Change of Plans!

Due to the tons of anti-american protests all over North Africa
(including Casablanca, Morocco which is where we were scheduled to
port) we are no longer going to Morocco. Our dean called a meeting the
night after Portugal and broke the news to us. It is really
unfortunate because Morocco would be such an extreme difference for
all of us (more than just a few different customs and a language
barrier like the places we have been so far). I think Morocco would
have been an amazing eye opened for everyone on the ship!! So instead
of Morocco we spent 2 extra days in Spain and then we are going to the
Canary Islands for 2 days and then heading off to Ghana and we will be
back on track with the regular itinerary! The Canary Islands will be
pretty cool, but just a little (ALOT) different than Morocco.

Portugal <3

Portugal



Oh what a fabulous trip Portugal was!! I love Portugal and had such an
amazing time there, I want to go back ASAP!

Day 1: September 19 we arrived in Portugal. My friends and I planned
to meet around 830 to debark the ship, and since we were planning to
sleep on the ship every night we didn't need to go through the hassle
of getting out passports from the crew, (which does save a bit of time
when everyone on the ship is trying to debark). My roommate and I woke
up and got ready and I decided to go grab breakfast (breakfast is by
far the best meal on the ship, always different kinds of omelets and
sometimes French toast, YUM.) After I ate we met in the main square of
the ship and headed out to wander Lisbon for a little until Dylan had
to leave to go to his Field Lab. We found a cute little coffee shop
about 10minutes from the ship and sat down and ate some croissants and
buns. We didn't really have any plans for the day, or rather any day,
so we decided to just start walking in the direction the main square
of Lisbon was. At this point Dylan left to go back to the ship to meet
up with his class for his Field Lab. So Kelsey, Victoria, Emily and I
wandered around, ran into a few other SAS kids all doing the same sort
of wandering until we found the big main square that had a bunch of
shops and restaurants surrounding it. We went into an information
office and looked at a bunch of pamphlets and things and decided our
best bet for the day was to take an open-top (hop-on hop-off) bus tour
around the city to get the lay of the land. So we caught the next bus
just a block from the office and drove through the city. All of the
buildings were so pretty and a lot of them were completely tiled on
the front with colorful tiles and things. About ¾ the way through the
tour all 4 of us were getting hungry so we got off and walked down a
street with a bunch of little restaurants on it. We decided on the one
that looked pretty busy and sat down. Our waiter spoke broken English
and told us about one of the items on the menu was a mixed platter and
was very popular in Portugal so my roommate and I decided to share one
of these 'very popular' dishes. Oh how we regretted that decision
rather quickly. Our food came out and it was a platter of very random
meats that all seemed very uncooked…and when I say uncooked…I mean I
think one part of it might have still been alive (slight exaggeration…
but it was bad). So we both just kind of pushed the very un-edible
looking food a around for a while and after everyone was finished
'eating' we decided that we would just go back to the ice cream stand
on the way there and make that the rest of our lunch. We ate our
lovely ice creams in this beautiful park and just enjoyed the sunny
day…well the 3 of them did that while I frantically looked for my bus
ticket that I must have dropped somewhere. Then we headed back over to
the bus stop near this amazing giant statue and a very pretty little
marina and waited for the bus. The bus arrived and luckily the bus
driver didn't really care too much that I didn't have a ticket and we
continued on our tour. One of the last bus stops was right next to our
ship so we planned to get off when the bus stopped there…well the bus
did not stop there and just zoomed right by. So we got off at the next
stop about a mile or two from the ship and slowly wandered and found
our way back to the ship. We had about an hour before our friends got
back from their field lab so we all relaxed for a bit on the ship.
Then we grabbed some dinner on the ship and then Dylan, Kelsey and I
wanted to go shopping for a bit. I remembered seeing a giant store on
our bus tour so we told the cab driver to take us there hoping it was
some sort of mall. It ended up being a GINORMOUS department store, it
had 8 floors with everything you could ever imagine…except for
anything Kelsey and I were looking for. We wandered around, lost Dylan
for a while (like an hour…) and then headed back to the ship empty
handed (except Dylan bought a bunch). Then once we were back at the
ship we found out our friends were at a bar just up a hill by the ship
that looked out onto the river and you could see our ship lit up with
all its pretty lights, so we headed over and met them. The bar was
really nice and when we showed up there were 8 of us in total. Our
friends had 2 bottles of port wine on the table and were so excited to
share with us because the bottles were only 4 euro's each. So my 2
friends and I each tried their wines and then ordered a third bottle
for the table. Every time we ask to order a bottle the waitress gave
us a weird look but we didn't think anything of and just thought it
was the language barrier. Well when we went to pay (expecting a
12eruos bill) we all chipped in our 2euros each…until we got our
actual bill that was 175euros…that is when we found out the bottles
were not 4 euros each (4 euros a dose…which we are assuming is a
glass) and our waitress gave us a weird look because they don't
actually sell bottles at this bar because they are so expensive…
whoopsies, this was not our brightest moment, rather our stupidest
moment yet. We all agreed to pay for our stupidity but the owner was
nice and a bit sympathetic so he gave us all a free shot of alcohol
after we paid our 175euros. Then we all left and caught a cab to the
part of the city with all of the nightlife. When we arrived there we
saw a ton of SAS kids hanging out, along with even more locals. It was
a very cool scene and every bar was very different then the last. We
stayed there for a while and then two of my friends (Dylan and Alex)
and I caught a cab to a very popular club in Lisbon called Urban
Beach. Urban Beach was probably one of the coolest clubs I had been
into and it was just a 5minute walk from the ship, and you could see
our ship all lit up right outside the window, very cool!! After
dancing there for a while the 3 of us headed back to the ship and went
to bed.



