I Kissed the Blarney Stone

The gift of eloquence can be yours at the simple price of a trip to the beautiful Blarney Castle and a death defying lean off the castle wall to kiss the Blarney stone. About 50 feet up in the open air is the Blarney Stone. It is rumored if you kiss the stone you with be get the gift of gab. A long standing tradition and almost joke in Blarney Ireland leads thousands of tourists each each to Blarney. A tiny town outside of Cork, Blarney is one of the most beautiful places I visited while living in Ireland.

We stayed at the International Youth Hostel in Cork and got two bunks in a shared dorm. The hostel was fine, but do not opt to lock your bags up for the day if you want to travel around the city before leaving. We almost missed our bus because no one was on duty for 3 hours while we waited for them to unlock the room they had put our bags in. The room was on the cheap side maybe 10 to 15 euro per night and the hostel was nothing special. It was clean, but noisy and they were not that friendly. Some of our friends stayed on the other side of Cork at Bru Hostel, the town is small within an hour to walk around most of the city, and they had a wonderful experience and a busy pub attached downstairs. That hostel is very new, clean and was completely packed full of young tourists wanting to have a good time. It runs about 15 euro and up a night.
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Cork hold on the most important prisons from the famine and the 1916 uprising. There is tons of history rooted in the Cork City Goal and they have a great self guided tour which is really information and you can go at your own pace. The jail is surprisingly very pretty, but the individual prisoners stories are heartbreaking You don't need a ton of time to visit Cork, but there are many surrounding attractions which you might want to take a look into. Cobh is very close and has an array of historical sites and a famous port. Waterford is a lovely town which is on the way either to or from Dublin. Waterford is known for some of the nicest crystal in the world. Blarney is a short bus ride from Cork and you will need a day to devote to seeing Blarney. You can walk around the park and see Blarney House but the castle is the real gem. The history of this castle is just amazing and the amount of castle still left that you can tour is wonderful. Be prepared if you are afraid of heights their is only one way up and down and they are steep stone steps that are withered away.

The easiest way to travel to Cork is by bus or train. Bus Eirrean is a cheap way. We got our round trip tickets at an 8 euro student rate and it is easy to take the bus to other cities around Cork or to another park of Ireland. The train is the way to travel if you want a more scenic and a faster route. Check out www.hostelbookers.com for more information on great hostels in Cork and Ireland.

Glasgow the city build on Tobacco

If you have ever wanted to know where much of the American tobacco money went before the Revolutionary War than look into a visit to Scotland. When I traveled to Glasgow I had no idea of the rich history that tied into United States History. The city is small and we stayed for 3 nights. This was the perfect amount of time to get everything done and still have some down time to visit a pub or two. The city of Glasgow is very pretty and the bright red brick is something not every Scottish city has. I recommend getting the bus tour. It as rather cheap for a day ticket especially if you are student, we paid 8 euros each, and it takes you the best sites while you can listen to facts and information about the city. The stops are easy to find and we actually had one within a minute or two from our B&B.

Yes, we did not stay in a hostel, but a B&B. I would recommend staying in a hostel instead however because it was awkward coming in late at night. The place we stayed at was managed by a cute little old lady who made us toast and tea each morning, but if you want a more fun youthful atmosphere I would recommend the Glasgow youth hostel. It is a bit out of the way, but it is near the University which boasts the best pub and nightlife and has cheaper food. With prices between 10-19 euros a night the hostel is clean and warm. The night we walked by the hostel we saw tons of college aged 20 somethings and they seemed to be having loads of fun.
In Glasgow the best sites are defiantly the Glasgow Cathedral, the Necropolis, and the train station itself. These are all gorgeous and feel erie they are so old. The Kelvingrove is one of the best museums I have been to. They offer a wide variety of historic art including the famous portrait of Henry the VIIIs wife Anne Boleyn.

The best thing we did while in Glasgow was take a bus out to Rothwell Castle. This Castle is breathtaking! We had the entire site to ourselves because not many tourists now about the castle. It is rather hidden in a small town just 20 minutes form Glasgow city centre. We paid maybe 5 euro to see the castle and the nice curator gave us his own information book to read about the castles history. It is one of the only remaining 15th century castles and was involved in battle many times. They are currently trying to reconstruct some of the castle to make it more accessible, but the majority of the right side is still intact. Be wary if you are in any way afraid of hights because this castle has some steep circular stairs that are barely there.

The only downside of our visit to Glasgow was that we flew into the Peswick Airport. This airport is far and I mean very far from Glasgow and we could not even take the bus because we flew in to late at night and were leaving too early in the morning. The train was still running when we got in but was an hour ride and then we had to taxi to the B&B still. The best solution would be to travel during the day or travel from another Scottish city such as Edinburgh. Edinburg is roughly an hour and half away and boasts the famous Edinburgh castle and tons of historic sites and shopping.

