London

So, I've been failing at keeping up with my blog, but I'm going to do a couple posts to try to bring everyone up to speed in my crazy, Irish life.

Two weekends ago I traveled to London.  I wanted to love London, I really did, but my first impression was being stuck in traffic for half an hour trying to get from the airport to the hostel.  It was just busy and crowded.  Cork is crowded but not like that!  

We walked through Piccadilly Circus that first night and I was absolutely amazed by the architecture.  The streets were lined with beautiful, huge, white buildings --I had never seen anything like it before.   But, as I was trying to take in the beautiful nighttime lights and architecture, my friends and I were literally bombarded by night club promoters trying to get us into their clubs.  It was annoying and overwhelming.  We ended up at a small pub, it was cozy, but the beer choice was awful. When Foster's is the best beer on tap you know something's wrong. I'm already spoiled by my Murphy's and Guinness.  

Our first night in London. Typical with the double-decker bus.

Though I wasn't the biggest fan of London, I was excited to be able to go to some of the most well-known tourist spots ever.  I saw Big Ben, the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, Hampton Court Palace, the tower of London, Buckingham Palace (They charge like 20 pounds for you to see Kate's dress, that should be illegal).   

Me doing the tourist thing in front of Big Ben.

A couple highlights from the trip:

1. A picnic on the lawn of Hampton Court Palace.  The palace, home to royal families since the 18th century, was amazing, unbelievable really.  The whole thing was just so rich and the gardens were so lush, I was having such a hard time trying to believe that people had actually lived in a place like that. There was a chapel built right into one of the wings of the palace that was absolutely incredible, I almost cried a little.  But back to my picnic:  on the grounds of a palace in which royalty has lived, eaten from the nicest china and silver, slept in the most luxurious fabrics, received the most expensive gifts, I sat with my friends and a loaf of white bread (stolen from the hostel that morning), and a 99p jar of peanut butter.  I laughed at the irony, and felt like I was sticking it to the rich man a little as I enjoyed my lunch.

 2. The Crown Jewels at the Tower of London

I don't consider myself a jewelry lover by any means, and honestly, I could care less about diamonds and gold.  But the display of the Crown Jewels made my girly, feminine side come out and I was in awe.  The diamonds and jewels that were on display had me drooling.  There's something about a 546 carat diamond that makes me excited.  

Though I enjoyed my time in London, I could never live there.  It was way too big and too touristy and everything seemed fake.  That's the thing about Cork and Ireland in general, it's more real, and down-to-earth.  I love it even more after London.

-Moll