Adam and Olivia's Adventure to England and Ireland!

Well hello again everyone! How is everyone today?

I am so glad you've decided to stop in today!

Are you ready for another adventure? Because I always am.

Awesome. Strap in.

So right after I got to England my boyfriend, Adam, decided he couldn't go 5 months without seeing me. Isn't that the most precious thing, ever? I'm really glad he decided this because...I didn't want to go that long without seeing him either (but shhh...don't tell him). Before I left for England, we talked about the possibility of him coming to see me, but we determined that it wasn't the best financial decision. 

Well thanks to his extremely hard work and the help of his loving family...he made it happen anyhow! Oh, how lucky I am! 

So on March 22nd (his spring break at UT), he flew into London Heathrow! It had been almost 3 months since I had seen him! I was so anxious at the arrivals gate waiting for him. His flight got in at 9:25pm, but it took a little while for him to get through customs. I was like a child waiting for their mom to pick them up at school. Every time the doors would open I'd get super excited...and then someone would come out that wasn't him. Eventually...IT WAS HIM. I was happy as a clam. Maybe I'm getting a little too mushy...but that first airport kiss... was a darn good kiss.

I had the whole trip all planned out from that point forward (I'm a "Monica" in that sort of way).We hopped on the blue line on the underground from Heathrow Airport to Warren Street in Central London. That's where our hotel for the night was. I got a really good deal on this 4 star hotel because I booked it quite in advance. We walked in and Adam immediately said it was "swank"...which I think is a good thing. This hotel even provided robes and warmed our towels for us! Fancy Schmancy! Well Adam and I were really tired so we hit the hay as soon as we got in.

London, England: The next morning I made him get up super early so we could see as much of London as possible before our plane to Ireland that night. 

We got up and got ready and headed out for a quick breakfast. It was so nice to just chat with him in person instead of on skype. At breakfast I gave him a british money lesson...which wouldn't apply for long since that night we were going to be needing euros in Ireland. 

We made our way out into Central London. Of course it was snowing. We took the tube and headed to the Natural History Museum. We just goofed off and looked at all the epic stuff inside. 

After the Museum, we headed to all the outdoor sights. First Buckingham Palace (where I think we say a little bit of the changing of the guard), next Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, River Thames, the London Eye, Trafalgar square, and Covent Garden. 

At Covent Garden we met my friends Sarah and Lauren for lunch. I was so happy that they got to meet Adam! Especially since I've talked their heads off about him since I met them (shh..don't tell him that either, haha). We got traditional fish and chips for lunch, and Adam (my sweet gentlemen) bough all of our lunches. Like I said...I'm a lucky girl...and Sarah and Lauren didn't come out too badly either. We then went back into Covent Garden to get some sweets such as Ben's Cookies and macarons from Lauduree. After that we headed to Victoria Station to catch our train to Gatwick airport. We had a little time so we decided to go get a drink together because I actually can now! We had a beer and then we went to Yo Sushi before we got on the train. Eventually we made it to Gatwick airport where we got on our flight to Dublin!

Dublin, Ireland: 

When we got to Dublin we took a random airport transfer bus that took us to the city center. We decided to get off at the last stop which was on Talbot Street. I looked at the address for our Bed and Breakfast, and guess where it was....Talbot Street! How lucky were we? It was almost 1am by this time, and we were both extremely tired so we just went and checked into our B&B called the Celtic Lodge and headed to sleep. 

The next morning we woke up and had a traditional Irish Breakfast including toast, beans, blood sausage, sausage links, bacon, and fried eggs. Adam wasn't a fan, but I loved it. He claimed it was because my taste buds had had more time to adjust to European food. haha. 

We went out that morning to pick up our Dublin Passes...similar to the Paris Pass in that it got us into several tourist things for free. We didn't want to activate our passes until the next day so we just went around Dublin enjoying each other's company whilst getting acquainted with the city and it's culture. We grabbed some lunch at a local place called Urban Picnic. It was fantastic! We just spent the day going around little shops and spending time together. It was so wonderful. There's no place I'd rather be. And when I say that I'm not talking about Dublin. <3 We decided to go back to our B&B and get cleaned up to go to dinner. We went to Temple Bar, which is an area with a lot of night life and good restaurants. It can be a real tourist trap if you're not careful though. We had some burgers and then decided to go on a traditional irish pub crawl. However...when we began the crawl we didn't realize how expensive it'd be so we just decided to go to two places. Both places were packed and had live Irish music. We really enjoyed ourselves. After we had a few drinks we walked back in the freeeeeezing cold and sleet to our B&B. I guess since Ireland is such a small island the coastal weather blows across the whole surface because the whole time we were there I was freezing to death...and this is coming from the girl that's been in England for four months. 

