Month: March 2015

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1 month, 1 bag

Today, I leave for ‘easter break,’ basically a month long spring break where I will be traveling to 11 different countries and 16 cities. Yes, all that in one month. I’m anxious and excited and praying that I did a good job packing….I’ve only got one bag really…

But, this means it will be difficult to contact me during this time. So, please don’t expect to hear from me for days on end. Yes, mom and dad I will be checking in with you as much as possible, because I’ve been told I have too…. So much for trying to turn my phone off for the whole time…

I will be checking in mostly through instagram and fb, but don’t be offended if you don’t hear from me or if I can’t stop everything I’m doing and have a conversation with you. Chances are, if I do receive a message from you I’ll be able to read it, but you might not get a response until a few days later. In my travels so far the wifi has proven to be not so good a lot of places.

If my phone finds wifi, it will receive messages that have been sent to me but, I repeat I WILL NOT BE ABLE TO RESPOND. Also, if you do feel the need to contact me, please please please avoid using iMessage. PLEASE USE fb messanger, whatsapp or viber. I have all 3. But, if you iMessage there’s no telling when I will receive the message. Yesterday morning I woke up with iMessages from 14days ago that had just come through. So please, just don’t iMessage me.

So with that being said. I can’t wait to start this journey through Europe. & wish me luck!

Cheers.

~meesh

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falling

After spending an interesting night in the hostel and managing to get ready in the dark, we hopped on the train to Galway for the day. Interesting story on how that came to be. We actually couldn’t find any hostels in Dublin for 3 nights so we ended up booking a different place for each night. And said hey, let’s do Saturday night in Galway.

Sidenote: I can literally not pronounce Galway correct for the life of me, lol.

IMG_5266 IMG_5269Photos: Galway

Once we arrived in Galway, we had a brief moment of ‘how the hell do we get to our hostel?’ We got really turned around and confused. Nothing new there. We finally made it, and for 3 euro extra upgraded our room to a 4 bed private with an ensuite. But, we had no time to get comfortable because we had a tour to catch. After grabbing a quality fast food lunch and managing to find the bus, we were eager to a different side of the country.

The first stop was a castle. It was cool. We even got to walk around the whole thing.

IMG_5479 IMG_5482 IMG_5475 IMG_5471Photos: the castle and the surrounding bay

Then we headed through the countryside to the cliffs of Moher, the driver played traditional Irish music all the way there and it just felt so right. I enjoyed the scenery and the cows. After much anticipation we reached the cliffs and headed straight up the left side. Our driver, Dominic, advised us that the views to the left were better. Once we got up there, is was just incredible. It was a beautiful day too, not a cloud in the sky.

IMG_5448Photos: en route to the cliffs

Honestly, I could have sat there all day with my feet hanging very the edge listening to the waves crash against the rocks. I was also secretly hoping that I would become the princess bride, lol. After taking a million pictures and trying to avoid falling over the edge we were back on the bus, heading back to Galway along the coastline.

IMG_5332 IMG_5423 IMG_5429 IMG_5354Photos: at the cliffs

This might have been my favorite part, it was beyond beautiful. I had to put my camera down and stop taking pictures after a certain point because I knew it was one of those things where I needed to take it all in with no distractions. The best way I can describe it is it’s one of those places where you go during a mid life crisis or something to really contemplate life. Like just buy a farm with sheep and cows and live off the land, buy a bike and wander along the coast line.

If I ever just say ‘f it’ to life, that’s where I will go.

IMG_5320 IMG_5301 IMG_5286 IMG_5315 IMG_5310 IMG_5282 IMG_5292Photos: a few of the coast

Once back in town, we had a dinner fit for kings….Lasagna, chips, coleslaw and garlic bread. It was everything it needed to be. After that we were ready to enjoy our private room at the hostel. I opted to go first for the shower, because it had been a long day. So, I’m thinking I’ll take a quick but nice and warm shower. Well since I was first to go, the water was freezing cold. I pushed the button to start and I scream bloody murder because it was ice cold. When then since it was a push start I didn’t realize that you have to keep pushing it for the water to stay running. So it stops and then I push it again and it’s still cold and I’m still screaming.

What I thought would be a nice shower ended up being a mess.

Regardless, Galway was perfect. And, I would even say it was better than Dublin. Overall, the weekend in Ireland was better than I could have expected even though I wasn’t sure what I expected Ireland to be like beforehand.

Cheers.

~meesh

P.S. I’m still having a lot a problems with my photos and uploading them, and it’s making me really really upset, because they are all so beautiful and I want to share them, but some of them won’t show up. So hopefully I will try to get an Ireland album up on flickr by tomorrow.