Day 2: Day 2 was definitely one of the best days of my voyage so far,
relaxing and beautiful. We woke up determined to find a beach (my
friends and I hadn't stopped at a beach once this voyage, so Portugal
was the place for a beach day!) so we asked the port agent where the
closest/best beach was. He told us to go to Cascais. So the 5 of us
(Me, Dylan, Kelsey, Victoria, and Austin) caught a cab to Cascais. The
cab driver dropped us off in the town of Cascais and we were all
starving so we started hunting for a restaurant. We walked down some
tiny roads and came up to a restaurant on the corner that looked like
they had awesome food and cheap prices (perfect for us! Haha) so we
walked in and sat down (we were the only people in there, it was very
small, but had really cool furniture!) And then the owner/waiter/chef
came over and started speaking English to us we got even more excited.
The owner is from England but has lived in Portugal for 11 years (also
has lived all over the U.S.). We ordered some yummy food and sangria
and chatted with the owner as we sat in the sun on the patio. We
stayed there for a while and we all left nice and full and so happy we
found this place on a little side street. The owner of the restaurant
directed us to the beach and we thanked him very much and walked the
5-10minutes to the beach. When we turned the last corner and saw the
beach and the beautiful water all of our jaws dropped I think. We set
up our towels and then (quite literally) went sprinting into the
ocean. It was pretty chilly at first but we didn't care, we were too
happy to be there. Once the initial excitement my friends settled onto
their towels and Dylan and I went and walked down and around the
beach. There were a lot of other SAS kids on the beach but we were a
bit farther down then them so we said hi and kept walking. Then we saw
some people paddle boarding (stand up on a surf board with a big tall
paddle) out around the anchored ships/sailboats and decided we needed
to do that. After asking quite a few people we found the guy who rents
them out. He gave us a quite lesson on the basics and then told us
that is a police boat stops us, tell them we own these boards and
didn't pay money to use them (just a little sketchy…but that wasn't
going to stop us). So we headed out on the boards and when we got out
there, there was one other kid on the board and he was from SAS too so
the three of us paddled around all the anchored sailboats. (I was
impressed with my paddle boarding skills…though I did fall of twice in
a very dramatic way attempting to save myself…the guys got a laugh out
of it at least). We had an hour on the boards we stopped in the middle
of the boats and just laid on the boards and chatted and took in the
sights. Then it was time to head back in. When we got back Dylan and I
walked back over to our friends where a few more SAS kids had joined
us. Dylan and Kelsey went to go eat so Victoria, Austin, and I happily
laid in the sun. Then one of the girls laying near us said they were
invited onto one of the sailboats anchored off shore and asked if we
wanted to join, so Victoria and I did. So the 3 of swam out to meet
the other 4 girls hanging out on this sailboat. Once we completed the
lengthy swim out there we then had to climb up the side of the
sailboat with no ladder…this may have been the most difficult thing I
have ever done. After finally getting onto the back of the boat (which
everyone enjoyed watching me struggle to get on) I met the guys who
actually live on the sailboat. They are from Sweden and are sailing
the world for 2 ½ years and they just left Sweden 3 weeks ago. The
sailboat was relatively small (especially because we were stuffing 9
people on it) but the guys who lived on it had such a cool story. They
had all saved up money and decided this is how they are going to see
the world. The amazing part is 2 (of the 3) had never been on a
sailboat before this journey…ever…and now they are living on one for 2
½ years. And their life is literally coming in and anchoring in
different ports and/or marinas staying for a couple days and then
moving on to the next. I am fascinated with their lives and think in
my next life (or this life, if I win the lottery) I want to travel the
world on the sailboat. (Yes, I am aware I am doing the same thing on a
ship right now, but a sailboat would be cool too!!) After hanging out
with them for a while and learning about their awesome lives they gave
us a ride back to shore on their little baby zodiac and we met up with
the rest of our friends laying on the beach. After lying in the sun
and drying off for a bit we decided it was time to head back to the
ship for dinner. Half of us caught a cab and half of my friends caught
the train back to the ship. One of my friends in the cab started
talking about how he was going to go to the soccer game (Sporting
against FC Besal) at the stadium in Lisbon that night and was just
heading back to the ship to shower really quick. I instantly wanted to
go and so did Dylan, but Kelsey was pretty dehydrated from the sun and
also had a cold so she just needed to relax on the ship for a bit. So
once we got back to the ship Ian, Dylan and I headed out to the soccer
stadium. We grabbed some food (I ate a bun with an omelet inside of it
from a stand…it was delicious but very random) and bought our tickets
(and of course had to go to the venders and buy some Sporting gear…
which by the way both Dylan and I were attempted by a pick-pocketer,
lucky we knew not to keep anything in our pockets, but boy did I shoot
that old man a dirty look, he didn't seem to pleased!) then headed
into the game! We were sitting in the nosebleeds but it was still
awesome. The really intense cheering sections for both teams were
directly under us and it was amazing how loud and excited they were
the whole game, I loved it! Unfortunately the game ended with a 0-0
score, so we didn't get to see a GOOOAALLLLLLL but it was awesome
nonetheless. I have never really watched a pro soccer game before, but
I really liked it, and where better to watch my first game than
Portugal? After the game I was exhausted from the jam-packed day so we
headed back to the ship and I went to bed for some well needed sleep.