The next day we had a much needed sleep-in day. I think Adam liked the sleep more than the Irish breakfast for sure. We then got up and headed to St. Patricks's Cathedral, another smaller cathedral, and the Jameson whiskey distillery and Guinness storehouse (all of these included in our Dublin Passes). We didn't really care about the tours, but the free stuff was nice. At the whiskey distillery they talked about Jack Daniels which I thought was funny because Adam and I were the only two Tennesseans there. Also at the Guinness storehouse we got served our free drink at the gravity bar which is the highest bar in Dublin complete with all glass walls. It was such a beautiful view, and I felt so blessed to be overlooking yet another beautiful European city with my best friend/ boyfriend.

We stayed there just enjoying ourselves until they began to close. We decided to grab a taxi in hopes that our taxi driver could suggest a really great chinese restaurant  Yeah...yeah...I know we were in Dublin, but you've got to understand that chinese food is like mine and Adam's thing! It's both of our favorite food! So our taxi driver took us to the "china town" of Dublin and told us to just pick a place because they're all good! So Adam and I just walked in somewhere! It was the best food we ate the whole trip! We were the only non-chinese people in there! So it was definitely authentic. Yum. It was so good. By the time we finished we were so sleepy. We decided to walk back to our B&B, and we immediately went to sleep. I'm pretty sure we were dead asleep before 10pm. 

The next day was our last day in Ireland! How sad it was! We decided to take the dart train to the coastal town of Malahide.

Malahide, Ireland: We arrived by train, and we made our way to the cutest little coastal town! We went to the castle grounds first because they were included in our Dublin Passes. We got an amazing tour of the castle, and we got to spend as much time on the castle grounds as we liked! It started to actually be a bit sunny! 

This setting with Adam was probably the most romantic thing I've ever experienced. I mean I just couldn't grasp that I was at a 900 year old castle in a small coastal town in Ireland with a man that flew across the world for me! God is so good! After walking around the castle grounds...we walked down to the coast and took a few quick pictures because it was so cold by the water. 

We then went to grab some lunch. We discovered that Ireland food is pretty much the same as England food...except the beer is better. So we decided to order fish and chips again! These fish and chips were even better than the ones we had in London! We then walked around the small town of Malahide until our train came. Adam is just like me in the fact that we both adore book stores. He and I can spend hours upon hours in them. So of course we went into pretty much every book store we saw in London, Dublin, and now Malahide. We then caught the dart train back to Dublin.

Dublin, Ireland: We were back in Dublin again. We made our way back to our B&B to pick up our luggage. Of course there were several book stores that we passed that we HAD to go into. One in particular was a Christian book store where we decided to buy books for the plane. He bought the book Wild at Heart by John Eldridge and I bought the sister book Captivating by John and Stasi Eldridge. I really love that Adam isn't just dedicated to our relationship...but he's dedicated to our relationship with God as well. We picked up our luggage and caught the paddy wagon airport shuttle to go hop on our plane. 

London, England: We got into Gatwick Airport and immediately caught the train to Canterbury (where my temporary home at the University of Kent is).

Canterbury, England: We got home by taxi around 1:30am...so we basically crashed as soon as we walked in the door. The next day however...we went all around Canterbury. It's a really cute and quaint little cobblestone town. We went into the Canterbury Cathedral, and we saw so many cool things! For example, where Thomas Beckett was murdered, the black princes tomb, and King Henry the IV's tomb, etc. We even took some time to pray in the cathedral...since neither one of us had done that before. It was so nice to have Adam walking around with me. 

He was basically like a tour guide because he's a history major and knows WAY more than I do about British history. My only knowledge is Shakespeare based! haha. Even though I had been in the Cathedral before I learned and saw so much more than I did before because I had Adam there with me! I told you I was a lucky girl, didn't I?! 

