. I'd definitely go back again.
I took hundreds of photos. I know my blog doesn't do it justice but if we're facebook friends you can check them all out!!
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After an 8 hour flight delay in Shanghai, on top of a 7 hour layover and a 2 hour train ride from Paris to London. I finally made it. The first thing that was evident in London was the Olympic atmosphere. I don't think you could walk 2 inches without being aware of London 2012 or the Olympics. Secondly, people spoke ENGLISH!! I love it here in Japan but its a beautiful thing when you can understand what people say (albeit British English).
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| The train station when we got in. |
We got there on a Friday evening but honestly were so exhausted by the time we made it to the hostel it we basically just ate pizza and went to bed. The hostel was pretty nice and above a bar like every other one in London. The people there were very friendly. Honestly, most places were price gouging for the Olympics so this one was pretty cheap. It was also in a great location in Greenwich. The most important thing you'll want for a hostel in London is its location by a train station. This one was less than a block away.
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| The town across the river |
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| The tunnel under the river |
Speaking of the Olympics, let me just go off on a tangent here. When I realized that my break coincided with the Olympics, I knew I had to try to get to London just to say I did it. I kinda figured it would be super crowded but how can I pass up the atmosphere? I had looked into getting tickets but most games were in packages. The cheapest I found was around $200 (were talking about 3rd round badminton losers bracket). Closing ceremony tickets were going for over $1000.
The Olympics actually turned out to be the best weekend to go to London in all honesty. There were volunteers at every train station that were very friendly and could help you find anything you needed. Public transportation is pretty easy anyway. Also, the Olympics were so spread through out the surrounding areas that it wasn't too crazy. There definitely a few trains that were super crowded at certain times but it wasn't as crazy as I thought it'd be.
Tangent over...
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| Buckingham palace, during the racewalk |
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| Big Ben and Parliament |
After the palace, we bounced over to the Parliament building for a tour and then went to check out Westminster Abbey. Both places are pretty awesome. Westminster Abbey is where the big wedding took place. Its also where Churchill, Darwin, Newton and several other famous people were buried (outside of the royalty). It was also interesting hearing how they run things in England compared to America.
From here, we went to the Globe theater for Shakespeare. To be completely honest, I was pretty tired for this and couldn't even tell you what play it was. Some king did something and killed people, the end.
Sunday, we went and checked out Olympic stadium...from a distance. You couldnt get within 500 feet of the buildings without a ticket. There was a nice mall there though and had quite a few athletes just wandering around. I didn't see any Americans but there were tons of beautiful Spanish athletes signing autographs. We also went to see the Tower of London (where the crown jewels are held). On the way, we got caught in the middle of the Marathon. Luckily, I didn't pull a Kramer (Seinfeld reference Fastforward to 5:12). We also went to check out this Rock experience museum and happened to stumble upon the basketball arena where USA was about to beat Spain for Gold at the Olympics. I almost thought Spain had won when I got there because they were all dancing around cheering right at the entrance to the arena.
For closing ceremony, we went to the park from the day before and watched it with about 10,000 British people. It was an atmosphere that you just had to soak in to believe. There was such a great sense of pride in the air because of the success of the Olympics.
Monday was our final day in London. We also had to change hostels. It turned out to be pretty inconvenient though it was right downtown. It was further from the train stations. Monday just happened to be the day of the Summer Opening of the State Rooms in Buckingham palace. Apparently, once a year they open the state rooms to the general public to check out. Naturally, we felt called to check it out. It was actually pretty interesting to check out.
Tuesday it was off to Dublin.
The beauty of the vacation is just when we kinda felt settled in a location we picked up and started a brand new one. I'd highly recommend it if you've got a short time in Europe and want to see many places.
Dublin was probably the most friendly and welcoming city. People seemed to be genuinely nice and enjoyed their Guinness and music. Our hostel was awesome. If you stay in Dublin, I highly reccommend Barnacles. We had our own bathroom in a 8 bed room. They were also super friendly and cheap: $19 a night right in the heart of the Temple Bar district (basically where you should be).
Dublin was a bit more relaxing compared to London. We didn't have a ton we wanted to see. We just wanted to soak in the life and wander around. There are a lot of cool historic buildings set right in the middle of the town. Christchurch Cathedral was amazing and a definitely must see. We were also really close to both Trinity University and Dublin castle. We never had to take a cab anywhere.We also checked out the Guinness factory and Old Jameson Distillery. Both were interesting if you like beer or whiskey. They also give out free samples with your tour which is great.
All in all, Dublin was a good laid back visit. I'd definitely go back again.
