Hungry in Hungary

This past weekend I went to Budapest with a couple of friends: Brigid (a student at Scranton), Allison, and Chelsea.  Budapest was a very random trip for us.  Whenever we searched places to go in Europe, Budapest always showed up as the most underrated city.

And I have to say it was beyond amazing!  I have never been in such a grand city.  According to Brigid, who is a history major, most Easter European cities were very concerned with the architecture and grandeur of there city.  They didn't want to be labeled as "backward" compared to the Western European cities.  I would hands down recommend traveling to Budapest to anyone studying abroad or anyone interested in getting a taste of eastern Europe.

We stayed in a hostel called Pal's hostel.  This wasn't a regular hostel, it was more like a chain of apartments right next to St. Stephen's Basilica. So we ended up staying in a 4 person apartment footsteps away from the basilica.

Besides our great location, another amazing thing was the currency in Hungary.  They are on the forint, which has an exchange rate of 1forint = .0046 dollar.  This was great as it was a nice break from the extremely expensive London, however taking out 25,000 forint at the airport was a bit odd.

I'll leave you with this video to explain the rest:


My favorite things in Budapest:
1. chimney cakes--almost like funnel cakes, but better
2. St. Stephen's Basilica--the grandest Catholic church I've ever been inside.  Makes Notre Dame look bad.
3.  The hop on hop off bus is a great way to get to all the cities main attractions.
4.  Ruin pubs--claustraphobic, but unique atmosphere of a chain of pubs surrounded by a courtyard in the middle
5. The drinking culture-- people sit outside on the steps of the basilica and on the Budda Castle walls to enjoy the view while enjoying a drink
6.  The gelato-- Very good and comes in the shape of a flower

Much Love,
Francesca

A trip to the Lake District

Last weekend my study abroad program, IFSA-Butler, hosted a weekend at the Lake District for us.  The Lake District is located in the north of England, almost near Scotland.  To get there we took a bus from the IFSA Butler House in Central London.  The buses were grouped based on where you were staying, so my bus had a ton of people studying abroad at Queen Mary, KCL, and UCL.  We stayed at the Borrowdale Hostel and it was a great group of 80 boys and girls.  Zach and Adam, both Davidson students, who you met in my Dublin post were also assigned to this hostel.

The bus ride there took longer than expected (almost 9 hours), so the pub quiz we were supposed to have at Glaramara (the hotel where all the main activities took place & much nicer than our hostel) was cancelled.  We arrived at our hostel and were surprised to find out that Annie, Allison, Chelsea, and I had all been assigned to the same room.  Chelsea and I had put each other down as roommates, but it was a nice surprise to be in a room with people we were comfortable with.

Borrowdale Hostel

Our hostel room

 After setting our luggage in our room, we headed to dinner, which was as one of my fellow QMUL classmates stated, "The most mediocre meal I've ever had."  The food was horrible, which was really unfortunate as the other 3 places we could have been assigned to had great food.  But, lucky for us we were with a great group of people and ended the night playing Kings and getting to know each other.

The next morning after breakfast, we headed to Glaramara to be divided into our different activities.  My first activity for the day was dragon boating and unfortunately I don't have any photos because I was told that we had to bring all our stuff with us on the boat.  This wasn't true and made me really sad because the scenery was excellent.  In addition to rowing we got to hop off and explore some of the islands.  We saw where a famous hermit once lived and the house that Beatrix Potter once lived (she wrote the Peter Rabbit books).

After dragon boating, we went back to Glaramara, eat lunch, and proceeded to our next activity.  This time I did gorge scrambling.  We put on wool onesies, suspenders, jackets, helmets, and wellies to do this.  It was so much fun climbing the rocks in the water and sliding down the waterfalls.

From top: Sydney, Sydney, Sam and I.
Girls I met at orientation before heading off to our separate activities

That night after eating dinner at the hostel, we once again headed to Glaramara.  This time for the pub quiz and a party afterward.  It was so much fun.  I got to hang out with some of the Davidson students and the friends I made during orientation.

Davidson does Lake District

Sydney (my roommate from orientation) and I

Emma, me, and Zach

Roomies do lake district

The next day we woke up, packed all our things, and headed to Glaramara for our final activity.  I decided to go into Keswick, which is a super cute little town with shops, coffee places, and of course bakeries.  As it was raining when we got there Chelsea, Annie, Allison, Katrina, Emma, and I stopped for coffee at a cafe.

From the left: Allison, Annie, Emma, Katrina, me, and Chelsea

 As we left the coffee shop Chelsea pointed out a store to me that sold 99s!  I decided I needed to get one then and there.  Even though it wasn't an Irish 99, it didn't disappoint.

Next, we were told that there was a Christmas shop right down the street that we had to go into.  I bought some fudge there and browsed the massive amounts of candy and trinkets they sold there.

Jillian would have been in heaven.

We ended the day by strolling down the street before heading back on the bus to London.

Visitor Centre

All in all it was a great weekend.  I'm excited to share my next trip with you...Budapest!

Much Love,
Francesca

Where are the 99s?