Exotic Island Days ~ Feuteventura, Canary Islands

When I landed in Feuteventura I saw dessert sands, exotic blue waters, and rough terrain sand mountains. This tiny island looks and feels like Africa. While the Canary Islands are territories of Spain they are actually closer to Africa than Europe. Just of the coast of Morocco the islands are tourists haven for Europeans and cruisers alike. Feuteventura is a little more remote than the rest of the islands. We were visiting during the off season so the island was not packed. We had a harder time finding places to visit because of this. The season ends in early to late may. People mainly visit the island during the last summer and winder months.
We stayed in a hostel/hotel, called the Costa Club It may have been the worst hotel I have every stayed in. It was supposed to sleep 4, but it only had two twins beds and a futon. The futon was the size of a love seat, so only one person could sleep on it. The hotel had a nice pool area but the water was literally freezing. They had advertised a swim up bar, but they told us there were not enough people at the hotel to open the bar. The hotel was very far from the downtown and a huge disappointment. The hotel/hostel was cheap, but pay the fee extra euros to stay at a better place.

There is a cute downtown area that offers many restaurants and shops. One of our favorite spots was a cuban cafe that had dancing at night. Great sangria, carphriniahs, Spanish, and Portuguese food can be found all around the island.
On the island there are tons of activities but many you have to taxi to. We did not do any of the paid activities but their are tons of water sports, ferries, boat tours, and even a wildlife park. The island is easy to get to from many european cities including London, Dublin, and Barcelona. You can get a cheap flight to the island on Ryanair for around 100 euro or less. visit hostelworld.com for more information or expedia.com.

Bundoran A Little Town in Donegal Surf Country

Surfers of the world meet Ireland. Bundoran is one of the cutest, tiny Irish towns I have been to. This little town, known for it's great beaches and beautiful scenery, is home to some really amazing surfing. Surfers from around the world actually come to this town to witness the Irish waves for themselves. Bundoran is located in county Donegal at the very top of Ireland next to Northern Ireland, we actually drove through Northern Ireland to get there.

The place to stay in Bundoran is the Homefield Rock Hostel. This hostel has the coolest owners and the entire hostel is music themed, we're talking band photos, records, and posters plastered on every room in the hostel. The main lounge even has a piano, which we rocked out to on a few occasions. The hostel offers a ton of things to do. We ventured for the rope course. I've done many a course in my teen years, but this course was actually very intense. We got to do three courses, one of which was climbing the tower and repelling down. I even accomplished a leap of faith to a flying trapeze from a very unstable pole 50 feet up. The beaches in Bundoran are beautiful and hiking this town is a must. This walk is not for the faint of hearted though, some of the clifs we walked on had edges 100 feet straight to the ocean. One of these cliffs is used for cliff jumping. Kayaking and surfing are also extremely popular.


Two of my friends even learned to surf on one of the calmer days and succeeded very well. The teachers were very nice and everything is set up directly through the hostels adventure school. Our room was themed in diva fashion, with Brittany and Mariah gracing the walls. A dorm style room runs for about 40 euros a night, but this included an adventure package. The price goes up with the more adventures you would like to embark on. The rooms are not the cleanest in the world, we had a spider issue or two, but the staff is awesome. The night manager stayed up with us till 4am playing guitar and told us the best places to eat and the best bars. There is a small nightclub in town and a few bars. The restaurant around the corner from the hostel had very traditional good Irish fare for great prices. This is a great way to get out of the city and have an adventure in Ireland. One of my favorite vacations I took while living in Ireland and a great girls weekend getaway.

Such great criaq! (English translation a great time)

We took Bus Eirriene from Dublin to Donegal. For students the price was a nine euro special roundtrip. This deal could not be beat.

Pizza en Pisa

We tasted the famous gelato and explored Pisa!

Have you dreamt about a visit to Pisa? Want to take that infamous picture of yourself holding up or kicking down the leaning tower? Pisa is a lot more affordable than I ever imaged it would be and it's one of the cheaper airports in Italy to fly into. I flew from the Canary Islands straight to Pisa, Italy. Our flight was rather late in the day so we needed a hostel that was nearby the airport. We found the cutest little hostel within walking distance, with suitcases, from the Pisa airport. Gate 52 B&B is the perfect hostel for anyone staying in Pisa. It's so close to the airport that you won't need a taxi and it's very cheap and clean! The owner is the sweetest older Italian man who will make you dinner or lunch for a few euros. For around 11 euros a night you can have an extremely clean stay and even a tv in your room. We had five people and two rooms. By the time we landed resturants were closed so having a place that offers food was a must! Gate 52 is within a short distance from all the sights in Pisa and offers so much for a hostel! We only stayed for a night, but even if you are in Pisa longer this is a great place to stay.



There is a lot to see in Pisa, but you can easily walk around the city in a day or two. The most visited attraction is the piazza del duomo/ the Campo dei Miracoli which is right next to the leaning tower. This area is beautiful but it was CRAWLING with tourists so the sights off the beaten path are defiantly worth a short walk. Some of the more famous sites besides the obvious leaning tower are: Galileo's house, the Camposanto, Museo dell'OPera del Duomo, Santa Maria della Spina, the Botanical Gardens,and the Museo Nazionale di San Mateo. Their is also a nice shopping area and tones of restaurants to have your first taste of the Italian pizza, gelato, or pasta. The town of Pisa is rather small, but with a train station right in the city you can spend a day in Pisa and then move onto another Italian city such as Rome, Florence, or Venice. We went to Florence which is only about a one hour train ride away.