Irish for the weekend

Our original plan for this past weekend was to go to Munich, Germany for Oktoberfest. However we found out the whole trip was going to cost us quite a bit of money, so we decided to go to Dublin, Ireland instead.

Our flight was at a normal time so we didn't have to wake up too too early. We were flying out of Paris BVA so we had to take a 1.5hr shuttle bus from the Port Maillot bus station, which I hated because that particular bus always made me carsick. 

Once we got to Dublin, we got into a taxi and realized that the cars drove on the opposite side of the road there, and that the driver's seat was on the left instead of the right. I sat in the passenger seat so it was definitely really trippy to be in that seat while the car was moving, but it wasn't I who was driving it!

We then arrived at our hotel where we checked in, expecting to get a king sized bed for the 4 of us to share (which is what we originally booked), but when we got to our room, we found 2 single beds and a double bed. It was a super pleasant surprise!

We then went to explore Dublin, and very soon I noticed Dublin reminded me a lot of Toronto! The buildings were not too old (like in Paris or the other countries we have visited), and everything was actually in English. We had lunch at KC Peaches which one of our new Irish friends recommended to us, and it was absolutely delicious!

Grafton Street

KC Peaches

After that we wanted to go to Penneys, and asked one of the waitresses where the nearest one was. The waitress was kind enough to come out from behind the counter and stand in the street to draw us a map and give us directions. People in Ireland are so nice! On our way to Penneys, we found a Tim Hortons inside of a Spar convenience store. It was soo weird and unexpected! Let's just say Letizia and Karen were beyond ecstatic. We then get to Penneys, and let me tell you... Penneys is THE best store in the entire universe, I cannot even express my love for it. I spent a ridiculous amount of money there but got the best stuff for so cheap! (ie. a thick circle scarf for 4€, slipper socks for 1.50€, shoes for 12€... what?!) I ended up buying 4 pairs of shoes and it was a mission and a half to fit all my purchases into my backpack. I ended up having to wear 2 thick scarves and my hat, shove my slipper socks into my jacket pockets, and hide my purse and camera under my jacket for the plane. Shopping in Europe is seriously the best, so many cute things and more variety than in Canada. 

Tim Hortons section

My Penneys purchases! (with the exception of a few small items)

Anyway, kind of went off on a tangent there... back to Dublin. After Penney's, we went to get fish & chips at Leo Burdock's, a place that the hotel recommended. When we got there, we found out that many celebrities such as Tom Cruise and Jackie Chan have also eaten there which was pretty cool. The portions at Leo's were HUGE for the price we paid. I don't think I had ever seen a bigger piece of fish! The taste of the fish & chips itself was not bad... it was pretty good but I've had better. After dinner, we met up with Brianne's friend who was on exchange in Dublin, along with some of her new friends. We headed over to Temple Bar, in the Temple Bar area, where we had a few drinks. There, we actually met a guy from London who had gone on exchange to ISC Paris a few years back. What a small world!

Leo Burdock fish & chips

Dublin at night

Yummiest drink

The next day, we met up with one of Rebecca (one of our new Irish friends)'s best friend, Sarah. She took us to a crepe place called Lemon Crepe & Coffee Co. where we grabbed breakfast and chatted for a bit. Then, she took us through Stephens Green Park and Trinity College (where she actually went to school!). After we explored the streets of Dublin some more, and then stopped to get 99ers, something Letizia was the most excited for. 99ers are soft serve vanilla ice cream cones with Flake bars stuck into the side. They were deelicious! Best soft serve I had had in a while. We then went to Penneys (again) where we picked up a few more items, before saying goodbye to Sarah and making our way to the Guinness Storehouse. 

Lemon

Pretty fall scenery at Stephens Green

Trinity College

Us with our 99ers

At the Guinness Storehouse, we learned about the Guinness brewing process, got to taste test some of the beer, and finally learned to pour our own pints!! I would say I like the taste of Guinness in small amounts, but I definitely could not finish a whole pint to myself. We also got to go to the Gravity Bar at the top floor of the storehouse for some panoramic views of Dublin.

Not a fan of the taste

Us with our Perfect Pint certificates!

After we left Guinness, we went for dinner at a greek restaurant named Corfu. I ordered feta pies to start (SO good), chicken souvlaki, and baklava for dessert. We ended up staying at the restaurant for like 3 hours because the waiter would never come to our table. 

