The one in Prague

So I got up after a few hours of sleep, quickly grabbed my stuff, and hurried to catch the subway to the train station. We made it there in plenty of time so we grabbed a quick breakfast (Dunkin Donuts, I've never appreciated your everything bagel with cream cheese more in my life than at that moment) and then found our platform. The train ride to Prague was beautiful. The train rode along a winding river with rolling hills behind it and small houses and buildings that seemed to disappear into the mountainside that dominated the scene. It really was quite beautiful. I slept for part of it but I sat up for a good portion and just looked out the window at the passing hills. We arrived in Prague, exchanged our currency to Czech crowns and then came up with a game plan. We would meet up with Rachel, a friend of Monica, Jamie, and Torey's and then we would go on a 2 hour bus tour of the city before checking into our hostel.

So we found a place in the train station to lock up our luggage for the day and then went to find a nice little restaurant in the train station to grab some lunch and wait for Rachel. She joined us and we all ate ham and cheese paninis, and after a short while, we said goodbye and walked to the starting point of our bus tour. This was the best decision of the trip. Prague was beautiful, but if I had been seeing the city on food, I would have frozen to death. It was absolutely bitter cold and it was much nicer to enjoy the sights of the city from the warm comfort of our personal tour bus with english audio guides. This trip made it difficult to take pictures because we were inside a bus but we learned a ton about the history of Prague and the buildings that we passed. If we had had more time there, I would have liked to find a crystal shop or square or something. As it was, the city is beautiful but I'd recommend going when it's a bit warmer.

After the tour, it dropped us back off near the station and we went to get our luggage out of the lockers and headed to the hostel. The hostel was adorable but kind of far away. Prague has amazing public transportation but we didn't know how to use it until the lady at the front desk explained it to us very clearly in English. Clearly, none of us speak Czech. Anyway, we headed upstairs to our 6 person private room and unpacked our bags for the night. We set out everything for when we were going to sleep and even put our shower stuff in the shower so it would be ready to go with minimal effort necessary for later that night or the next morning. Then we headed back to the city center to find our something for dinner and then our pub crawl.

First we went to check in at the pub crawl and told the guy at the bar that we'd be back in a little bit after we found something to eat. He then informed us that we could order food from a place nearby and he's go pick it up for us! That way we could start drinking for free and really get our money's worth for the pub crawl! Let me tell you, we got our money's worth. For the first 2 hours, beer, wine, shots of vodka and absynth, were all free. That can be dangerous so we took our time drinking and eating but definitely made it worth it. The rest of the pub crawl was a blast too. We became friends with a lot of other people on the crawl as well and had a great time dancing the night away at all the pubs we went to. The best part was in the middle when we went to a jazz bar where they played live jazz music; it was really impressive and cool to see a live band playing jazz; you don't see that much in the states. So after a wonderful night with old friends, new friends, and free pub crawl t-shirts, we headed back to our hostel to get yet again about 3 hours of sleep.

It took us forever to get back because the tram doesn't run at night and the night tram didn't go all the way to our hostel. So we took the tram halfway, walked for a while, got lost because we couldn't cross the river on foot (clearly because we're not Jesus), so we took a cab for the last length of the trip. When we got back, I showered, slept for a few hours, got up, and then got on the shuttle to take us back to the train station. It was a short trip in Prague but we were hoping that Vienna would be warmer.

The one in Berlin

So we arrived in Berlin at 4:30 in the morning. What do you do at 4:30 in the morning? Really though, what do you do? Well, we decided to freshen up in the bathroom for a good 45 minutes or so and then finally the cafes in the train station started to open. We grabbed a bite to eat and either some juice, tea, or coffee. Then we sat around and enjoyed our breakfast while writing in our journals or reading. Then we went back up and got more to eat and drink. I may be mistaken but some of the girls might have even gone up a third time. We really had a lot of time to kill. At 8 in the morning we headed out to find our hostel. It was about a 20 minute walk but we found it without a problem. The hostel was great and really clean. Actually, they overbooked on accident so we ended up getting a private room for 6 instead of a shared room for 10 at the same price. Win. We loved the hostel.