We continued walking around the historical streets, and then we decided to take a tea break. We got some tea at one of my favorite cafes in Canterbury. Then we grabbed some groceries to go home to cook and hang out with my roommates. My roommates instantly loved Adam. I knew they would....A) I've never met anyone who dislikes Adam B) I've told them all about how wonderful and sweet he is for the past 3 and a half months. We hung out with my roommates basically all night just laughing and having a good time. Me, Sarah, and Adam even taught them a little bit about how Americans do things. haha. 

Broadstairs, England: The next day Adam, Sarah, and I took the train to a small coastal town in England called Broadstairs. It is so precious! Charles Dickens and some royalty spent/spend their summers there! In Broadstairs we....yeah you guessed it...we went to some book stores. We also went down to the beach, and ate at a delicious restaurant right next to the beach called Wyatt and Jones. This restaurant is Sarah's friend's (that she met in class at Kent) family's restaurant. A few weeks before we came someone found a pearl in one of their oysters! We didn't get so lucky, but we did eat really amazing steaks! We hopped back on the train and made our way back to Canterbury!

The next evening Adam had to leave to go to London City Airport because that is where his flight was leaving from. His plane left so early the next morning that he had to go and stay the night in the airport. Unfortunately, the coach or train to get there was super expensive so I couldn't go with him. Besides, he didn't want me to have to travel back to Canterbury by myself the next day. So I watched him board the coach that night...it was so hard to let him go. He got on the bus and headed out. Luckily Sarah was there to ease the pain, and we went to our favorite mexican place (out of 2) in Canterbury! 

Adam had to leave from London, have a 40 minute layover in Switzerland, another 16 hour layover in Canada, and then flew into Charlotte, NC on Easter Day! Then he had to drive all the way back to Knoxville, TN. Whew....he traveled all that way for little ol' me! If that isn't love...then I don't know what is! 

I am so blessed, lucky, and thankful that I have such a kind, wonderful, funny, and Godly guy in my life! I hope to never take him for granted. I know we will both remember this trip for the rest of our lives. Taking this adventure with him just makes me so excited for the many more adventures that I hope we get to experience together! 

Below is a video I made from our adventures in Ireland! 

Thanks again for reading! My next post will be about my last big trip while abroad: Barcelona!

My Parisian Adventure Part II

Bonjour mes amis!!!

I'm so glad to see you back! 

Hmm so where did we leave off on our last literary adventure?

Oh yes... I remember now...the crazy red light district bartender. Let's pick up from Satuday March 2nd.

Day 3: I was feeling a little under the weather that morning so the girl's went out and about while I stayed and slept in a little. Around lunch time they came to get me and we went to the Notre Dame. There was a line to get into the church but it moved really fast. We spent about 20-30 minutes in what lindsey called "Quasimodo-land" taking pictures and walking around, then we went outside into the cold to wait in line for the tour of the Towers of Notre Dame…another Paris Pass freebie!  This line took FOREVER...and it was extremely cold out...but we waited anyhow. We finally got through the line…and had to climb SOOOO many stairs...my booty definitely got a good workout. When we finally got to the top we saw the most magnificent view of paris. I am so jealous of the gargoyles...they always get that view!   We eventually made our way back down the windy staircase to get a bite to eat! 

We then went to the Crypts of Notre Dame. We thought they were the catacombs under Paris, but apparently those were something different and not included in the Paris Pass. But, it was a warm down there and the guards were nice so we decided to hang out for a bit and decide what to do next. We eventually decided we would goto the Latin Quarter.  We were cold and hungry but it was only 5pm, so we walked around and shopped for a bit. We went into several incredible shops. They were all right up my alley. Mostly fashion boutiques, formal dress stores, and yes....book stores. If you know me at all you'd know that a book store is like a candy store to me-- book stores are better because there are no calories involved! They are my absolute favorite place to be!  There were so many antique book shops in Paris. I was in heaven! However...most of the books were in French...and even though I speak it a little, it would be a great task to read a novel in French. But I didn't fret! Eventually, I found a really old lesson book of French phrases from the 1800's! Of course I had to buy it...I mean... it was only 5 euro! And the coolest part was there are bits of scrap paper with calligraphy handwriting stating a parisian address! Crazy, huh? I wanted to go all Nancy Drew and seek out this mysterious address, but I don't think the girls were as up for it as I was.  Eventually we decided to grab some food. We found a place that sold sushi AND hot plates of Chinese food…..c’est delicieux! We sat at dinner chatting and recuperating for around three hours (when in France, right?).  I was geeking out about my new book so I decided to pick really random phrases out of my book to try and teach each of the girls. Although...I didn't have to try that hard to pick random phrases because the book was so old most of the phrases don't apply to life in Paris now. 