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kiss me i’m not irish

As per usual I have a lot to say about my lastest trip to Ireland this past weekend, so fair warning this will be a multiple part post….after getting up bright and early for our flight on Friday we were all quite shocked when the captain, announced that we’d be preparing for landing 20 mins into the flight. We probs spent more time walking through the airport and security then we did in the air.

But, we finally got our lazy a**es out of England and to another country. So cheers to us. We dropped our bags at the hostel and of course made ourselves very known to the staff there…we always seem to make fools of ourselves everywhere we go, but I don’t find that to be a bad thing. Anyways we headed out to see the city.

IMG_5120 IMG_5096 IMG_5099Photos: in and around Dublin

Naturally we stumbled upon our first site, Trinity College. It was actually harder than you’d think to find because the campus is entirely enclosed buy the buildings. So you have enter through this passage way, like how when you go to magic kingdom you have to walk through Cinderella’s castle. Once inside, it’s like being on an ivy league campus, very elite and exclusive. But it was just stunningly beautiful.

IMG_5243 IMG_5244 IMG_5242 IMG_5236 IMG_5228 IMG_5213Photos: Trinity campus

We took our time walking through and I really enjoyed all the green fields and the very calm atmosphere. It was like being in a whole different world. Especially since Dublin was full of Americans there to celebrate the holiday, and let me tell you that was not fun. It was like you couldn’t even walk down the street without having to stop while a group of people stopped to take a selfie with their selfie stick. Like, get over yourself and your picture taking and actually enjoy the city. That’s the point.

IMG_5245Photo: just outside campus

Anyways, from there we headed to Dublin Castle which I loved too. There was this little park that was so pretty and peaceful on the side of the castle and on that side the castle was painted in these bright colors. I loved it. Then because we never do things in the right order we walked backwards through the castle out into the courtyard. And since we are cheap and didn’t want to go inside we took some pictures and moved on.

IMG_5199 IMG_5198 IMG_5197 IMG_5182 IMG_5159Photos: dublin castle, actually really upset because I can’t get some of the photos to load… 😦

We headed over to St. Pat’s cathedral and first entered the park that it’s attached too. We spent a lot of time their just enjoying our surroundings as it was a beautiful part of the neighborhood and their were children and dogs running around enjoying the beautiful day. It also wasn’t over crowded with tourists, which might have been the best part. It was nice to kind of see a true side of the city. I think we could have spent all day there just enjoying the company.

IMG_5129 IMG_5130 IMG_5134 IMG_5136 IMG_5123 IMG_5124Photos: at st. pat’s cathedral

Again, we didn’t want to paid to go inside the cathedral so we headed to probably our most anticipated activity of the day, the Guinness tour. I was really excited about this because it’s ‘the thing’ to do in Dublin. It took surprisingly a while to get there, but it’s cool because exercise is good.

IMG_5102 IMG_5122 IMG_5146Photos: more of the city

We bought tickets in advance and got to skip the line which is definitely the way to go, we literally walked right in. From there you work you way up the levels to the Gravity bar where you get to enjoy a complementary pint. And, even before you get to do a free tasting too. Who knew there was a certain way to drink beer? Anyways I’m not much of a beer gal, well actually, I’m just not a beer girl. But I’m super proud of myself for drinking about half the pint, but it kind of really tasted like soy sauce to me…no offense, maybe it will grow on me.

IMG_5115 IMG_5111 IMG_5202 IMG_5204 IMG_5206Photos: temple bar area and leo burdocks where we enjoyed some amazing fish and chips, world famous in fact

Anyways, that was pretty much day one, it’s getting long now so tomorrow I’ll put up day two. And I’m also really upset that half my pictures wouldn’t load to this post so I might try and add then again tomorrow, so not cool.

Cheers.

~meesh

P.S. london photos are FINALLY up, click me to see them

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i was lost until i found you

#sorrynotsorry, I would have liked to have the second half of my London Weekend post up yesterday, but I’ve been busy writing 3 papers that I’ve had to get done before I leave for Ireland tomorrow….no worries M & D the essays are done, finally.

Like I said, I had wished I joined in on the demonstration but I had places to be and needed to find my lost mates. I followed the advice of Suz and crossed the Westminster bridge, headed towards the eye. As I was walking down the steps leading up to the eye I see my friends casually eating ice cream. Tg, we were finally reunited. Though, it might not have been for that long it was a relief to finally see some familiar faces.

IMG_4769Photos: the eye

From there we prepared for our sunset ride on the eye. And I was absolutely beyond excited, as it might have been the thing I was looking most forward to doing over the weekend. We got in line with the group and boy was that our downfall….since there were about 40 of us, they decided to cram up all into one pod thingy, or whatever they are called. So of course all 40 of us are trying to get pictures in the same spot. It was uncomfortable and super annoying as some people just resfused to move. How rude. They really should have split us up.

