Going International

Average Adventure: Sevilla, Spain

Mary1 Comment

Well, this has been well over due. I went to Sevilla back in November to visit my friend Molly who was there for the semester. I would say that this is easily one of my favorite trips and most memorable trips that I made while I was away. I think it’s probably because I was going to visit one of my really good friends and it was the first time I was with someone who knew me really well for the first time in months, it was great.

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There were orange trees everywhere. This was something that really puzzled me. They aren’t eaten. I don’t know why that bothered me so much, it just did. I just thought it would be so innovative if there was just food all over the city. I don’t know.

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We did a lot of sightseeing on the Friday that I was there. We got there Thursday but our train form Madrid left super early and we were exhausted so we saw more of the city and then looked at more stuff the next day. This is the view from the top of a church. A church. I believe it was the Cathedral de Sevilla. It was a Catholic church too, which was cool for me. The top picture was taken in this area that had a lot of holes for me to trip in, which I tripped in most of them, but it was in the church. The church was absolutely massive.

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This was the wall tile in a building somewhere, I thought it was pretty.

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That evening we went to see the sunset on the top of the Metropol Parasol. It was absolutely amazing. It was one of those sunsets, or maybe even moments that you can’t even believe is real.

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I believe this is the Plaza de España. This was an area of a lot of wedding pictures.  It was very pretty. I love this last picture of Molly and I because I’m like totally ready and already posing, but I have no idea what she’s doing haha.

One more post from my trip coming eventually!

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Average Adventure: Madrid, Spain

Mary5 Comments

First things first, whoops on the post that was supposed to go up tomorrow. Anyway, after going to London, my next stop was Sevilla, but it’s to expensive to go straight there. I was going to try and work out the bus from Madrid to Sevilla, but they don’t accept American cards online so instead, I chose to take the train the next day and spend the night in  Madrid, because that was still cheaper than flying straight to Sevilla, plus I got to see more of Spain. While I’m super glad I went to London and Brighton, I kind of wish I got to spend more time in Spain, but that just means that I’ll have to go back one day.

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Part of the problem about going to Spain was that I remember very little Spanish. I knew very little of what things said. This was some type of museum, of what I’m not sure.

I found it really interesting that so many of their street signs were covered up with stickers. I thought it looked really cool but also it might be confusing to drive around if you don’t know your way.

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Here’s some treetops.

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My favorite thing about Spain was that everything was so intricate and there was so much attention to detail. This was just the Metro but the gate was detailed, the sign was detailed, it was just nice place.

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Then finally just a few more snaps of Madrid. It’s just a very pretty place. I took a lot of pictures but unfortunately most of them were not in focus or I hated them, so this is it for now.

12 Days of Christmas starts tomorrow!

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Average Adventure: London… Again!

Mary4 Comments

So I know I just did a London post, but I went back! Literally the weekend after the first one, but that’s just the way time works. I wanted to spend more time, go to Brighton, and just see as much as I could, but not in 24 hours. I had to be checked into the hostel by 9 so by the time I got there it was dinner and go to the hostel. I had all day Sunday, Monday I went to Brighton, all day Tuesday, and then left super early Wednesday morning. It also turns out that I don’t have very many pictures from this trip, my apologies.

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London at night.

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When you forget that you had manual settings on the camera. It does look cool though.

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Then Abbey Road.

This is unfortunately all of the pictures I liked from this trip to London, however, I liked them enough to include them, but there were too many from Brighton to include in into that post. I’m almost caught up on adventure  posts too! Yay!

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Average Adventure: Brighton, England

Mary11 Comments

Depending on how long you’ve been following me, you may or may not know that Brighton has been a place that I have always wanted to go, making it onto my Travel Bucket List. I don’t know when the obsession started, but the pictures I’ve seen are always just so pretty and it lived up to my expectations. Since I was in London, a short train ride away, I decided it was the perfect time to go to Brighton.

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The first stop was obviously the pier. If you look up Brighton, the first things you are going to see are the Lanes and the Brighton Pier.

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I also really wanted to walk along the beach. It was so, so windy that day, so I walked along the sidewalk above the beach more so than the actual beach.

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Obviously these were all taken at different times of day, but I just wanted to keep going back.  It was just so pretty. The waves were super rough because of the all the wind, but it was beautiful. I saw a very unlucky man get attacked by a massive wave on the pier while he was taking a picture, and I just wanted to cry for him. I really hope his camera/phone wasn’t ruined and that he lived nearby.

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This is a little bit of the lanes, but also some just random pictures I took. I can’t remember what the fancy building is, I could look it up, but I’m lazy.

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These are two of my favorite signs that I have seen anywhere. I don’t know why I like the bike one so much, I just do. The other one says “I have great desire My desire is great” and I just thought it kind of spoke to me. It was in that spot that I decided to come back to blogging like full on, like obviously I’ve been blogging but I haven’t felt great about it. This was the spot where I decided that needed to change, so I just really like this now.