 On our way back to the hotel we found a grocery store that had REALLY cheap wine.  We bought a bottle of sparkling wine for €1.99 and a bottle of red wine for €3, along with some French cheese, baguettes and madelines.  We then had the BEST girls’-night-in in Paris…how lovely and relaxing it was! We just drank and ate and talked and laughed and had heart to hearts. Oh how blessed I am that I've had the chance to connect with such beautiful and wonderful women! We stayed up really late that night...because....well...because we're girls and that's what we do. haha.

Day 4: Sunday, March 3rd

We slept in that morning, which was absolutely lovely. I'm a girl who loves my sleep. After a delicious breakfast at the hotel we decided to head to the Opéra. We sat on the steps of the Opéra for a bit because it was beautifully SUNNY and warm. Sitting on the opera steps in the sunshine looking out at Paris I felt abundantly blessed. I always feel this when I'm traveling...but I felt especially blessed at this moment because we were watching several women trying to pickpocket people on the streets. This made me angry that they were doing this to people. But more than angry...it made me sad because these women haven't had the opportunities that I've had in life. I really need to count my blessings. I really wanted to go up and just offer them some money instead of them having to steal it off me. 

After sitting on the steps, we went to the perfume museum which was well....smelly.  Then we went to a place called the Paris Story (a Paris Pass freebie) which was an hour long video about the history of Paris…that Lauren, Lindsey and Sarah promptly fell asleep in. Apparently I was the only one who absolutely loved learning about the history of Paris! But because they were sleeping, I got to spout off the knowledge I learned from the film, and they just thought I was a historical genius...until they realized I didn't sleep in the film. Oops. We tried to go into the Opéra, but alas it was fashion week and they were using the space for that. We then decided to head to the Aquarium and make our way out to the Chateau des Vincennes. When we got to the Chateau it was closed, but we got some pictures of the outside and the courtyard inside that we were still allowed to walk through. It was magnifique!

After the Chateau we decided we missed American food a little bit so we went to Chipotle. It was delicious!!  And it was a nice break from my French skills because they spoke English there. Just what we needed, complete with a trip next door to the Haagen-Dazs.  Then we trekked back out to a place called Tour Montparnasse (Montparnasse Tower), which is essentially a really tall sky scraper. It was also part of the Paris Pass, and allowed you to go up to the 56th floor of the building and the roof-top for breathtaking views of Paris.  Plus, every night, every hour on the hour from when it gets dark to midnight, the Eiffel Tower shimmers with thousands of sparkling lights. 

 I had never seen a sight as beautiful as this. I was with some of my best friends, under the vast blue sky, breathing in the crisp parisian air experiencing this marvelous world that my God created. I can't even fathom that I experienced that. At that moment I realized there's a difference between living and being alive. I was alive. 

Also, whilst on top of the tower I remembered that this was the day I got saved 8

years ago. Not only did I get to spend my actual birthday in Paris, but I got to spend my spiritual birthday there too! I wasn't just alive. I was alive with the Lord.  

Day 5: Monday, our last day in Paris, we packed up all of our stuff and left it in the luggage room, had our last Parisian breakfast, and went to a special bridge in Paris.  Rumor is that lovers and friends lock their love or friendship to the bridge in the form of a padlock and then throw the keys into the Seine together to symbolize undying love that can never be broken. How romantic, right? So we bought 2 small padlocks, each with 2 keys. Lauren and Sarah wrote their names and the abbreviations for their states on theirs and Lindsey and myself did the same on the other lock. Then we locked the two locks together and locked them onto the bridge.  This was another favorite moment in Paris. I realized that I would never forget this experience or what each of my new friends has taught me. Lauren has taught me to be strong and always go after what I want. Sarah has taught me that with good friends you can get through anything life throws your way. And Lindsey has taught me to count my blessings and to smile whenever I can. I love these girls, and I don't know what I'd do without them. 