After we got back from dinner we decided it was too late to go out (I know we're boring).  Granted we had been up since 4:30am, so we planned what we wanted to visit on Saturday and headed to bed.  Top of our list was finding a 99, as I really wanted one.

We got a much later start to Saturday than we were expecting, so we had to cross off some things on our list like The Book of Kells.  Luckily, Barry gave us the lowdown on what to expect there.  His words not mine, "You go into the library and see all these old books and think, 'that's cool, but they'll probably all fit in a Kindle anyways.'  Then you see two pages of the book of Kells and you're done."

We used the app Hailo to get a taxi from Barry and Lisa's house.  *If you're ever traveling and have a smart phone download Hailo.  It's the best app for hailing a taxi.  It will give you the name of your driver, the license plate, and the ETA.  The best part is that you can also prepay using a credit card, so that they can't overcharge you!*   And then we were off to Kilmainham Gaol.

Kilmainham Gaol was built in 1796 and was known as a "reform jail".  Instead of having a ton of prisoners crowded into one room, each prisoner had his/her own room with a cot, a candle that had to last you two weeks, and a bucket (you know what for.)  This way you never knew who was in the cell beside you.

A typical prison cell

Door of a prison cell with a tiny hole

This is where Liam will go next time he gets in trouble

hundreds of cells with a pulley used to bring food upstairs.

Part of the rich history of this jail is that of the Easter Rising. 16 Irish men led a rebellion for Irish Independence on Easter morning 1916.  Unfortunately for them, it didn't work out so well and they were all sent to Kilmainham, where they awaited death by firing squad.  The amazing this is what happened after.  One man in particular Joseph Mary Plunkett was able to mary his long-time love, Grace, moments before his death in the chapel at the jail.  This heart-breaking story is what caused many Irish to be moved and fight for independence.

Chapel where Grace and Joseph were married.

Cross that stands where 15 of the 16 were executed.

I would definitely recommend visiting Kilmainham Gaol if you're ever in Dublin.  Our tour guide was great and it was really neat learning about the rich history that surrounds the Republic of Ireland.  You might even get lucky and have a girl who at the conclusion of the tour asks, "So is Ireland it's own country now?"

Next up was Temple Bar.  This is a really touristy area, but we were determined to get fish and chips and of course a drink at Temple Bar.  The Temple Bar area was really neat filled with little shops, pubs, and restaurants.  I was determined to find a 99 on the way from the jail to temple bar and in the temple bar area, but unfortunately we were unable to do so. 

Fish and Chips at Burdocks

From Temple Bar we ventured to Dublin Castle, which was really pretty on the outside.  We were expecting it to be just as grand on the inside, but it wasn't.  Troubled by the fact that a room entitled, "Queen's Bedroom" did not contain a bed, we decided to ask one of the workers.  Apparently the Irish government is allowed to use the Castle for conferences whenever they wish, so they keep as little things as possible inside the rooms, so that it's easier to set up for events.  Most of the original pieces are hidden away in storage!  

Dublin Castle

I want to live in this blue house

Entrance to the Castle museum

We decided to ask the workers at the castle where to get a 99.  They gave us directions to a place, but unfortunately both places they told us to go only make them during the summer.  Next up was St. Patrick's Cathedral.  We were too late to go inside, but the outside was so pretty!  The park would be a perfect place to study if you're studying in Dublin.

St. Patrick's Cathedral

Pretty water fountain in the middle of the park

Allison, Chelsea, and I outside the entrance

I was a little sad that I wasn't staying later on Sunday, because it would've been wonderful to go to mass at St. Patrick's, but after taking some pictures of St. Patrick's we were back to the house.  We got ready fairly quickly and were off to see Caroline.  Caroline and a couple of other Americans studying at Trinity live in this beautiful big house.  To my surprise all the other Davidson students were there as well.  It was so much fun to see everyone.  We hung out at Caroline's for a little bit before heading out to a pub and then a club called Dicey's.  It was really fun at the club dancing with Americans (British people tend to not move a lot when they dance).  Chelsea even got a wig from someone that she's planning on using for her Halloween costume.  We all told her she needs to thoroughly wash it first!

From the top: Emma, Katrina, Zach, me, Caroline, Kevin, and Adam
Davidson students do Dublin

Caroline and I

Dicey's stamp on my hand

This post has been really long, but I had an awesome time in Dublin and am excited to be back there soon even though 99s don't seem to exist there anymore :(

Much Love,

Francesca

A weekend trip to Dublin

Top of the morning to you!

Two weekends ago on October 11-13 I took a little weekend trip to Dublin with a couple of friends from Queen Mary.  Myself, Chelsea (who you've already met), and Allison (a student from Lafayette College) came and stayed with me at my cousin Barry's house.  It was great because I got to see Barry, meet his fiancee, Lisa, and we all got our own rooms.

The reason for this trip was that I really wanted to visit one of my best friends from Davidson, Caroline, who is studying abroad at Trinity College.

By coincidence Chelsea also has a good friend that goes to F&M with her who is on the same program with Caroline.  We decided this weekend would be perfect as it was her friend's birthday weekend.  Unfortunately things didn't go as planned and Chelsea's friend had to fly home due to a family emergency.