Because we had a wonderful room with wonderful beds, it was time for a quick hour nap. It was amazing and well worth it. We got up and headed out to find some lunch before our free walking tour. And this time, we were going to get to the free walking tour early because there was no way we were going to miss it this time. We asked the nice guy at the reception desk where you recommended for lunch and he pointed us in the direction of a donner kebap stand a few blocks away. This was our first take of a donner kebap. Wow. It was cheap. It was quick. And it was fantastic. Horrible for you but fantastic. Basically all it is is a bunch of meat shoved into a pita like a gyro and then on top they put lettuce, tomato, onions if you want them, and then spread a garlic and yogurt sauce on the inside layers. I'll repeat; Wow. It was wonderful.

We headed to the pick up point of our tour after lunch where we met our tour guide, Matt, and then we followed him till we made it to the starting point in front of the Museum. It was on one side of a very large square. Now this square was full of interesting facts: 1. The Museum was the first national museum that the Germans built and it took them 2 years to name it. When they finally did, they came up with "The Museum". 2. In front of The Museum is one of the 8 wonders of the world: the largest single piece of granite found in the world with it's 8 meters in diameter, it looks like a giant cereal bowl and was supposed to be a main attraction in The Museum but it wouldn't fit through the columns to the entrance of The Museum. 3. The square was one of the main locations used for rallies and speeches for the Nazis. Hitler often times stood on the podium in front of The Museum and preached unity with one government and one ruler: one united Germany. Too bad everyone fell for it.

At the meeting point, we also met a lot of the other people on the tour including a group of 4 guys from the US who where studying in London. 2 of them even go to U of I and 1 lives in Naperville! It's a small world wherever you go. We enjoyed the tour with our new friends.

A few other interesting facts that I learned include understanding how Hitler killed himself the day after he was married in his bunker, how the street behind the main Catholic church in the city is called "the street behind the Catholic church street," and also that the Germans number every tree in Berlin with a tag. I even got a picture with tree number one!, I also saw the most expensive and lavish hotel in Berlin where Queen Elizabeth always stays and Michael Jackson uses to hang babies out of the window, and then I saw checkpoint Charlie and a few pieces of the Berlin Wall.

Overall, Berlin is a very interesting city filled with history. It is much more spread out than any of the other cities I've seen in Europe. Other cities have small buildings separated by small alleys and streets with a few grand or larger buildings every now and then. But Berlin has only large buildings separated by large streets and occasionally even larger people. I really enjoyed the city but one day certainly wasn't enough to get the right feel for it.

After the walking tour, we ate some German bratwurst for dinner and went back to the hostel to shower before our night out in Berlin. Our friends from earlier that day came to meet up with us at our hostel and we had a good time discussing mutual friends and swapping stories. We found a pretty crazy bar that had rings of actual fire hanging from the ceiling. We hung out there for a few hours before heading back to the hostel to catch about 3 hours of sleep before moving on to Prague.

The one in Amsterdam

Here starts a massive blog session of my weeklong winter break. I'm going to break it up into 4 posts to make it easier to write and then later read. So I'll start with the first leg of the trip where we ventured North into the Netherlands to the wild city of Amsterdam.

We got to Amsterdam on a Sunday. We traveled there by the Thalys train and got off the train in the heart of the city. That's really the best part about trains and not flying. You get off the train and you're right there in the action! Not to mention the fact that you don't have to pay another 10 euro or so to find the center of the city. You're already there! So we left the station and headed out to find our hostel and drop off our luggage before touring the city. On our way to our hostel, we ran into a very nice old man who tried to help us with directions. Unfortunately, we were headed in the correct direction and he insisted that we go a different way. He even wanted to take us in that direction himself! This old man, wearing a ridiculous Russian looking fur hat but with his ears popping out, walked about 2 blocks with us before he realized he was taking us the wrong direction. No worries though, he pointed us back to where we came from and we made it to the hostel about 10 minutes later.

Amsterdam's beauty if underrated. I know it is a city known for its more wild attributes and lenient laws but the city itself is gorgeous. As a town built around trade, the numerous winding canals and bridges give the city a unique peaceful feeling. The canals are lined with rows of buildings, each 5 stories high and very thin but perfectly connected to one another. The different colors of each building help display where one separates and where the next one begins. In the water of the canals, you will see skinny boat after skinny boat. Many are inhabited, a few look abandoned, and others look like they're waiting out the bitter cold of February before even thinking of being used. Like I said, the city is peaceful. It has narrow sidewalks and is continuously bustling with people, most of which are in a hurry for the sole reason of getting out of the cold. But if I thought Amsterdam was cold, just wait till you hear me tell about Berlin and Prague...

