Dublin, London, Budapest

Dublin was mildly cold and rainy, but it what it lacked in pleasing weather it made up for with pleasing people! I've never met such friendly people, it's true! Let's see...what did we do...
We took double decker busses all over the city/countryside. We hiked to the cliffs where the browning land meets the grey cloudy ocean. We stood by the cliffs which over looked a lighthouse and some ominous looking shoreline. Very beautiful. I mean, I'm terrified of the ocean in general, but it looks really gorgeous from far away.
We then stood around in the rain while we waited for the bus some more...ugh. Finally we hopped on and headed towards the smallest little castle in the world. It was closed for tours by the time we arrived (Dublin isn't nearly as efficient as Vienna when it comes to public transport) but the gift shop was open! and I found some information on a family name printed on the back of some coasters. OH YEAH! Family History!
The only other things I remember about Dublin was that the food was actually spicy (unlike in freaking Vienna) and we ate a lot of cheap candy. Oh! And we saw Quantum of Solace before any of you suckers in America. HA!

Then off to London...only a 2 hour plane ride? Yes, please.

London is amazing. I don't care who hears me say it! So many people bustling about, so many warning signs everywhere you turn "Please, mind the gap" "please, stand carefully on the escalator" "Walk don't run"--so strange, but oh, so helpful! Not a one of us was injured!
The first day was mostly waisted due to the ridiculous group mentality of absolutely no one wanted to make any stinking decisions. We saw the London Tower, London Bridge, Tower Bridge, walked all over the city. We went to Camden Market where we shopped and looked at things and ate delicious organic vegan foods. Mmm...healthy! Oh...and then I bought a sweet vest and my wedding dress at a thrift store. It was pretty rad. Radical! Then Michelle and I exploded away from the group and met my friend David for crépes. My first crépe experience was DELICIOUS. I had a savory crépe, spinach and cheese, and it made my stomach really happy. Then David walked around the town with us, telling us interesting facts about the history of the buildings/city. Very enlightening. We saw Big Ben, Parliament, Trafalga Square, the London Eye, etc. Very cool.

The next day Michelle and I ran away from everyone and hit the city in the FACE! FISTS TO THE FACES! Awesome. We ran around getting free tourist things, back to Camden for lunches (mmmm boy!), to Foyles Bookshop (HUGE-MONGOUS) for some hot chocolate and light book-perusing, and then we poppe by the Tate Modern art museum while we waited for the time to pass. Then we saw Les Misérables, which was very well done and very enjoyable. I'd say it was a successful day.

Day three: Final day=sad pandas. We ran around like mad women! Here and there! To a castle that we couldn't find all the way to the Winston Churchill Museum/War Cabinet Rooms. We saw the Globe Theater, Millenium Bridge, We ate a LOT of really delicious Indian foods- oh yes! And we wandered around like we usually do. I'm sure I'm leaving something out, but oh well.
Then we had to make it back to the airport to fly back to Vienna. I won't lie. We really almost missed it. 5 minutes later and we would've been sleeping in an airport. It sucked. Running through the airport with a 50 lb backpack, trying not to look too worried (have to save some face, right?) It was miserable. BUT, we made it! Then I fought the urge to sleep hard on the plane and finished a book: Water for Elephants, and started a new book: The Virgin Suicides. Both are very good, FYI.

Then I was in Vienna for a grand total of four days before we jumped on a train for Budapest. Ridiculous. Also I was getting really sick. And that was awful. I'll have you know that I successfully fought the germs. Immune System! Yeah!
Buda. Pest. In retrospect it wasn't as awful as I thought it was at the time. It was actually pretty cool, I suppose--when I wasn't fearing for my life on the dark city streets lined with crazy people. I saw a street fight! They weren't using their hands at all though...it was strange. Just a bunch of 15-16 year olds kicking each other in the face and stuff...bizarre.
We went to a casino, watched our friend try to play the slots, stared blankly at the screen, and had no idea what it was saying to us in Hungarian, so we left.
Basically, Hungary was a lot of walking around.

Also, a select few of us gathered in my hotel room to watch Sweeney Todd. It seemed appropriate and we ate chocolate. Yum.

We took an all-day tour on Saturday that made me hate my life but we got to see a lot of the city. We even took a boat tour from the Danube. OH YEAH.

Michelle, Josef and I crawled into a warm café for some hot chocolate and cakes, and we talked for hours, I knitted and we ate food. It was a nice last day in Budapest.

Then we FINALLY got on the train to go home.

Now I'm in Vienna until the 28th, when I will be heading to Germany. YES!

Until then

-Emily