Day 3: Day 3 was a day dedicated to shopping. We realized Portugal was
very cheap and decided we all needed to do just a bit of shopping for
things we left at home before the voyage. Kelsey, Dylan and I woke up
(slept in a little later til about 930) and ate breakfast on Deck 7
(where they have the awesome breakfast wraps and croissants). Then we
grabbed a cab to an actual mall (unlike the place we tried on the
first day) that was way on the other side of Lisbon. This mall was
also incredibly large with a million floors and stores (ha, that
rhymes!). We shopped there for a while and used the WiFi at the Burger
King and we all left with a few things from H&M. Then we headed into
the main square of the city (more touristy area) and wandered through
all the street performers and souvenir shops. There was one street
performer playing an accordion that had trained his tiny Chihuahua dog
to hold the little bucket for people to put change in, it was so cute!
I think most people gave him change because he trained his dog and not
for his music. We all bought some postcards and magnets and touristy
things and then wandered up a side street to find some food. We came
across this time sushi restaurant (and since we had talked about
eating sushi in every port, we decided now was the time) so we went in
and ordered sushi in our broken Portuguese/Spanish. I couldn't tell
you what we ended up ordering, but it was delicious! I was so happy to
finally have some great sushi; we ended go back up and ordering more.
After our sushi feast we walked the shops a bit more and then caught a
cab back to the ship in plenty of time of 'on ship time'.