Anyway, we dropped off our luggage, ate some burgers in the bar of our hostel (thanks Durty Nelly's for the great deals!) and came up with a game plan for the next 2 days. We started with a tour of the Jewish History Museum. As a Catholic traveling with 3 Jewish girls, it was really interesting to learn about their religion, what it's like today, and the traditions behind it as well. The museum didn't focus much on WWII but it did go into Jewish history in the city of Amsterdam and explained how the Jews were persecuted, specifically in that area. This leads me to our next adventure, the Anne Frank house.

We walked form the museum to the other side of the city to visit the historic Anne Frank house. My friend Audrey who had visited Amsterdam already gave us a tip that if you buy your tickets online ahead of time, you don't have to wait in line. Lucky for us, we listened. While the line for the museum was down the block, we walked straight up to the door and walked right it. Hello fastpass! That was definitely a win. The Anne Frank house was amazing. We got to see exactly where and how they lived while the Germans occupied the Netherlands. We even got to see Anne's real diary and hear testimonies of people who were in the concentration camp with her (via video of course). The saddest part of the entire story was that 2 days after her older sister died in the camp, Anne proclaimed that she had nothing left to live for and also passed away. The camp was liberated a month later and Anne's father had survived. It was Mr. Frank who had the diary published and turned the store/hidden house into the museum that it is today. Anne's dream was the be a journalist or novelist and her father made sure that happened. I agree that this experience is slightly morbid but it was incredibly interesting and I didn't want to leave it out. Moving on!

After our visit to the Anne Frank house, we went to eat at a famous stir-fry place called Wok-to-Walk. It was delicious! Then we stopped in a coffeehouse just to see what it was like. We then passed through the red light district and after that, we did what the 6 of us girls do best: eat! First we ate waffles covered in chocolate, custard, strawberries and bananas, and then we ate french fries with ketchup and mayonnaise! It was a feast. Good thing we do a ton of walking or I would have gained 5 pounds. We called it an early night and got some sleep. Pretty much the only sleep we got for the rest of the trip.

The next morning we ate our free breakfast at the hostel and then went to find gloves and scarves before the free walking tour. You see, I lost my gloves on my Scotland trip (huge bummer) and none of us brought hats. We didn't really expect the 15 degree weather and it was a lot to handle when we were used to upper 40s, low 50s in Paris. So we did the super touristy thing and all bought winter hats with a giant "AMSTERDAM" printed across it. Yes, we did wear them the entire trip after this second day purchase. So after we paid, we hurried over to the meeting point for the free walking tour. But to our dismay, they were no where to be found! So we quickly went to the starting point which was about a 5 minute walk away and got there just in time for the start. But again, to our dismay, they couldn't possibly take anymore people! Oh come on, we were 6 girls and they had over 150 people split into 6 groups! We were the only people that didn't get to tag along. Again, huge bummer. But it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

We realized later that day that had we gone on the walking tour, we wouldn't have been able to fit in 2 of the other events we had planned for that day. So when we were turned away from the walking tour, we went to item number 2 on the agenda: the Heineken experience. We took a tram all the way to the Heineken brewery on the south end of the city. The tram driving was really helpful in telling us where to get off and she even gave us a coupon that got us each 3 euro off on the ticket price!

The Heineken experience was certainly an experience. I learned all about the history of the Heineken family, how the company got its start in Amsterdam, and then how Heineken brews their beer. There was even a 4D ride where "I was the beer" and the ride rocked, shoot, sprayed us with water, cooked us with head lamps, and much more. It was really neat. At the end, we each learned how to properly taste a beer, poor beer from a tap and then enjoyed a nice pint of fresh Heineken that was only a week old and had been shipped from the new brewery 10 minutes away. I never really developed a taste for Heineken at home but I really enjoyed the fresh Heineken. Overall, a great experience.

After visiting the brewery, we did a little sight-seeing on our own by visiting some of the places the walking tour would have taken us. We visited the "Skinny Bridge" and took a few pictures on it. It was funny because the bridge wasn't that skinny and we had no idea what the significance of the bridge was but it seemed to be a big deal so why not take pictures? Then we went to the famous flower market and passed by all the vendors selling Holland's well known Tulips.

Eventually we made it over to the Pancake Bakery which was our destination after sight-seeing. It was only a block or 2 down from the Anne Frank house and it's pancakes are apparently famous. For anyone who ever plans on going to the Pancake Bakery, which I strongly recommend if you are going to Amsterdam, find a partner and split an omelet for lunch and then split a sweet pancake for dessert. A sweet pancake alone is too much for one person to handle as their main meal. Jamie and I split a canadian omelet, complete with ham, canadian bacon, mushrooms, cheese, and onions, and then split a banana pancake with chocolate sauce. This was possibly the best meal I had all trip. If you go to Amsterdam, go to the Pancake Bakery.

