A Royal Time

It turns out, we spent more time in London than expected...bringing our visit to an end after six days. We missed our flight on the last day by about 10 minutes because we underestimated the time it would take us to get to the airport on public transit. Both of us were frustrated with the extra 100 pounds to fly out the next morning and the extra 73 pounds I spent on a hotel next to the airport. I guess one or two glitches is expected though...

Which brings me to our first night in London. When we finally arrived at Hyde Park, it was 1am, and after walking around the entire park we made it to the worst hostel I've ever seen. Apparently there was a mix-up with bookings so we walked into a room with 25 sleeping people and had to climb the 3-tiered bunks to find available beds. It felt like walking into an orphanage.

Dillon, my hero, found us another hostel with a 6-person room and our own bathroom within the first two hours we were there...by running around in the middle of the night while I obliviously tried to sleep.

Once that got figured out, London was great. We spent the first day walking through Hyde Park and the string of parks that led to Buckingham Palace.













The next day, we ventured out on the metro system and found Big Ben, the Tower Bridge, and Parliament.





Other than walking around and sight-seeing, Dillon and I went to the market in Camden, which has renovated old horse stables into somewhat of a flea market. We met up with my friend Mariah Louie from Island Lake and her sister who has lived in London for about 5 years. It was nice to hang out with them and get insider advice on what to do in the city. She gave us a heads-up on where to find half-price theatre tickets and so we went to CHICAGO that night! I'd never seen it before, but I recognized all the songs :)



London is such a huge city, I'm glad we covered all the ground we did. AND we finally made it to Paris!

xoxo
Caitlin
caitlinboyd72@gmail.com

I.Am.Sterdam.

Amsterdam is one of the most beautiful cities I've ever seen. It's got that romantic quality to it with its cobblestone, endless seas of bicycles, and crooked houses along canals.



(btw, Mom, I've been killing Dillon at the slug-bug game over here)

Out of the 4 days we were in the city, 2 of them were sunny. The weather reminded me a lot of Seattle...and so did all the coffee shops until I learned the difference between a 'coffee shop' and a 'cafe'...hint: they actually serve coffee at cafes ;)

Dillon and I did a lot; we toured the Royal Palace and the Rujikmuseum, walked through Westerpark, biked along the waterfront, went dancing, and enjoyed the annual Gay Celebration festivities of the weekend.

The Palace right across the street from our hostel:






There was a lot of drag over the weekend...Dill and I both got hit on by members of the same sex, which was really funny




Our hostel, the Hotel Tamara. We shared our room with a couple from Germany, three guys from England, and a group of kids from Hong Kong while we were there. It was my first REAL hostel experience since I've had private rooms at the last three I've stayed at. Before our trip we decided to book rooms for 6 people or less so we could actually get to know the people sleeping in our room, which has proved to be a good idea since some hostel rooms can sleep up to 24


Our favorite breakfast cafe...with singing waitresses!


We've made it to London now. And don't worry, I'm not anywhere near the riots, though the Hyde Park neighborhood has taken more security precautions than usual.

xoxo
Caitlin
caitlinboyd72@gmail.com

Dublin

Hello!
Internet has been patchy, but I'm FINALLY able to blog and catch you up!

Currently I'm writing from Amsterdam, but I'll save those adventures for tomorrow now that I know where to pick up Wi-fi.

Flying into Dublin was a whirlwhind. Dillon and I flew from Seattle to Toronto, where we had a 4 hour lay-over, and then from Toronto to Dublin. For about the first two days, we were completely disoriented as to what time or what day it was. We left August 1st at 8:30am and landed on August 2nd at 8:20am.



Overall, our flights went smoothly. We had a short delay, but otherwise we occupied ourselves with crosswords and the books we bought for the trip. And for the record, my backpack is exactly 22lbs. even though no one has checked haha.

On landing, we were told about a deal for a 'hop-on, hop-off' style bus which would give us a free ride and tour around the city, as well as a ride to and from the airport. An option like that was very relieving since we hadn't planned anything.

We stayed in a hotel called The Durban House, which was pretty central and just off the main drag in Dublin.




Dublin proved to be a pretty quiet city. Highlights included:
1) drinking my very first Guinness at the first Guinness brewery






2) delicious scones at the Queen of Tarts


3) drinking at the Palace Pub, where we got to hang out and talk politics/agricultural standards/human rights with an Irish man named Dez


and 4) the Dublin Castle, which is not medieval like I thought it would be, but a Georgian-style, built on the remains of the medieval castle. The cool part about our (free) tour was going underground to see remnants of the old castle they had unearthed.






I'm so glad to finally be in Europe. Dublin was a good time and it can only get better! Feel free to e-mail me or leave comments :)

xoxo
Caitlin
caitlinboyd72@gmail.com

San Fran

My visa appointment went smoothly, which is an absolute miracle. Mom and I got up 3 hours early to finish printing my documents and passport pictures. I was sick to my stomach the entire time because 1)there was a confirmation I hadn't received yet, and 2) a visa takes 2-3 weeks to process and I'm leaving for Europe on Monday...yikes. Basically the man on the other side of the plexi-glass during my appointment could have crushed all my travel plans if he wanted. I am a very lucky girl


I finally got my appetite back and it was only fitting to have a french breakfast :)




Ironically, I just read a review in the Wall Street Journal on a San Franciscan restaurant named Alioto's. Mom and I found it almost right away and got to business on our seafood. Isn't she cute in her bib?!




This is the Palace of Fine Arts. I could have spent a whole day there, it was beautiful


That would be Alcatraz to the left of her head ;)


Ghiradelli Square...as about delicious as it sounds






Lombard Street...it was actually built like that to stem traffic flow with its zig-zags, but that plan kind of backfired


CHINATOWN!


We rode the trolley from Fisherman's Wharf up through Russian Hill and down to Union Square. We waited quite a while at one of the stops because every trolley passing by was full. We decided to hike a little and wait til the crowd thinned out, which was actually the best plan. Otherwise, we might have missed our flight!!


xoxo
Caitlin
caitlinboyd72@gmail.com

down by the bay

The first leg of my trip to Europe is actually a flight to San Francisco, to get my student visa squared away.

Mom and I packed bags for the night and jetted down to the bay yesterday. It's kind of surreal taking a 'day trip' with barely any luggage... I guess it won't feel much different though when I get on a flight to Dublin with nothing but a 20lb backpack.

We're really good at traveling together. Obviously, Mom and I have hung out a few times, but she's one of those people who have the same interests in a new place that I do...as well as some motherly reassurance when I stress out ;)

We navigated the BART and downtown without a problem. And I should mention we killed the crossword on the airplane too.

Now it's off to breakfast, the French Consulate, and a full 11 hours in San Fran!!



xoxo
Caitlin
caitlinboyd72@gmail.com