It was one of those places where I’ve just always wanted to go and it was just perfect. I met a nice lady in a souvenir shop where I bought a t-shirt. I explored The Lanes, admiring the Cath Kidston store where I wanted to buy everything, but refrained. I’m glad I got to check this off the bucket list.

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Average Adventure: 24 Hours in London, England

Mary6 Comments

So before I went to London for my week off, I actually was there the weekend before, it was one of those weird planning things. I went with my friends from here, but I actually got separated because we were supposed to ride the bikes around to get around the city, but I got super anxious, like actually had a panic attack  anxious. The real blessing about the early panic attack was that the rest of day, I was under the impression that I had already hit the worst I could mentally hit so it didn’t matter how many times I got lost, I found a map and found my way. Gotta look on the bright side!

We were there for essentially 24 hours so we did as much as we could in that 24 hours. Then I got separated, and did as much as I could in 24 hours even though I was literally going back the next weekend.

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Tower Bridge is simply gorgeous. Well, there’s actually quite a bit of people on it and I’m terrified of bridges and we walked across it, which probably didn’t help then with the panic attack that was about to occur.

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Here’s Jenna on the bike, the last I would see of her for several hours. I did try to ride the bike, I was just really afraid of hitting a pedestrian or something along those lines.

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So the first thing I did was go to see the Globe, but more so to me it’s the bridge that was destroyed by the Death Eaters in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. I also liked the picture of the trees that was blurry so I decided to share it with you.

I then headed off to The Eye, which is owned by Coke apparently. I took a lot of pictures of it, but I did not go up it because it is expensive, the line is long, and I’ve already done it.

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This view of Big Ben though. This is just a nice picture that I took on my walk.

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I tried to take a selfie with Big Ben in the back, it did not go as planned. I couldn’t get everything in focus.

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Here is  view of The Eye from a distance, it’s a very interesting structure. If I think about it long enough it’s kind of a weird thing. What are your opinions on a huge ferris wheel that you pay a lot of money to get on?

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Just a classic telephone booth picture. I wanted to change it a little bit from the red. Well actually I tried to make just the telephone booth red, but I got too frustrated with the editing software I use so I gave up.

I spent a lot of time in what I thought was Hyde Park, but when I asked a lady in a cafe where the Peter Pan statue was (that’s where I was going to meet my friends) but she told me that I was in the wrong park. I still don’t understand. I think a lot of parks are just connected, so maybe these pictures are from Hyde Park, maybe not.

So yes, that was my 24 hours in London, and over the next few weeks there will be more from London, Brighton, Madrid, and Sevilla.

Which should I post first? Chronological or is there anything anyone wants to see first?

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Average Adventure: Galway, Ireland

Mary3 Comments

I had no idea how behind I was on adventure posts I was until I was copying pictures from my camera to my computer and it was just a big ol’ wow.

So about four weeks ago (WOW) I went to Galway for the night, which was so relaxing and calm. I really didn’t take that many pictures, it was something that I was just that I enjoyed the moments more so. Maybe because I had my camera out the whole weekend before in Paris, or maybe I just didn’t see anything. I don’t know so here are a few of the pictures I snapped. P1100006

We did a little bus tour, it was supposed to be a hop on/hop off kind of thing but there was nowhere to really hop on or off, it was more like a regular bus tour. It was really cool though. We had incredible views of the city that we wouldn’t have gotten if we didn’t do the tour in the first place.

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We know how I feel about boats. Boats and river houses are really the cutest things ever in my opinion, maybe even cuter than babies.

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Galway is one of those picturesque Irish towns. Like if you picture Ireland, you are most likely to picture a place like Galway. Dublin is super modernized, surrounded by suburbs, which I love to live in, but Galway is still what I picture of when I picture Ireland.

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This picture was taken on a miserable Irish day. It was a complete downpour, we wanted to go kick the stone but we were all drenched and it was cold, windy, and just gross. However, I love boats, so I still took the picture, very awkwardly under an umbrella.

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This is the B&B we stayed at, it was super nice, included the full Irish breakfast, the people who ran it were so incredibly kind. If you are ever in Galway, I highly recommend staying here. The room was clean, it was just a great place to stay.

So yeah, here are the few pictures I have from Galway. It was like the perfect little getaway, even though I didn’t realize that I would then be away for the next three weekends too, well I did, I just didn’t realize how much travelling that would be.

 

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On the road again… Or should I say in the air?

Mary2 Comments

Im back at the airport waiting for my flight to London to start boarding. I can’t get over how fortunat I am to have these amazing experiences.  This week alone I will be in three different countries, four different cities, and I get off school for a week. I’m so blessed to be graced with such amazing opportunities. 

I’m so happy to be traveling. Although, I will admit it’s a lot easier when my mom just plans everything for me. Today I leave Dublin, get to London, I’ll be there until Wednesday morning then I got to Madrid, then head off to Seville on Thursday to see Molly. It’ll be so nice to see one of my best friends from home. I’ve never been to Spain before so I’m super excited. 