After that, we walked to the Eiffel Tower and paid to climb the stairs to the second level, then take the lift to the top. It was an absolutely GORGEOUS day.  55 degrees and sunny. Nothing could have been more perfect...except for the fact that I got pooped on by a bird. But I guess now I can say I was pooped on in Paris. How many people can say that?! haha. 

After that we walked to the “other” statue of liberty that is three bridges down from the Tower, took pictures and then took the metro back to Montmartre so that I could see it since I missed out the morning the girls went. It got to see the Sacre Couer and the bohemian artists in this part of Paris. It was absolutely quaint and lovely. We then went back to the hotel, collected our things, headed to the train station, and boarded our train back to Canterbury.

I am so glad you could come along on this journey with me! Au revoir!

If you want to see a short video from our trip... Click Here!

My Parisian Adventure Part I

Finally I have a little bit of time to sit down and write about my adventures! It's tough to sit down and write about your adventures when you're too busy doing them!

So let me give you a little bit of an exposition before you come with me on this literary excursion. First of all, Paris is the city I've dreamed about my entire life. Second of all, I would be spending my 21st birthday there--the birthday us Americans dream about our whole lives (haha). So basically this trip was going to be EPIC. 

And it was. 

Are you ready to relive this adventure with me? Yes? 

Alright, Let's go. 

First Day: February 28th-- my kinda birthday. I'm a leap year kid so I just gotta settle with Feb. 28th for another three years.

We left Canterbury late on the 27th on a bus. We went from the bus to a ferry to cross the English Channel over to France. While on the ferry Lauren bought me my first legal (American) drink! The girls also got me the cutest mini birthday cake that they snuck all the way onto the ferry so we could eat it at midnight for my kinda birthday! How sweet are they?!? I really adore Sarah, Lauren, and Lindsey. I am so blessed to have met such wonderful girls to travel with! 

We arrived at coast of France...hopped back on our bus....and rode it into Paris. We got into Paris really early in the morning so we took the metro to pick up our Paris Passes. These passes basically got us into a bunch of stuff for free and let us jump all the lines at all the touristy stuff we wanted to go to and gave us unlimited metro rides for a flat rate. It was a pretty good deal if you managed your time to see a ton of stuff...which we did. So we definitely got our money's worth. 

After we picked up our Paris Passes we headed to our hotel. Our hotel was AWESOME! It is called the Hotel Royal Fromentin. This particular hotel was in the neighborhood of Pigalle in Paris which is super close to the village of Montmartre on the hill. If we walked out of our hotel and turned the corner you were lookin' straight at the Moulin Rouge. I was in heaven (which is ironic because we were in the red light district...so more like hell, haha) because that's basically my favorite movie of all time.  It was a safe area but there was a ton of sex shops and cabaret clubs. Although the area was a little raunchy for my taste, the hotel was wonderful. Sarah and I being history nerds figured out that our hotel actually used to be a cabaret itself, called the Don Juan Cabaret. It was opened in the 1860′s and didn’t close until 1950.  Apparently, Ernest Hemingway and Vincent Van Gogh used to be regulars there and would often come there for a bit of Absinthe. They still serve it at the hotel so of course we had to try some!  

                                

                                

  

On the 28th, we started to take advantage of the Paris Pass. It all began at the Chocolate Museum. We definitely cared more about the free samples than the history of cocoa beans though! Then we went down the street to the Grevin Wax Museum, which is sort of like Madame Tussaud’s. Not going to lie though...I was really disappointed that there was no Taylor Swift wax sculpture.

After the wax museum we were all pooped from our travels so we decided to take a "quick" nap then go out for dinner and drinks. Well, 2 hours later we woke up and decided to postpone our crazy night time adventure so we decided to just go to this place down the street from our hotel called the Indiana Cafe. Then we went back and had an early night so that we could get up the next morning for a fun-filled, crazy busy day.

