Sevilla and Dublin

Good afternoon!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while I am still trying to figure out how to use this website! The past 2 weekends I have spent traveling outside of Barcelona. The weekend of January 25th I went to Sevilla and this past weekend I went to Ireland.

Sevilla was a beautiful city and the weather was amazing, we got tons of sunshine! We got there late Thursday night and checked into our hostel, The Flamenko, which was walking distance to the river and all the other sights of Sevilla. This was my first time staying in a hostel and it was pretty nice. I just need to remember shower shoes next time so I don't have to shower in my socks! On Friday we went to the other side of the Guadalquivir River and had breakfast at a little cafe. They had a sign on the outside that said "Desayuno" (breakfast) so we figured it was a good place to eat but when we asked for the menu they told us all they had was toast! It was still delicious though since it was topped with cheese, tomato, and olive oil. After breakfast we made our way to the Plaza de Toros, Plaza de España, and Real Alcazar.

The Guadalquivir River

Where we had breaskfast

Plaza  de Toros

Plaza de Toros

Outside the Real Alcazar

The yellow and white buildings were so cute

Palacio de San Telmo

Plaza de España

A beautiful day! Not a cloud in sight

The building in Plaza de España is surrounded by water

You can rent rowboats at Plaza de España

Entrance to Real Alcazar (Palace)

The orange trees reminded me of Florida

Chapel in the Palace

Hand painting

The Real Alcazar was built in all different centuries so each area is unique

The gardens of the palace were stunning

Parts of the garden were a maze

We spent hours walking around the gardens

Found a peacock wandering around

Every part of the garden was so peacful

My roommate Allie and I at Real Alcazar

Right outside the doors of the palace are the cathedral

On Saturday morning we got up and did some shopping at some of the local stores down the street from our hostel. We were also able to find a coffee shop that sold waffles which were delicious! Afterwards we made our way to the Metropol Parasol, Parque de Maria Luisa, and did a tour of the Cathedral of Sevilla. We ended our day a little early on Saturday since we had a 6am flight Sunday morning but we fit a lot of sightseeing into just 2 days!

Metropol Parasol was stunning to stand underneath

The cathedral is so huge I couldn't fit it in just one picture

Parque de Maria Luisa was so peaceful and beautiful

Views of Plaza de España from the park

The inside of the cathedral was very impressive

So much detail throughout the cathedral

Baptismal Font

so.much.detail 

Views of the cathedral from the walk up Giralda Tower

Climbed 34 flights of stairs for this view

The backside of the Cathedral from the orange garden

Enjoying a Sevilla sunset on our last night on the rooftop of our hostel

Sevilla was a blast with my amazing roommates!

This past weekend I got to go to Ireland! I unfortunately had a cold and wasn't feeling well the whole weekend (the cold weather in Ireland didn't help either) but it was still one of the most amazing experiences of my life and I already can't wait to go back! We flew into Dublin on Thursday and checked into our airbnb which was right down the street from the Prime Minister's old house. We ate at a restaurant with some delicious Irish food and pictures of Bill and Hilary Clinton all over the walls since they frequented it when they visited the Prime Minister. On Friday we got up and headed to the city center where we saw Dublin castle, Trinity college, Dublin City Council, and the Guinness Storehouse. That night we went to a restaurant for dinner where we got to see some live music and then went to a few different pubs for Allie's 21st birthday!

Dublin Castle under construction

Dublin castle was gorgeous

I wouldn't mind going to school at Trinity college

A sweet Irish man took this photo for us

 

Views form the Liffey River

Not a cloud in the sky! Picked a good weekend to go to Dublin

Dublin City Hall

The Guinness Storehouse was so interesting to walk through

Learned a lot at Guinness, like I don't like Guinness

Represents the millions of bubbles in a pint of Guinness

Learned how to properly taste test Guinness

How they used to transport Guinness

View of Dublin from the Gravity bar

On Saturday we woke up at 6am to get on a bus to the other side of Ireland to see the cliffs of Moher. I still wasn't feeling good so I almost didn't go but I'm so glad I did! I felt sick for almost the entire bus ride but seeing the cliffs and the beautiful landscape of Ireland was so worth the 8 hours on the bus. Our driver guide made the long bus ride so much more bearable because he was absolutely hilarious and sang us Irish songs while also giving us a brief history of Ireland. On our tour we stopped at a little pitstop called Barack Obama Plaza (apparently his ancestors were from this small town and they decided to name this place after him). After 4.5 hours, we finally made it to the Cliffs of Moher and they were breathtaking! It was extremely windy (I thought I was going to get blown away a few times) but otherwise it was sunny and gorgeous! On our way home we stopped at Doolin pier to see the cliffs from a different angle. About two hours away from Dublin we also stopped at a little castle. I headed to bed early Saturday night since I wasn't feeling good and Sunday morning we packed up and headed back to Barcelona.

The Cliffs of Moher

Not used to seeing this much greenery in Barcelona

Pictures don't do it justice, they are prettier in person which is hard to believe

We went on a good day, beautiful and sunny

The waves were crazy since it was so windy

The Pacific ocean is such a pretty color

Long way down if you slip and fall!

Sun shining over Doolin Pier

Doolin Pier was gorgeous with the sun starting to set

Soaking in some sunshine (even though its 40 degrees out)

Castle 

Thank you to everyone who has been reading my blog and sorry I haven't been updating it frequently. I can't wait to share the rest of my adventures from this semester with you all!