IMG_4759 IMG_4739-0 IMG_4752 IMG_4748 IMG_4741Photos: on the eye

Huge. Disappointment. Don’t get me wrong riding the eye was great, the views are unbeatable, but the set up, not so much. Regardless I still took about 1000 photos on the ride and I can’t wait to hopefully (fingers crossed) ride it again when my fam bam comes in a few weeks. Maybe the second time round will be better than the first, lolol.

After our spin was over we headed to get some food…and I don’t want to talk about it.

IMG_4737 IMG_4729 IMG_4727 IMG_4726 IMG_4724Photos: more on the eye, and riverside

So, that brings to me Sunday. We headed over to the Tower of London, which was a short walk from the hotel. This would be the one good thing about the hotels location but, it was pretty much sh*t in terms of getting to everything else in the city. Not that I don’t like taking the tube, in fact I really like taking the tube…it was just so far east of EVERYTHING. And it was in some sketchy alley….just no.

IMG_4713 IMG_4714 IMG_4719Photos: the tower

Anyways we headed inside and honestly I did’t really know what I expected because I had never really heard of it before this weekend. Once inside I was pleasantly surprised, it was like it’s own little village. I enjoyed spending the morning walking around and stalking the Beef-Eaters (to get pics). The Tower is also where the crown jewels are held so that was a must see…and let me tell you. These things were f***ing incredible. Seriously, unlike anything I have ever seen before. Sorry no pics were allowed inside or else I would have taken countless.

IMG_4664 IMG_4681 IMG_4684 IMG_4692 IMG_4675 IMG_4689 IMG_4665 IMG_4686 IMG_4646 IMG_4654Photos: in and around the tower of london, last one is a Beef-Eater…

But, seriously if you are ever in London, go to the the and see the crown jewels, you will not be disappointed. I promise you. These things were just on a whole different level.

IMG_4663Photo: the entrance, because I couldn’t take photos inside, I at least wanted a photo to acknowledge the fact that I saw them

After that we headed over to Old Spitalfield’s Market, a Sunday Market in east London. It was fun to walk around and see all the vendors and buy a few sweet treats too. By then our feet were absolutely killing us so we hopped on the tube, made a quick stop at Piccadilly for some souvenirs and then headed to the station to relax before our train.

IMG_4671 IMG_4649 IMG_4616 IMG_4615 IMG_4614 IMG_4612Photos: tower bridge and the gang

And, it felt so good to be back in Leeds and my own bed on Sunday night. London was incredible, it never ceases to amaze me and I can’t wait to go back. I still have a list of things I’ve yet to do. I know London will always be calling my name.

And now, I’m off to Ireland. I hope I get to pet a sheep!

Enjoy.

~meesh

P.S. Sorry the rest of the photos aren’t up on flickr yet, I have been having some problems with uploading them lately….

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getting lost

400 plus pictures and a 3 hour train ride later I’m back from my weekend trip to London. Cheers to the photos but definitely not to the long ride. After a good night sleep it’s safe to say I’m ready to share the inside scoop about my weekend in the big city.

After arriving on Friday afternoon and taking the tube over to the hotel motel (a little Pitbill reference for ya… 😉 ) I was an eager beaver to get things started, mainly because for dinner that night we’d be dining at Pizza Express which is a super popular pizza chain in the UK and I’d been dying to try it and also craving pizza. It was pretty much everything I’d imagined it plus 5 glorious plates of dough balls….

IMG_4569Photo: my pizza

From there we headed to the theater to see ‘The 39 Steps’ and proceeded to be seated in the 2nd row, needless to say we had an up close and personal experience with the actors. Not quite sure what the play was about but at the end they had these foam bubbles fall from the ceiling to look like snow and so we got snowed on, best part by far.

IMG_5012Photo: theater entrance

Since the show was at the Piccadilly Circus once it let out we were in the heart of the city. Even though it was around 10ish the circus was full of people straight relaxing all cool. Since we weren’t dressed for the swanky SoHo clubs we found a pub and enjoyed a cider before taking the tube back from the night.

IMG_5025 IMG_5027 IMG_5028 IMG_5020 IMG_5014Photos: Piccadilly at night

After grabbing some food Saturday morning we began our coach tour with our guide Suz. And, like me tell you Suz, was fing amazing, as many things in London were…. I’m actually so obsessed with the name Suz that I now need to give the name Suz to something in my life, maybe I’ll buy a plant or something.

