Dublin

Ireland, is one of the best place I have been to, with great scenic sites to visit and a energized capital city I couldn't help but enjoy myself. Just a side note to anyone who plans on travelling, plan ahead so that you can get cheap flights and not have to spend 11 hours just going to your location. Other then that, no complaints from me on the Green Isle. 

Once I finally arrived I slept for an hour and woke up for a day out in the Wicklow Mountains. Up there in the mountains, which are actually not mountains according to the tour guide, but are big enough to be given the name? Confusing I know but it is irrelevant for the enjoyment of the trip. The best part of these mountains is that it was all foggy and rolling landscape, traveling down windy roads along the mountain. We saw an estate tucked down in a small little valley of the mountains, next to the Guinness lake as its called. Primarily because it looks like Guinness with its black water and the sand around its bank. We rolled along and made some other cool scenic sites. One stop was at the two lakes valley, in a small village located in a little valley in the Wicklow mountains. Next to the Lakes was the ruins of one of the oldest monasteries in Ireland. I enjoyed the mountains because the scenery all around was so interesting, and the history of the land. In a way it was very deserted, and quiet up in the mountains. Not much happened there, especially in all the little villages dotted along the mountains. It has an eerie mystical atmosphere to the whole adventure. Our final stop for the day was at the oldest wool mill in Ireland. They called it Avoca, and in the mill they have some of the oldest looms that are still producing hand made products to this day. We had lunch in the small town at a pub called Fitzgeralds and the food was pretty good. It was a good day, and I'm glad I was at able to see the Irish countryside. Unfortunately I didn't catch a leprechaun...

Day two was a day of walking around the fair city of Dublin. Our lovely walking tour guide was Eileen, and she gave the ol' run around of the city. Learned about the "happy" history of the Irish people. If you didn't catch the quotes it is not very pretty. Lots of fighting and rebellions, most which ended in failure sadly. After about half way through the tour we stopped for lunch. Of course this is were I make another side note about food. Here in Dublin I had one of the most amazing pies I have ever had. It was a venison and chorrizo pie, with mash and gravy! Ladies and Gents if you have no idea what I'm talking about, you are sadly missing out on one of the best pieces of Irish and English culture. So many types of pies are offered along with pasties and the assortment of delicacies of baked goods in the U.K. Think about a chicken pot pie, then your close but not good enough. Anyways back to Ireland, and the Dublin experience. Lucky for me the tour was completely free, unfortunately I took a wrong turn at Albuquerque and was able to find my group until the tour was already over. After the tour, our merry band headed off to the hallmark of Dublin city: GUINNESS! Had a nice little tour of the place, at St. James Gate, were it is just one of the plants that produces Guinness for the world. Arthur Guinness was so confident in his product, started in 1759, that he signed a lease on the land for St. James Gate for 9000 years! That is a long time, but so far the past 200 years have shown nothing but growth in the Guinness company and it continues to prosper. 

The last stage of the journey was the night time activities, bringing us up close and personal with the Irish persona. We went out with the Hostel pub crawl, where people from all over the world came together to visit  a few local pubs, listen to the good ol' Irish ballads, and have a few pints if you chose to. It was a fun night with our mob trying to maneuver the cobble stones of the Dublin city. The night ended and we meandered back to our hostel as our adventure came to a final close. We had enjoyed the sights of the Green Isle, the fair city of Dublin, and the culture it has to offer. I hope one day to return to the Green Isle with me lads in tow, and we'll have a rantin good time. 

Thanks for reading until next time Cheers,

Zach

Molly Malone (Cockles & Mussels) with lyrics

My London

My London is a small little pub tucked away next to the river. Where people passing by don't even know it is open. Yet inside there is group playing traditional English music. The pub is not to big, the room smells of age, where ladies young and old play darts. The pub has an air of age not only in its structure but in its atmosphere. Patrons are the locals here, no fancy posh to the pub. It is simple in presentation, and one is happy to sit and sip a drink while they sit and listen to the merry tunes of yesteryear. Go to any other large scale pub and they are all the same, but the small english pub that has nothing to prove that is the diamond in the rough.

Some more of my London is walking just to walk and you'll soon find yourself in some fantastic place in London. It is a city that allows you to get as lost as you want to, and still find your way back home. Find a random street that can only fit one car down. It has a history older then those who walk or live on it. But it is kin to the buildings that still stand along it passageways. It is down these historical byways one can discover London in there own way, and even find places hidden from those who do not know the way. The cobblestones lead you to small squares with pubs or a green patch of grass left to remind us of the past and how good can come of bad. Markets hidden from tourists and known by those who hide them, London in it self is a maze, a labyrinth . If given a lifetime to explore her every ally way or street, one could not fully grasp her entirety and that is what gives my London her magic. A city unplanned, a city of diversity and mystery, a city of history, and if nothing else a city.

London

London is a fantastic city, but England is amazing in all its rich history. Yesterday our group went to a place called Bath. Here in bath they discovered the remnants of an old roman bath. The site was amazing, so much of the structure was still in contact and the main pool was actually still all together. The hot spring that everything was built around was still in use up until the 18th century, but the rest of the facilities had been built upon and forgotten about. It was rediscovered in the 1700s and many things were discovered in the site. Artifacts that help link Roman and Britain culture together in the Roman empire. One of the most amazing things about it was that what was the bath house of Roman times is below ground level, but it was originally ground level. History was literally three dimensional and you had to descend the stairs of the facility to see what once was. The area that was the courtyard was even underground and was dug up so you could see the stones that made the walk way. Another amazing thing was the engineering of the Romans technology. They had lead pipes that ran water all through the bathhouse to the different pools located in different rooms. They even had canals that drained used water out of the bathhouse and into the river, all this was done by gravity as well. 

To be able to actually see physical evidence of the Romans being a part of British history was eye opening. It really takes history to a whole new level in my mind. The Romans were a very real civilization, with technology that was at the top of its time. The Romans were in no way less intelligent then we are today, the times have simply changed and the atmosphere we live in. It made history seem not so distant then I once thought it to be. The site was just breathtaking and I can not describe it and the full impact it had on me completely but it was fantastic and recommend it to anyone who is England or visiting it.