Tessa's Travels: May 2009

London: 25/4 to 27/4

I wouldn't have been happy to have lived in Ireland for 9 months and not have been to London. I've heard many mixed reactions to the city but was determined to go and find my own. With such a short stay, we tried to make full use of our time, going straight from the airport to a bike tour, again with Fat Tire. This tour wasn't as good as Barcelona since we didn't really cover that much of the city and had a massive group, but was still fun and we got really great ideas for what to do with the rest of our time. We saw Big Ben, Hyde Park, Westminster, Westminster Abbey, the Buckingham Palace, the Winston Churchill Museum, Number 10 Downing Street, the London Marathon, the Tower Bridge, London Bridge, and Trafalger Square. Fun fact about Big Ben: Big Ben isn't actually the name of the clock, it's the name of the biggest bell in the clock tower. I know, shocking! The Churchill Museum was in the bomb shelter where Great Britain planned their WWII strategies and was spectacularly done, with most untouched since the War. They had audio guides that explained what each room was used for and so on. Part of the museum that was my favourite was super interactive just about Churchill: there was touch screens everywhere to learn more about him as a person and politician. Another highlight was finding Platform 9 and 3/4 at King's Cross Station (for those not in the know, that's the platform Harry Potter and co use to get to Hogwart's). They had a trolley halfway in the wall- it was very impressive and fun. London served host to fantastic Indian food! Surprisingly, I was incredibly disappointed by their subway system! It was outrageously expensive compared to everywhere else I've lived in and traveled to, didn't have that many stops in the city center, and was poorly marked. But other than that, London was pretty good and about what I was expecting: another big city with sites to see.

Big Ben. Surprise.

Platform 9 and 3/4

Lights on Tower Bridge

Water at the Princess Diana Fountain Memorial

Westminster Abbey, complete with double decker bus

Barcelona: 17/4 to 21/4

The last stop of my almost three week tour was Barcelona and what a stop it was! This was probably my favourite city that I have ever visited and I would love to live there for any amount of time. Gaudi of course is absolutely breathtaking but there was much more to the city than his buildings. The first day, we rented a little three-wheeler/golfcart/most fun ever vehicle from a tour company (www.gocartours.es) and drove around on the busy city roads attempting to follow a set route, giggling all the way. It was so fun- the steering, gas, and brakes were just like a four-wheeler: you twisted the handle to accelerate and had handbrakes and turned the handles to turn. We also got quite amusing helmets so most people that saw us were laughing, taking pictures, or just stariing. When you are on one of the two routes, the car tells you all about what you are seeing, from architecture to history to fun facts. When you're not on the route, which was unintentionally fairly often for us, you're on your own to drive and discover. Much of the time I spent wandering the streets, taking pictures, people watching, and enjoying the weather. We did find time to see the only cathedral in the city, the Sagrada Familia, the Picasso Museum, and do a bike tour! The Sagrada Familia was incredible, they've been building it for about 100 years, with funding strictly from donations only, and they aren't close to being done for good reason- every tiny detail was thoughtfully designed with painstaking precision. There is scaffolding inside and out, plus ladders, machinery, and construction workers at every turn. It was really neat to see it now, when it is still a construction site. I'm planning on coming back once it is completely, which is currently estimated to 2026, the 100 year anniversary of Gaudi's death. I went up to the top of the church and saw all of Barcelona laid out around me and then took hundreds of spiraling stairs down to ground level again. The Picasso Museum was pretty cool, seeing many of his first first attempts of his later famous paintings, sketches, and coursework from school. They also showed the inspiration and starting point to many of his later paintings and explained how he got to the point of it at its finished state. The bike tour with Fat Tire was a highlight of the trip, I met some really awesome people from all over the world and had a blast. We went all around the city, learned some interesting facts, and had some great food on the beach. The weather again for the entire trip was fabulous- sunny and blue skies in every direction. I really can't wait to go back to this city.

Me and Robbie in the Go "Car"

Pretty tree at a pack

Pretty lamp posts by City Hall

Just one I like

Typical street at night

The front of the Sagrada Familia

The spiral steps down

Two of the four towers

Inside the church with tons of scaffolding

Madrid: 14/4 to 17/4

We chose to go to Madrid because we wanted to see more of Spain and because I have a friend, Sarah, studying there for the semester. It turned out to be great, with not so great weather. Sarah and her friends gave us some great tips on what to see in Madrid and when to go. We saw the Palace for only 3 euro on the only day that it's open to the public; visited the stellar collection of contemporary art at the Caxiam Forum for free; saw some beautiful parks; and found some amazing strictly vegetarian restaurants with great food and prices, too! All in all, it was a nice city but incredibly difficult to navigate and not a whole lot to do if you're sick of museums. It did have some great shopping, though!

The Royal Palace

The Palace from afar

Overlooking the city

Rome: 8/4 to 14/4

Italy was incredible! The weather was amazing, we were in t-shirts and shorts everyday; the city was beautiful- we spent about 5 days there and had tons to see and do; and the depth of history was just absolutely unfathomable. The Roman Forum and the Colosseum were the oldest things I have ever seen, being used thousands of years before the white people even knew my home continent existed. It's amazing how good of shape many of the structures were in with minimal repairs considering their age. I also found it so mind-blowing how ingenious their efforts were, when you think they had no electricity, no bulldozers or cranes, no computers... And yet in this day we still have difficulties constructing a building to withstand an earthquake, let alone 5,000 years of earthquakes.

For three days, we had an Italian friend, Ricardo, as a tour guide. He showed us really great, off the beaten track sites- like seeing the Vatican at night through a keyhole from miles away and getting us into parts of churches that most people aren't allowed in and finding unbelievable food for an unbelievably cheap price. Definitely find an Italian friend if you can!

The last two days we spent at a hostel/country club on the coast, taking in the sun on the beach and relaxing before we took off for our week in Spain.

Me at the Colosseum

A nice bridge

Padlocks lovers put on the fence

Trevi Fountain

Me seashell hunting

Inside the Vatican

The Roman Forum

A bridge over the Tiber

Ireland: 4/4 to 8/4

I know I've been living in Ireland the entire time, but not with my family! They all came to visit me this spring and we traveled all around the North and saw a bit of the Republic as well. I met my sisters and parents at the Dublin airport on Saturday morning and we were off! We rented a car and Dad drove most of the time; he was a bit shaky at first, but quickly mastered roundabouts while shifting with a different hand in a car he'd never seen before, and still in opposite world! We had our first night in Larne and slowly made our way there, stopping in Hillsbourgh for food and a stretch of the legs, then visiting the Carrickfergus Castle in the evening. It took a bit to get over the jetlag (Ireland is 6 hours ahead of Wisconsin) but we made up for it the next day by taking advantage of the beautiful weather and conquering the Glenarriff, Carrick-a-Rede bridge, Giant's Causeway and a bit of my stomping ground, Derry. We then spent the night in Derry and moved on to Strabane and further south to find some fishing, stopping at a few castles and the Dark Hedges along the way. We found this great bed and breakfast in the middle of nowhere, kind of near Navan. The owners were spectacular, very hospitable and genuinely great people. Our last day we spent seeing the Hill of Slane, New Grange, and the Guinness Brewery, spending the night near the Dublin airport for our early flights the next morning; off to Rome for myself, Paris for Mom, Madrid for Cali, and back home for Dad and Hattie.

I'm so thankful my family was able to visit me here and see what I've been up to the last 8+ months. I really enjoyed showing them around and sharing my experiences with them. We had a blast and made some great memories and I can't wait for our next family vacation!