Portugal is definitely one of my most favorite ports so far, the
locals were so nice and welcoming and tried hard to understand my
attempt at pretending I can speak Portuguese when I'm really just
speaking Spanish. I really want to come back to Portugal and explore
more of the country ASAP!!!

Belgium/Holland!

Day 1: The first day I got off the ship with a group of friends on a
mission to find waffles…so we wandered around until we noticed nothing
really opens until 10am…and they wanted to catch the 10am train. So I
left them and got lost in Antwerp for a bit (which was fine cause I
had a few hours to kill anyway) but eventually found my way back to
the ship. The ship was parked in a pretty cool location so I walked up
and took some pictures, and then sat by the water and read my book. (I
just finished the second Hunger Games book…oh my I understand why
people are so addicted, they are so intense!) Then around 11 I walked
back down by the gangway to wait for Auntie Bernadette and Guy (my
aunt (Berno)-lives in Canada and Guy is her boyfriend who lives just
outside Antwerp! She happens to be visiting him now so it couldn't
have worked out more perfectly!) We finally found eachother just
before noon and headed off the train station. Guy had to work so Berno
and I hopped on the train to Brugge. I slept for the whole train ride
(shocking…I know) but quickly woke up when we arrived. We walked into
the main square and conquered our first mission of getting a canal
boat ride! The boat ride was about 30min and drove us through a big
portion of the town. In the center of the town is a big bell tower, so
after the boat ride we walked into there and looked at a small art
gallery that was set up inside. After all our walked we were a little
thirsty so we sat down and had a beer and some Belgian fries (YUM).
After a bit more wandering it was time to catch the train back to
Antwerp. When we got back to the train station in Antwerp (which by
the way is such a beautiful building!) I ran into some SAS kids on
their way to Brugge so I chatted with them a bit and then Berno and I
headed off to the bus station to catch out bus to Brecht. After a
45min bus ride (which I think I also slept through) we made back to
Brecht; which luckily Guys house is about a minute walk from the bus
stop. We wandered around to see if there were any restaurants open in
Brecht, but there wasn't so we went back to Guys and ate everything we
found in the fridge, which was quite a lot! After dinner Guy got home
from work and we all went to bed shortly after that.

Day 2:On day 2 we headed into Antwerp! We woke up around 9am and ate
breakfast at Guy's house and then got ready for the day. Guy drove us
into Antwerp and we started wandering around. All of the architecture
in Belgium is amazing so I spent a lot of time taking pictures of
beautiful buildings. Then after walking for a while we sat and had a
coffee in the main square of Antwerp and people-watched. Then we got
into some serious shopping! We both bought a few things to add to our
wardrobe. We stopped at a waffle stand and shared a waffle covered in
warm chocolate sauce…it was one of the most delicious things I have
ever eaten. There were also a lot of street performers in the shopping
area so it was really cool to watch them with all their different
weird talents. We also went into the huge beautiful Cathedral in the
center of Antwerp. The inside (and outside) of this Cathedral was
incredible. Inside they had a bunch of huge paintings hanging down the
sides that were all extraordinary. Then after some more shopping it
was time to relax and have a beer. We happily sipped our beers and
chatted in one of the bars. We shopped a bit more but then it was time
to take the bus back to Brecht.

Once we were back in Brecht we took some bikes out and rode around
Brecht. Brecht has a bunch of canals in and around it so we rode our
bikes down one. It was perfect weather out so it was a lovely ride!
The canal had boats all parked on the sides of it and people actually
live on these boats and just travel from canal to canal around Belgium/
Holland, (new life goal to live on a boat in a canal…maybe). We biked
for a long time and then we stopped at a bar to take a break and had a
beer. After a lovely break we rode back up and dropped the bikes off
at their owners house (a friend on Guy's) and then walked back to the
city centre hoping there would be a restaurant open. None of the
restaurants were open so we went into the night market (keep in mind
its only like 7pm or something, places close really early!) and bought
some soup and then walked back home. We had another array of food from
whatever we could find in the fridge but again it ended up being
delicious. Then we ended the night with watching The Devil Wears Prada
and relaxing until we were all exhausted.