We left for Dublin early on Friday morning.  The flights we've been booking recently have been leaving really early, so it's been quite a hassle getting to the airport with the tube opening later, but we've found one of the most convenient modes of transportation... The National Express.  The National Express is a 24/7 bus service that picks up right across the street from our tube station, Mile End, and goes to a variety of places including Stansted Airport.  So, we boarded a 5:17am bus to Stansted airport and off to Dublin we went.

At the airport we met up with Adam, Emma, Zach, and Katrina--All Davidson students studying abroad in London, who coincidentally picked the same weekend to go to Dublin to visit Caroline.  We didn't realize that you had to queue in order to get seats on Ryanair.  We thought the number on our ticket was the order you boarded, so we decided to join a bachelor party in line that had the most awesome t-shirts.   Our flight was extremely late, arriving an hour late to Dublin, but I guess that's typical of Ryanair.

We got a taxi at the airport and were off to Barry and Lisa's house.  We ate lunch and then headed to the Guinness Storehouse.  There we met up with the other Queen Mary students and had a fun afternoon learning how to make Guinness, sampling, and enjoying the view from the top of the Brewery.

Queen Mary students do the Guinness Storehouse

"It's supposed to taste like chocolate and coffee..."

Allison, me, and Chelsea with our pints

The view of Dublin from the top of the brewery

Me, Chelsea, Jessica, and Allison with our pints

Steak and Ale Pie at Guinness Storehouse

After the storehouse we went back to the house, where we met up with Barry and Lisa for dinner.  Lucy (Barry's sister) also came and it was great to catch up as I haven't seen either of them in over 2 years.  We went to an Italian restaurant in Dundrum, which is a large shopping center with really funny flat escalator ramps.  The dinner was so good I got a pasta dish and then my favorite dessert, tiramisu.

Me, Barry, Lisa, and Lucy after dinner

That's all I'm going to type for now.  I'll post Dublin part 2 tomorrow!

xx,

Francesca

Hola Barcelona!

Hola!

That's about all the Spanish I know, which didn't really help me at all when i went to BARCELONA last weekend, Sept 27-29th.  It was such an amazing trip and I was lucky enough to go with two of the most wonderful people Emma (my roommate from Davidson) and Katrina (one of my best friends from Davidson).

Katrina, like me studied French throughout high school and college, so we were helpless.  Emma speaks Spanish very well (she thinks she doesn't)  was our navigator and translator for the weekend.

I'm going to leave this little video to explain the rest of the trip and leave you with a list of my favorite things about Barcelona and a few pictures.

1.  The weather is simply splendid, quite a nice break from London
2.  Tapas.  My favorite are croquettes--basically processed ham that has a fried shell...so yummy!
3.  The history--We got to sit on the steps that Christopher Columbus strolled down when he landed in Spain to tell Ferdinand and Isabella about the Western World.
4.  The views.  If you ever get a chance to go to Barcelona climb the steps up to Parc Guille.  The view of the entire city and the Mediterranean is breathtaking.
5.  The sangria--hands down one of my favorite experiences sitting at a cafe on Las Ramblas and sipping out of huge straws with 2 of my best friends.

Emma and I after our first meal in Barcelona.  Where did the tapas go?

A cute little quote on the wall of our hostel--Fabrizio's Petit Palace

Basilica de la sagrada Familia

Emma and I at Parc Montjuic with the Fountain show in the background

Katrina, Emma, and I at the Castle at Montjuic

On the steps where Columbus arrived in Spain

The beautiful view of the city and Mediterranean in the background

A Catalan Christmas tradition.  They hide these figurines in their nativity scenes!

Much Love,
Francesca

In a crepey mood

This past Thursday Chelsea and I decided to check out the Shoreditch area of East London. We also were really in the mood for crepes, which is why we ventured there in the first place, but that's beside the point.  Shoreditch is a very trendy area of East London filled with pubs, clubs, restaurants, and shopping.

We took the 205 bus there, which picks up right in front of our campus and got off near Shoreditch High Street. The bus ride was about 20 min because we went during rush hour, but the scenery and buildings along the way were so neat.

We walked from our stop, Curtain Rd, to the cutest little creperie I think I've ever seen. The name of it was Shutterbug and it reminded us both of a Starbucks, but with mood lighting. There was a ton of people studying there and working on various projects. It's safe to say I might go back there come exam time.  We both ordered a coffee... Well I ordered a latte and Chelsea opted for a hot chocolate. 

Next up on the menu, a delicious pulled pork with BBQ sauce and mozzarella cheese crepe. I think I might have been missing North Carolina a bit. 

And last but not least a dessert crepe. Because who can resist that? I got

The chocolate Oreo and Chelsea ordered a rocky road crepe 

I've got to say the dinner crepe I had was probably the best I've ever had, but I'm going to hold off on saying the same for the dessert crepe.  I'm beyond excited to get a banana Nutella crepe in Paris, where I'll be November 15-17.

Much love,

Francesca