It’s crazy to think that I’m traveling more this semester more than I have ever travelled in a span of three months, or at least it feels like a lot of travel. It has given me a lot of time to self-reflect and think about what I want to do in the future. I know that I want to live somewhere that’s realistically easy for me to see my family and close friends. Sometimes I just want that comfort. Like I’m not saying I want to end up in Lancaster or Frederick, but I want to be a short plane ride/train journey/car ride away, just in case I want to see my family. However, I still want to see the world and all it has to offer.

So now I’m off to see London, let me know of any must sees! 

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Average Adventure: Paris, France

Mary5 Comments

Last weekend I had the chance to meet up with my dad in Paris, France where he was visiting for work. It was very nice to see my dad as well as explore a new city and get out of my apartment for a weekend!

Of course when I booked my ticket I didn’t know that there were two different airports so I had to take a bus to the actual city. Once there, I met my dad at the bus station, and from there we went to the Arc de Triomphe.

After that we found crepes, which I was far too hungry to capture, so you’ll just have to trust that they looked really good. Now, this is also the reason that I should write as I go because I think after this we kind of just wandered the city. We also saw Notre Dame, we went in but didn’t go to mass because it wasn’t in English. I also didn’t take any pictures inside because there was a mass going on and it felt weird.

I wish I was more of a foodie so I would remember to take pictures of my food. I also wish I would have taken a picture of the balcony outside the hotel room but the one I took on Snapchat deleted itself before I could even try and resend it unfortunately. So here are some pictures I took that night.

I really liked the lock bridge(s). Basically, people will just put a lock anywhere it seems.

One of the things I really wanted to do was see the Eiffel Tower at night.

The next day, we had croissants in the morning and took a boat cruise.

After the boat cruise we went to see the Eiffel Tower at the day so I could get some pictures of that and so I could get a t-shirt (I want to get a t-shirt from every country I visit) and like that I had to go back to Ireland.

Also no pictures of this because my phone was dying but I ended up with priority seating on my flight, which sounds cool, but it just meant I waited outside for my plane before it was even parked at the smallest airport I had ever been to and watched everyone get off. So weird.

That was my trip to Paris, it was so much fun! Now off to Galway!

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Weekly Average Adventure Log: Weeks Three and Four

Mary5 Comments

Since weeks three and four have calmed down a little bit and I’m lacking in taking pictures I decided just to combine the last two weeks and just feature the days I actually took pictures.

Week Three

Tuesday

On Tuesday I was a little obsessed with the sunset outside of my window.

Wednesday

On Wednesday (and Friday) I went to the National Museum of Ireland (or something like that) for two classes. However, I hate all the pictures I took of it, so there aren’t any.

Friday

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We got pizza and it was delicious.

Week Four

Friday

Friday I went to the Trinity College Library. It’s perfection. It smells like books, if it didn’t I don’t think I would have believed that it was real. Apparently, they sued Harry Potter because they copied it for the movie, I think they should’ve used it as promo, but that’s just me.

Saturday

On Saturday I went to Howth. It’s a pretty little beach town right outside of Dublin, we just took the city bus there. It was amazing. Lots of sailboats, we all know how I feel about sailboats.

The scenery was also beautiful. I love beaches and the sea and just everything about it. Minus sand and seaweed. I walked on seaweed for like twenty steps and it was pretty gross.

It was such a pretty day. I like the picture that features my chipped nail polish.

Now, I promise my weeks have been more interesting than displayed, I just am not very good at taking pictures around town. I will (hopefully) get better! But for now, this is what it is. Next weekend I’m going to Paris to see my dad so that should be some cool pictures!

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Average Adventure: Cliffs of Moher

Mary5 Comments

As you know, if you read my Week Average Adventure Log on Sunday, I went to the Cliffs of Moher on Saturday. This was so beautiful and breathtaking that it deserved a post solely dedicated to it.

So the land to left, which you don’t know which is the left and which is the right, but the land to the left of the Cliffs is actually private land, but I still took pictures of it. It’s such a pretty landscape. I’m actually curious if people have tried to pet their cows or anything. The Cliffs alone are amazing. There is a tower on the right side and a castle on the way end of the left side, sadly I didn’t get to either because I tried to get to the castle but it was too far and our bus tour only allowed for an hour and a half stop.

So this set of five all happens to be of the right side of the Cliffs, but I don’t care because I like them all. It’s so cool. I still can’t get over that I’ve been there twice now. It’s the place of beauty, but it’s also very sad, a lot of people have died there.

I took so many pictures. I feel like a lot of these are the same picture and I should care about how much space they’re taking up in my media library (eventually I’m going to have to suck it up and upgrade), however, I love all of these pictures and I find them so mesmerizing. I love them all and they will all stay up.

Okay this is it, now you can see the cows I mentioned in the first paragraph. It’s sheer beauty in my opinion. I don’t think I overlapped any pictures either, so if you didn’t see Sunday’s post, be sure to check it out!

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