Day3: On day 3 we woke up a little earlier and started our drive to
Amsterdam. I half slept and half read my Hunger Games book for the
whole drive there. After turning down a couple wrong streets we
finally found our hotel and checked in, then headed right back out to
explore the city. We looked into getting a canal boat tour but it was
expensive and we only had so much time to do as much as we could with
our day in Amsterdam so we decided against it (and Berno and I went on
one in Brugge).. Instead we bought tickets to the Heineken Brewery,
which was a great choice. The Heineken Brewery was awesome and huge!
We learned all about its history and took lots of pictures inside. We
learned how to properly pour and drink beer (and learned that the US
does not do it right haha For example, the foam should be two fingers
in width to keep the carbon dioxide in to keep the beer fresh and the
foam is the most bitter part so you have to tip your head back while
drinking so you get no foam!) Then at the end of the tour you get 2
tabs to use towards beer in the bar. In the bar you can also learned
to draft your own beer, so I did! I am officially a certified pourer
and was assured I would be hired in any bar now, perfect! Haha. Then
we continued to wander aimlessly through the streets and found
ourselves at the flower market. The market was beautiful, full of
tulips and Delft painted things. We also went into a cheese store
where you could sample every different kind of cheese they had…I tried
every single one I think! And I loved all of them. They also sold
strope waffles (caramel waffle treats) so of course I bought some of
those. Then we wandered some more and found ourselves in the red light
district of Amsterdam! After wandering through there we sat down and
had a coffee and relaxed, which was perfect timing because it was just
starting to drizzle a little bit. The rain stopped pretty quickly
though and a rainbow appeared right across the square from us!! Then
we wandered (a long wander) back to near the hotel and found a place
to eat dinner. Then we headed back to the hotel and I wrote a couple
postcards and went to bed, exhausted from all the walking we did!

Day 4: Day 4 we woke up and headed down to breakfast that our hotel
was serving and had a leisurely breakfast and then checked out. (Our
hotel owner had his dog just hang out in the lobby so I played with
him for a little bit while we checked out, he was so sweet!) and
headed on our way to Utrecht. I read for the whole drive to Utrecht (I
couldn't take my eyes off of my book this whole trip! It was too
good). We arrived at Ton and Paola's house and Ton was there to greet
us. (Ton is the cousin to my dad and aunt (Bernadette)…I think…) We
chatted for a bit and then took out some bikes to ride around Utrecht.
We rode by some canals and down through these beautiful neighborhoods.
We stopped and had a coffee (stopping for a coffee is a daily
occurrence) at this restaurant right next to the canal in the main
shopping area of Utrecht and then wandered around the shops and went
into the main cathedral of the city. There was a stand that was
selling Herring (which I guess is normal in Utrecht) so Berno and Guy
each got a Herring to eat, and of course I had to try it. I took a
little bit of it and immediately regretted it haha I don't think I
ever will be eating Herring again, though I am proud of myself for
trying it! Then we got back on the bikes and rode over to where my Opa
(grandpa) grew up in Holland. Him and his 12 siblings lived in this
one apartment; I don't know how they all fit! But we found the place
and took some pictures; it was amazing to be able to see it! It was an
awesome bike ride through most of the city, but it was time to head
back to Ton's house. We had some time to relax so I read my book while
Berno and Guy walked down to the store. Then just a little while later
Ton and Berno and Guy got home and then Inga and Martina (Ton's
daughters) came over. It was time for dinner so we all hopped on bikes
to get to dinner, but my seat was on the back on Inga's electric
scooter! We zoomed away to dinner and I don't think I stopped laughing
the whole time. We ate dinner at a delicious Greek restaurant where we
all caught up. I had only met Inga once before about 6-7 years ago
when she came up to my family's cabin in Canada and I had never met
Martina before. After dinner we then we headed over to a salsa dancing
club! Ton loves to dance so he showed all of us the basics of the
salsa and we all had a couple drinks. I couldn't believe how many
people of all ages were dancing away in this club! It was awesome!
Then Inga and I headed off to another club (called Havana) that was
full of people our age. We danced and had a great time there until
about 3am and then it was time to head back. We hopped on her electric
scooter and zoomed through the street of Utrecht, it was hilarious
sitting on the back seat of that thing. By the time we got home I was
exhausted and I fell right to sleep!