After our late lunch, we didn't have much time before our overnight train to Berlin so we grabbed sandwiches that we would eat later for dinner, got our luggage from the hostel, and headed back to the train station. Our overnight train was nothing like the overnight train I took in China but then again, I'm sure I paid much less for the train in Amsterdam. We had compartments that many of us compared to the compartments in the Harry Potter movies. But these ones had airplane seats instead of benches. We played euchre for a few hours and then all tried to sleep in cramped compartments while sitting up. Before we knew it, it was 4:30 and we were arriving in Germany. Berlin, here we come!

The one with Le Chateau de Vincennes

We had a really fun week with basically no class (as usual) and lots of fun Paris things like shopping. I bought 2 beautiful new dresses and a spring jacket that I plan on wearing constantly for the next 2 months. In other words, I really want winter to be over and to have constant Spring. We also went out a few times, tried out a new club, and even finished watching season 1 of Glee. It's been a very relaxing week.

Then on Friday we decided to do something touristy before our big trip so we went to Le Chateau de Vincennes. I didn't actually know where we were going; it was Hugh's idea and he said it was a big forest... go figure. He's really into forests or something. But I'm all about being outdoors on any day that it isn't raining so I figured a few hours in a giant park/forest could be great. What I wasn't expecting was a giant castle built by King Charles V. It was an entire fortress with a huge mote surrounding the mini-city and then another mote surrounding the actual castle. Charles V even built a church inside the walls that models Saint Chapelle. In later year, there were another 2 palaces constructed inside the city walls, 1 for the king and one for the queen. Must be nice to have your own palace on top of your castle. Anyway, later the castle was turned into a prison and lots of famous French people were kept their and many of them left paintings and carvings in the walls. It was really quite a sight as it's the only castle inside Paris and we didn't even know it existed! Luckily we are under 26 so we got to see everything for free like most attractions in Paris.

Then today we basically prepared for the big trip. We did lots of research and created itineraries for each city. We even marked on maps where each location was so we don't waste time while we're there trying to figure out the directions. It's gonna be a blast. Bon voyage!

The one with St. Valentine's Day

This weekend was wonderful. I loved having Kelly, Audrey, and Karrah stay with me. It was so great to see friendly faces from home. We did a few touristy things and they did a few without me too. My favorite part of the weekend was Sunday afternoon when we went to Notre Dame. On Sunday afternoons at 4:30, Notre Dame hosts an organ concert with one organist on its Grand Organ. We went to listen to the music, which was incredible, and the girls who hadn't seen Notre Dame yet walked around the Basilica. I'm still mesmerized by Notre Dame in general.

After the concert, we went and got some famous Berthillion ice cream on l'ile St. Louis and enjoyed it even more the second time around. The girls left later on that night and Courtney and I hung back in our apartment and watched a few episodes of Glee.

Then today came; Valentine's Day. I wasn't sure how today would go for me but it really has been a wonderful day. When I woke up, I went for a quick run, helped put together Courtney's Valentine's day present from her boyfriend, and picked up a package from Danny at the Accent center. He sent me chocolate and candy from home! It was amazing; I've missed my Dove dark chocolate, Swedish fish, and sour patch kids. He's the best.

After getting ready for the day, Courtney and I headed out to Sacre Coeur on the North side of the city. Apparently, the best view of Sacre Coeur is at Twilight so I'll have to go back again. Sacre Coeur is both a historical and iconic landmark for Paris and it's point off the main dome is the second highest point in the city. We climbed the many steps to the top of the hill where the church sits and entered the Basilica after taking yet another couple shot of the two of us. Inside was incredible. It was similar to Notre Dame in it's arches and structure but completely different in decoration and interior design. The dome above the altar has a beautiful, elaborate painting of Jesus with his arms outstretched and different pieces are plated in gold. Inside the church, they are very strict about not speaking so we don't disturb the few people sitting in the pews to pray. I am definitely going back for mass one Sunday. I won't really be able to understand anything because the masses are in French but then again, I haven't been able to really understand mass since I've been here anyway so there isn't much of a difference. Unfortunately, the crypt and dome, which you can climb to look out over the city, weren't open today. I definitely want to go back in the future to visit both of those as well.