IMG_4924 IMG_4917Photos: crossing bridges 

Anyways Suz and Philip (our bus driver) took us all around the city we even got to hop off a few places…including the market where Diagon Alley was filmed in Harry P, the Prince Albert memorial and to see the tail end of the changing of guard where some B, almost ruined my view…. IMG_4937 IMG_4930 IMG_4927 IMG_4935 IMG_4914  IMG_5004 IMG_4997 IMG_4960 IMG_4979 IMG_4982 IMG_4975 Photos: Diagon Alley market, Prince Albert and changing of the guards

From there we went to lunch in Chinatown, Suz even joined. If you can’t tell this lady was the sh*t. Lunch though, was highly disappointing…like we didn’t even get fortune cookies, enough said. After that we headed up to the British Museum to be really intellectual and stuff, needless to say we didn’t stay long.

IMG_4906 IMG_4904 IMG_4901 IMG_4899Photos: Chinatown

From there we headed down to Trafalgars Square and then to Parliamentary Square. Now, this is where things get interesting. London is a crowded place and people do not know how to walk….can some please tell me which side is the correct side of the sidewalk to walk on?!?!?!!?!?!

IMG_4867 IMG_4859 IMG_4865 IMG_4862 IMG_4858 IMG_4856 IMG_4854Photos: Trafalgars

Soooo I lost the group, leaving yours truly alone in the city. But, no worries it was totally fine. I proceeded to act like I knew what I was doing so it was chill. I snapped a bunch of pics and picked up a few postcards and totally blended in. Some lady even came up to me asking for directions so clearly I looked like I belonged….

IMG_4836 IMG_4834 IMG_4848Photos: wandering alone

Since the weather was beautiful I decided to get some more pics of my love, Ben and then walked into a demonstration going on near there, no I didn’t join in, but looking back I kind of wish I did….

IMG_4828 IMG_4827 IMG_4813 IMG_4805 IMG_4821 IMG_4796 IMG_4789 IMG_4779 IMG_4783 IMG_4780 IMG_4776Photos: mostly of ben, some of Westminster, the river and the eye

But because, I ramble and everyone loves a good cliff hanger I’ll stop here…will I ever be reunited with my baes or will I be forever lost?

Enjoy.

~meesh

P.S. Still working on getting the majority of the pic up on my flickr, stay tuned loves.

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on the edge

Because it seems I’ve turned into quite the procrastinator these days it only makes sense that it would take me like 4 days to get a post up about my day trip adventure this past Sunday.

With last weekend being one of the last weekends in Leeds, we decided to stay local and enjoy the city. Saturday a few of us got our lazy asses together and went into town. We explored some of the arcades in the city center which are just absolutely beautiful. The are detailed and exquisite, so it would only make sense that that is where all the really fancy and expensive shops are (No, I don’t have any pics because it was a miracle that I even made it out of my room on Saturday).

But, this isn’t what this post is supposed to be about. Okay, so Sunday my flatmates and I decided to take a trip to Ilkey, which is about a 30 min train ride to the northwest, I think. The day started great, the sun was shining and it wasn’t too cold. We arrived into town and then headed to the Cow and Calf Rocks, because Ilkley is known for their hiking…..

IMG_4507 IMG_4509 IMG_4500 IMG_4501 IMG_4505 IMG_4503Photos: the town, 26 because my bday

Let’s just say we definitely got our workout in for the day. We made it up there and it was totally worth it, the views were just absolutely stunning and it was the first time I felt like I was in the English country side…you don’t realize how big of a city Leeds is until you get into a little town like Ilkley.

IMG_4499 IMG_4495 IMG_4494 IMG_4498 IMG_4481 IMG_4472Photos: more of the town and the view as we got higher

So we did a lot of exploring and picture taking which I enjoyed until it started raining….and then it started snowing and don’t even get me started on the wind. By the time we got down from the cliffs and peaks we were completely soaked. And I mean like head to toe, my jacket was wet all the way through. So of course we did the most logical thing you do when you’re wet, cold and completely disheveled. We went for High Tea.

IMG_4477 IMG_4466 IMG_4470 IMG_4441 IMG_4453 IMG_4397 IMG_4391 IMG_4416 IMG_4389 IMG_4400 IMG_4429Photos: the view, nature and me hanging sitting on the edge

I actually shocked that they even let us in the way we looked, no offense. Anyways, I just decided to get some Hot Chocolate to help warm me up a bit and because I decided I’m going to go back and have a proper High tea when I’m dressed nice and the weather is good.

After that we headed back home, still cold…when we finally got back it was a mad dash for the shower.

Mother nature may have not been on our side but it was still a great little adventure.

Enjoy.

~meesh

For more photos click me!

P.S. I leave for a weekend in London tomorrow and I’m unbelievably excited. We’ve got the whole weekend planned out for us, so next week I know I’ll have lots to say and lots of pics.

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