Day 5: On day 5 we woke up, packed up our things and left Utrecht. We
detoured on our way back to Brecht to stop at kinderdijk, where there
are 19 windmills all along a canal. On our way there we had to take a
tiny ferry ride…this might be the smallest ferry in existence. It fit
about 6 cars on it and was about 2minutes long, very random! Then we
finally got to kinderdijk. The windmills were really cool and all
still functioning! People actually lived in some of the windmills and
had little boathouses on the canal and their garden surrounded the
windmill, what a cool place to live! There was also a big farm by the
windmills that had a bunch of animals. I became friends with a kitten
that was basking in the sun! Then on our way out of kinderdijk we
stopped at a pannakook house and ate lunch. All 3 of us ordered apple
pannakook (kind of like apple crepes…just Dutch style) and they were
delicious. We also ordered bitterballin…which is basically deep fried
balls of cheese, you can imagine how delicious (and obviously healthy)
those were. Then we drove all the way back to Brecht. Berno had a
bunch of taco making supplies so we cooked tacos for dinner (which I
was thrilled to have some food that I eat at home). After dinner we
watched some tv while I surfed the internet (free wifi is great!) and
eventually went to bed.

Day 6: We woke up and ate breakfast at Guy's. Then we drove into
Antwerp and parked right by the ship. Then we headed over to where the
Antwerp Friday market is and walked all through that. It was a fairly
big market with everything you could possibly imagine to buy. There
were a bunch of tents set up to eat oysters/mussels and drink cava
(champagne) so we stopped. I have never had oysters before so I tried
one…and again immediately regretted it. I had a lovely audience
watching me as I attempted to shallow the oyster, as I was making some
awful faces everyone around me was amused. So after that I just stuck
to drinking champagne while they enjoyed the oysters. Then we carried
on through the market and we got a bag of little flavored waffles that
were so incredibly delicious. We each also got a fig to eat, which I
have never eaten a fig before, but I really liked the fig! Then after
walking through the whole market we meandered over to the main square
again and found a lovely table in the sun to enjoy one last Belgian
beer for me. Then at about 4:30pm it was time for me to get back onto
the ship and say thank you and goodbye to Berno and Guy! They were
amazing tour guides for the whole week and I got to see more than I
ever imagined I would in 6 days, couldn't have done it without them.
Once I boarded the ship I relaxed for a bit and caught up with my
friends and learned about their trips to Brussels and Paris. Then at
8pm our ship left the port and there was a 9-piece band playing on the
dock sending us away! Also since our ship was docked in such a prime
location a bunch of people in Antwerp came out and were waving goodbye
to the ship, it was awesome! Definitely the best send off we've had so
far.





The trip to Belgium and Holland was such a whirlwind trip but I loved
it nonetheless. I would love to come back and explore it some more
sometime in life, and hopefully learn a little more Dutch before then.
But I am an expert at saying please and thank you in Dutch now! This
was an incredibly long post, so if you read it all you deserve a high-
five…in December. I just couldn't bear to leave anything out!



Up next is Portugal, so maybe ill be ambitious tonight and update my
blog about Portugal as well!



Xoxo

Dayna

London/Southampton

 Dylan and I!

 The four of us in the Ice Bar in our parkas

The sunset from the roof of The SparrowHawk

Our second port was Southampton/London, England!! We lucked out with amazing sunny and warm weather in London, thank goodness! I had three great friends to travel- Dylan, Hannah, and Kelsey (my roommate).

Day 1: We docked into the Southampton port early in the morning again, we were woken but the incredibly loud and shaking engines coming to a stop in the port…I have a feeling I’m going to have to get used to this for the next 12 stops haha. My friends and I met up around 930 to get off the ship and walked up to the bus station (about a mile or two from where our ship was docked) and got there in just enough time to catch the 1020 bus direct into London. By the time we got to London all four of us were starving so we checked into the hotel and immediately asked the front desk where we should eat. He directed us to a little Italian restaurant across the street where we ate the most delicious meal; we all ate so much food! Then after recovering from our food comas we headed over to the main shopping area in London-Oxford Circus/Carnaby St. It was about a 15-20min walk from our hotel. I couldn’t believe how many people were out and about in this area, pedestrian traffic was crazy! But fun nonetheless. Dylan had to buy a new backpack because his had broken on our walk through Southampton, so we found a Northface store where he could grab one.  Then we journeyed back to the hotel. We had reservations at the Ice Bar that night so we got ready and headed over there. The Ice Bar is a bar completely made of ice (hence the name) where they give you a parka when you walk in because it is below freezing inside! That was really fun but after half an hour or soon your toes begin to freeze so we took a million pictures and then carried on. We tried to go to a couple of other bars/clubs we had been told about but since it was Wednesday they were closed so we ended up sitting in a quiet bar and since there was only a few people in the bar we became friends with everyone in there! It was a great night!