After our excursion to Sacre Coeur, Courtney and I headed back home. We picked up some chicken for dinner and a baguette as usual. I did a load of laundry and actually did a little homework for the first time since arriving in Paris. It's been a great day. For some reason, I do have a small bit of homesickness tonight but I'm sure that's for a lot of reasons. So tonight on this Valentine's day, I just want to say that I love you all, especially for reading my blog, and I hope you had a wonderful Valentine's day! Bon soir!

The one with Disneyland Paris

It's been a great week since we got back from Scotland. Monday was absolutely beautiful; Courtney and I went for a walk down Les Champs-Elysees and it was so warm, I didn't even wear a coat! L'arc de Triomphe is absolutely beautiful and we enjoyed the view of the grand avenue from below it. We went through another week of classes, partying on Tuesday night for Dane's birthday, and then Thursday finally came.

Now something interesting about Courtney and I is that we are both recovering from periods of excessive stress and responsibility since we left our Presidential positions. The reason I use the word recovering is because we don't fully understand what non-presidential people do with their time. We have decided to fill ours with excessive workouts and conditioning! I've been running on and off over the past 2 weeks but Thursday was our first official conditioning day. Let's just say it kicked my butt, literally. It's two days later and I'm still walking funny. Our goal: fill time/sexy by summer.

Thursday night we went out on the town near our apartment building. We had an amazing night full of wine, beer, and crepes! We stopped by our favorite crepe stand, like we do every night we go out, to say hi to the Pakistani Crepe Stand Mani, as we like to call him. He gives us free refills on fries because we give him so much service :) We bar hopped a little, ended up at the Irish pub Corcoran's where we had a few beers, and then about 2:30 we decided it really was time to get to bed because we were going to Disney in the morning! But, as Patrick the Irishman said, we had to take one for the road or it will be bad luck. So Courtney and I split one for the road, and got the best luck ever the following day.

Friday morning we woke up at about 8:15 after only sleeping about 5 hours. Personally, I prefer at least 8 hours of sleep after a night out so I wasn't the happiest morning person. But since it was for Disney, I simply had to make sacrifices! So I popped two Excedrin, got ready really fast and headed for the metro. After a 45 minute train ride, we were in Disneyland Paris! The happiest place in the world! It only opened in 1993 and was laid-out perfectly. We spent the entire day hurrying around the park to get the most out of each section. Over the course of the day, we managed to eat a hot dog, french fries, churros, ice cream and bbq ribs and potatoes. It was a feat.

The rides were amazing. My favorite was space mountain. The amazing thing about Disney rides is that most of them are indoor and you aren't just experiencing a rollercoaster, you are enjoying a rollercoaster plus special effects plus music plus decorations and every ride becomes more of an experience than a ride. From what I've heard though I've never been there, Disneyland Paris is very similar to Disney world but much smaller and they took the best rides from world, improved them and made them longer for Paris. Well, we couldn't beat that! Again, the weather was amazing, 63 degrees, so we walked around the park all day in the sunshine without jackets, and since it was a Friday there weren't very many people there and our average wait time per ride was approximately 7 minutes. Now that was luck.

After a fun filled day of Tower of Terror, Space mountain, Buzz Lightyear's adventure, and so much more, we finally headed home to get ready for Monica's birthday celebration! We went out last night to Cafe Oz which is a giant bar (bigger than a normal bar but smaller than a club). Monica was loving life and I was loving our giant group of friends and having everyone together. But it got better! After being at the bar for about an hour or two, who walks in but my best friends from home, Kelly, Audrey, Natalie, and Karrah! I was thrilled! We stayed at the bar till 3:30 and then walked home in a big group. We didn't make it to bed till 5 but we're all up and ready for another night out. First we're going out for French fondue for Monica's birthday! I'm hoping that our luck lasts and it is another great night with my friends from home and celebration of Monica's birthday part 2!

The one in Scotland

The week leading up to our trip to Scotland was the first week that felt a little more routine. We had class a few days out of the week, went running a few times, and also went out of few times. We went to this great Irish pub that's really close to our apartment called Corcoran's and I got in an intense dance-off with a french man. Then a few nights later on Thursday, we went back to club Mix and danced partied there for a few hours. Courtney and I had to leave our apartment by 5 AM the next morning though, so we didn't stay too long. We made it to bed by 2 and then got up for the best weekend we've had yet.