Feta pies

We then went back to our hotel where we all struggled to pack our new goodies into our backpacks, and then just had a chill night in since we had to wake up at 3AM for our flight back to Paris. When we got to the airport, there was a lot more repacking of items and Brianne and Letizia even had to buy a water bottle from a duty free store so that they could get the plastic bag to put all their leftover items in it that wouldn't fit into their backpacks. 

My airport attire

All in all, Dublin was a fun city, especially to shop! Penneys, I will forever love you ♥

Bull Fights and Palaces

Continuing on our Spain adventure, our next stop was Madrid. Our flight was delayed 45 minutes so we were stuck sitting in the plane on the runway. Eventually we took off, and landed in sunny Madrid. What a change from the previous day's weather!

Streets of Madrid

We checked into our hotel, where we were informed that our friends that we were meeting up with were waiting for us at a nearby restaurant. We then met up with them, and made our way to the Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas to catch a bull fight. Going into this, I didn't realize how gory and sad bull fights actually were. I didn't know that they actually killed the bull at the end, until a few days prior to that. There is definitely no way to prepare for what you actually see at the fight.

Las Ventas

The crew

First, let me say that the stadium was so cool! There were rows and rows of stone benches (somewhat like a baseball  stadium). We met a few people in the row in front of us who were from the US (Washington to be exact), who were there to teach English.

The stadium was pretty full

The bull fight began around 7pm with the entrance of all the people involved in the bull fights, such as the matadors, their assistants, and the picadores on their horses. To sum it up, a bullfight begins with a bull being let into the bullring, the assistants executing several moves with their capes to get the bulls going and figure out how they react. Then, a picador enters the ring on a horse and challenges the bull, and when the bull tries to charge at the him, the picador stabs the bull between its shoulder blades with a large sword. After, one of the assistants (or sometimes the matador himself) strategically stabs the bull with 6 barbed sticks between the shoulder blades to further weaken and anger the bull. At the end, the matador performs several more moves with his cape for the bull to charge at, and eventually when he gets the opportunity, he stabs the bull one last time with his sword and kills it. Then donkeys enter the bullring and pull the dead bull out of the ring. The first time I saw it happen from start to finish, I was in shock. It was beyond sad, and was pretty much animal cruelty. I still shudder at the thought of seeing the bull's blood dripping down its body. On a brighter note, one of the matadors reminded me of Antonio Banderas so we named him Antonio and got excited everytime he came into the stadium. He actually ended up getting hit by a bull's horn and got injured! But he ended up being okay (at least so I think...).

Entrance of everyone involved

One of the assistants with the bull

After the bull fight, we went to Plaza Mayor for dinner where I ordered paella. It was definitely not as good as the paella from the restaurant in Barcelona but was still okay. That night, someone had set up a large telescope and was offering free views of the moon with it. We took advantage of that and got to see the surface of the moon, which was pretty cool. After dinner, we headed back to my friends' hotel, where on the way we passed Puerta del Sol, as well as many people hassling us with free shots to go to their bar/club. At my friends' hotel, we sat on their balcony and popped bottles of sparkling wine and had a mini wine tasting. It was so chill, just sitting there listening to music and having glasses of wine. After, my friends went out but I was sick so I just headed back to the hotel and called it an early night.

Karen with the telescope

Plaza Mayor

Puerta del Sol

The next morning we woke up nice and early to go see the Palacio Real de Madrid, but when we got there, we realized it was closed to the public as there was a royal ceremony occuring that day. We watched the procession of soldiers and horses and cars, hoping to catch a glimpse of someone famous. Eventually nothing really great happened so we left, and went to hang out by a nearby cathedral and take in the beautiful weather.

Palacio Real de Madrid

Waiting for something exciting to happen...

In front of the church

After, on the way back to our hotel, we stopped by a few shops and did some shopping. There was a Pull & Bear there (one of my fave stores in Europe) and I found a pair of boots I really liked but they were just too expensive for what they were made of. We then made our way back to our hotel to grab our stuff and head to the airport to fly back to Paris.

Eat & Repeat: Barcelona Edition

That's pretty much all we did in Spain, really. Eat. Tapas, paella, sangria... anything Spanish. But before I get into more detail about that, I'll start from the beginning of our trip.