Second Day: March 1st

The next day was Friday. We got up fairly early, had a wonderful (and free) breakfast at our hotel of fresh croissants, cheese, cereal, orange juice, and tea. The waitress didn't speak any English so I had to whip out my French skills! Luckily, I remembered a lot and successfully ordered us breakfast numerous times. I was so proud of myself in Paris! The other girls had taken Spanish throughout school so I was the only one who knew some French! Each day more and more French came back to me. I think if I would've been there for a month I would've done pretty decent in normal conversations. After breakfast we headed toward the main part of Paris and hopped on a Red Bus Tour…this was part of the Paris Pass, and it gave us two days on the red double-decker buses with unlimited travel. We only used it the one morning but it was a good way to see the main sites of Paris and think about what we wanted to do. We started at the Arc de Triomphe, passed the Eiffel Tower, and we hopped off at the Louvre.  We then spent a little over an hour in the Louvre, saw the Mona Lisa (which is so small) and some of the Greek and Roman statues and sculptures (like the Venus de Milo).

                                   

At the Louvre we were getting a little hangry (hunry+angry) so we decided to whip out our baguettes and cheese that we snatched from the hotel’s breakfast. After the hanger passed, we went to the Musee D’Orsay for a bit. This museum is in what used to be Paris's old train station. It was beautiful. We saw Van Gogh's Starry Night and many other famous works.   In the middle of the day we then went to a place called O Chateau for a wine tasting, another Paris Pass activity. How cool...I mean classy...is it that I had a wine tasting in Paris for my 21st birthday?!? Am I lucky or what? Not only could I drink wine legally...I got to drink some of the best wine in the world for free...in PARIS. So cool. 

The wine tasting was an hour long and they gave us three normal-sized glasses of wine, like the amount you would be served in a restaurant.  Needless to say, we were feeling quite well after this activity and we all bought French champagne that was actually made in Champagne. Next, I stopped and confidently asked for directions in French (it must've been the liquid courage). We began to make our way to the Champs Elysees because I really really wanted to stop at Laduree, a French dessert and macaron shop that all my French courses never failed to mention. I had to teach the girls that macarons≠macaroons.  I had never had macarons, but I had always wanted to! The place was just as I had imagined. There were so many beautiful French pastries and lovely decorations! I was in love.

                                       

Next, we took the metro back to the hotel to get ready for our night time birthday extravaganza! We got all dolled up and headed out for the evening. We decided to do a Seine river cruise, which was also included in our Paris Pass. We thought it included dinner...but alas...that was too good to be true. But I think us seeing the Eiffel tower sparkle as we cruised down the river fed us more than food ever could. However after the cruise and the sparkling we decided that food was still a good plan. We went to the closest cafe by the Eiffel tower to grab some dinner. The waiter was a very nice and friendly older Frenchman who didn't speak any English. Once again, I tried to use my French skills to make sure we ordered what we wanted. Since everything came out alright I assumed I did an okay job. I ordered a traditional French meal: Steak-frites...which is basically steak and fries.

                                                                     

Although I didn't have the traditional 21st American birthday, the girls made my birthday absolutely unforgettable. They knew that at UT it is a sorority tradition to make your friends a list of 21 tasks to complete on their 21st birthday. So to make me feel a little more at home they made me a sign of my very own! It sparkled and everything! One of the tasks on my checklist was to order and eat something that I had never tried before. So at this tiny cafe by the Eiffel tower I ordered...escargot. It wasn't too shabby, but it was definitely not my favorite thing I've ever eaten. 

                                  

                                           

                                

We then decided that the Latin Quarter (where we had planned to go) was too far at that time of night because we would have had to take a taxi back, which was expensive. So we headed back to the hotel and stopped at a sort of sketchy bar in the Red Light District to grab a drink. The bar was definitely something new. We saw a few drag queens, and the bartender took a liking to me and teased me bit. He gave me an extra shot, let me come behind the bar, and gave me a surprise and unwanted peck kiss before we left the bar. I was throughly grossed out, but the girls thought it was the funniest thing...and encouragingly kept saying "well now you can say you've kissed a Frenchman". Even though it's not the night we had in mind, it turned out to be a lot of fun and we had some good laughs.

                                  

I know...I know...it's a lot to take in. Just take a breather...eat some cheese or a baguette, and we'll resume this adventure tomorrow. My Parisian Adventure Part II will be coming your way!

Au revoir!