Our trip to Edinburgh was loooooong. First we walked to the metro station, Gare du Lyon, and too a train to Gare du Nord. From there, we took an hour long train out of Paris to the small city of Beuvais. Unfortunately, the airport isn't in the city center so we had to take a shuttle bus to the airport and then wait for our flight to leave. Gotta love Ryan Air! Honestly, the flight was really cheap and if you don't mind the hassle of getting to the airport, it's definitely worth it. So we got into Edinburgh at about noon and really wanted to make it to the free tour of the city that started at 1. Unfortunately again, the passport line took over 45 minutes so we didn't even get to the bus till 1. But we made it to the center of Edinburgh in about 20 minutes are started walking around to find our hostel and some food. We were starving and exhausted but incredibly excited to see the city.

Edinburgh is beautiful. It's a small town compared to Paris so it made it very easy for us to navigate. The rolling hills all over the city gave us a great work-out as we walked along admiring the buildings and green grass. The only downfall was the downpour that we were walking through. On the bright side, we were seeing the real Scotland! It wouldn't really be Scotland without the clouds and rain as everyone told us. By the time we made it to our hostel, we were completely soaked. Castle Rock was a great hostel; great people, great view of the castle, clean, and really fun. We dropped off our stuff and then headed back into the rain to Vat & Fiddle for some grub. We ate some soup and sandwiches and then went to explore the town a little more.

First we went up by the castle and took some pictures and admired the view from the top of the hill. Then we did a little shopping and I bought a 100% lambswool scarf. I forgot to mention this before but I love scarves and I want to buy one in every country that I visit; I want the scarves to kind of represent the country I went to so that wool, purple plaid scarf from Scotland was perfect! We shopped around a little more and then went back to Castle Rock for a quick nap before dinner and our pub crawl.

We only had 30 minutes to eat before the pub crawl when we woke up, so as embarrassing as it is, we popped into the McDonalds to grab some chicken strips and fries. We made it to the pub crawl just in time! And its a good thing we did or we might have missed our first free pint! We drank up and then headed to our second pub. The pub crawl went to 5 pubs and then a club at the end. At each pub, everyone took a free shot and then there were really great drink specials for anyone on the pub crawl. It was awesome. For those of you that believe the true way to take a shot is straight without a chaser, you'd be very proud of me because not only did I take a straight shot with no chaser, but it was a whiskey shot and anyone that knows me knows I hate whiskey. I was very proud of myself. Then halfway through the pub crawl we met up with Callie Pittman and her friend Jeri who finished the crawl with us. We met a lot of really fun people and had a great night.

Then the next morning was our big tour of the highlands. We went from 9 in the morning till 7 at night touring the Scotland highlands, stopping at castles and lochs to enjoy the scenery and beauty of Scotland's highlands. It was truly amazing. Our tour guide, Bob, was an old Scottish man that made jokes and ripped on the English. Well, he really poked fun at everyone. He made a comment that the Americans would be the first off the bus at every picture stop because we take pictures of anything old. It was a completely true statement; we don't have anything old in our country so old things like broken down castles intrigue us! He was absolutely hilarious and very insightful about all things Scottish. We learned a small amount about Scotland's history, historic figures, such as William Wallace, Robert the Bruce, and Mary Queen of Scots. He also explained some of Scotland's customs and culture such as the kilt, haggis (their national food which is the lining of a sheep's stomach ground up), and of course whiskey. Bob talked for a long time about "the true Scottish men" and explained how women often try to find out if they are real men or not by sneakily checking under their kilts. This was one of the last stories he told us after we'd visited the castle where Monty Python and the Holy Grail was filmed and also Loch Lomond. The scenery was amazing, the ride was smooth, and the commentary was very enjoyable.

We got back from the tour, grabbed some dinner and a pint at Binny Mulligan's pub and headed for our second night out on the town. First we went back to one of the bars we had been at on the pub crawl and we ended up seeing a few Germans that we met the previous night. We had a couple rounds there, switched pubs a few times, and called it a semi-early night at 1:30 because we had to leave our hostel by 4:30 to catch our plane home. So after a few quick hours of sleep, Courtney and I headed back to Paris.

Sunday was decently uneventful. I napped for about 2 hours, went to mass, had dinner, and then went to watch the superbowl. We made fast friends with a few of the locals and a bartender, got some free drinks, had a great time regardless of the outcome of the game, and finally went home by 6 AM to get some sleep. It would be the first night in 3 nights that I slept more than 3 hours. I was really looking forward to getting into my bed.