We actually found this in Madrid but I find it a fitting title for my Barcelona post

Our weekend trip to Spain this time consisted of stopping at Barcelona and then Madrid. Our flight from Paris to Barcelona was at 6:40am, and in true procrastinator fashion, I did not end up sleeping until 3am. Was I a zombie the entire time again? Yes. 

To start off the trip, the taxi we ordered did not show up. By this time it was 5am so we were freaking out. We had to call another cab and we ended up getting to the airport fine. We then went through security, where as luck would have it, I get chosen to do a body search. JOY. Of all days, really? We then go to pick up our stuff from the bins that go through the security check, where of course our bin gets stopped to get searched. Turns out Allan had put his >100ml bottle of lotion in his carry on. Clearly all modes of transportation hate us. But in the end, we end up getting on the plane fine and land in Barcelona. 

We had already known prior to flying over that Barcelona would be rainy for the day. We just didn't expect how crazy the rain would actually be. We went to our hotel, dropped off our bags as check-in was at 2pm but we arrived at 9am. On our way to find the nearest metro station, we stopped by Barceloneta Beach, one of Barcelona's top 10 beaches. It was gloomy and rainy so it was completely dead except for a few surfers here and there.

Our original plan had been to start at Parc Guell, then make our way over to Sagrada Familia, then explore the Gothic Quarter (or Barri Gotic), and then go to Las Ramblas at night. Due to the rain, we decided to postpone Parc Guell and start at Sagrada Familia instead. By the time we got off the metro, it was POURING. Our shoes were soaked within the first 15 minutes of being out in the rain, and it did not help that we realized after 20 minutes that we were standing in the wrong line to purchase tickets. We finally got into the church, and the inside was gorgeous. Gaudi's work is spectacular! We soon finished looking around the cathedral and went to go look through the museum and gift shop, just to avoid the rain for a bit longer. After, we headed outside to attempt to take a few photos of the church's exterior. That was a mission in itself! We couldn't look up without our faces/cameras getting wet, so we got like 3 photos, which were all pretty terrible.

We then miserably made our way to grab lunch, and then took the metro to the Gothic Quarter. There, we saw the Barcelona Cathedral (also difficult to photograph in the rain), and decided to find a cafe to sit in for a while to wait out the rain. We spent 2 hours at Crema & Caffe sipping on tea & cappucinos, while trying to dry off. It was inevitable that we had to head back to our hostel at some point in time so we headed back, checked in, and chilled in our room for a bit.

Barcelona Cathedral

Mint tea, green tea, cappucino

Bedcelona Gracia Hostel

After, we decided to go for tapas at Celler de Tapas. For those who don't know what tapas are, they are small plates of various Spanish appetizers which are deeelicious! We ordered a few different dishes and a pitcher of sangria, and met a lovely couple from Halifax who had noticed we were either from Canada or the US and started talking to us. I highly recommend this tapas restaurant, the prices are reasonable and the food is amazing.

The grilled squid with garlic and parsley dressing (bottom middle) was to die for

After tapas, we made our way to Las Ramblas, where we did some shopping. Now since it was raining outside, everyone was told to leave their umbrellas by the door. By the time we were finished at H&M, my umbrella had been stolen. I was so sad. We then made our way to a few other shops before going for dinner at Taller de Tapas. They have the best paella there, definitely worth trying! After dinner, we realized that Karen's umbrella had also been stolen from the umbrella bin at the front of the restaurant. Clearly today was not our day. All we had left was Allan's very broken umbrella which was just bent beyond repair. We went back to the hostel and called it a night.

H&M in Barcelona

Paella

Broken umbrella

Side note: I am never staying in a hostel ever again. Call me high maintenance, but I just couldn't deal with it. The beds themselves were okay, but the fact that we had to share a washroom and there was only 1 for 12 people was not ideal.

Prior to my flight to Barcelona, I had not known that flying when you were sick was a bad idea. I had a cough and runny nose, so by the end of the flight, my ear was hurting because it would not pop back from the air pressure, and my head was also killing me. Being sick, with my head hurting and ear messed up, while walking in the rain all day was not fun.

Overall we had a pretty crappy experience in Barcelona, minus the food. I really really wish we got to go to Parc Guell, it seems like such an amazing place with interesting architecture. It was just a shame that we didn't have better weather or else I'm sure I would've loved Barcelona!