Day 2: The 2^nd day was not our most productive day, we slept in for a while and then caught the overland train into one of the surrounding suburbs where my friend’s uncle owns a restaurant. The restaurant is called The Sparrowhawk and it’s really nice. He showed us around the restaurant and took us up to the rooftop terrace where you could see the whole skyline of London. We ate a delicious dinner and then went back onto the roof for the amazing sunset. The chef in the restaurant was giving us tips on places to go that night, and then called his brother and got us on a guest list to the Vogue after party of London fashion week in one of the popular clubs in central London. So we headed over there and got in pretty quickly (with a pretty steep cover charge). We had a lot of fun dancing and seeing all the really dressed up people! We made some friends who were happy to pay for a few of our drinks. When a person bought a huge bottle of what looked like very expensive alcohol (which happened quite a few times in this swanky party) a line of people would walk out with sparklers and put on a whole light show on throughout the club! It was a really fun night and I’m glad we got to go!

Day 3: We woke up early because we only had half a day to explore the last parts of London, so we got on the underground train and took it to the area where Big Ben and the London Eye is.  We ate breakfast at a restaurant right next to the London Eye. Then we rode around the London Eye and watched a bunch of the street performers and took lots of pictures. It was such a beautiful day that we got some ice cream and just sat on the grass next to the river and relaxed. We had a bus to catch at 4pm so we got back on the underground train and headed over to the bus station. We made it to the bus station just in time, the driver didn’t look too pleased with our timing, but let us on regardless!  After we got back to the ship, Rory (Camp Wayne ski co-counselor) picked us up. We got dinner and then Rory went and picked up his older brother and we sat at a bar and caught up. It was a hilarious time and I’m glad I got to see Rory and his brother hahah. They dropped my friends and I off at the ship and we all went to bed pretty early.

Day 4: We slept in til 930 and then my roommate and I didn’t have any plans so we decided to just go wander around and see Southampton. There was a cute farmers market that we wandered around. I ended up buying a blanket (the ship is very cold and the blankets aren’t very warm) and a long skirt that will be perfect for travelling around Africa. We ate lunch in a yummy little café and then came back to the ship nice and early and took a nap.

It was a fantastic trip around London, I had a blast and got to see so many things!!

Ireland!

 This is where the balls start out Zorbing

 This is the hill I rolled down. Its in the middle of a farm.

 Colin and I!

 Me inside the Zorbing ball

 

The view of Belfast from CaveHill!

Ireland was a fantastic trip and I’m so glad it was the first port on my journey! To make it easier I’m going to organize my post into day by day.

Day 1: The ship anchored in Galway at about 530am, and since my room is right of the engines it shook my roommate and I awake, it sounded as though a train was coming right through our window, from then on I laid in bed so excited I couldn’t fall back asleep.  Since the dock is Galway is not big enough to fit our ship, we had to take the lifeboats from the anchored ship over to the dock so it was going to take a big longer than usual to disembark everyone, but I was determined to get on the first boat off. I got up around 7am, ate breakfast, picked up my passport and waited in the main union until we were finally allowed to disembark around 830am. My uncle (or cousin, technically)  Colin was waiting for me at a hotel just a few minutes walk from the port so I walked over there (only getting lost for about 5minutes) and found him. Then we drove up to Belfast (3 ½ hour drive…which I slept for most of). When we got to the house Colin had to run into work and everyone else was at a funeral except Mark (Colins son, so that makes him my second cousin? Third cousin? I’m not sure..) so Mark and I went for a lovely walk through the park around Stormont (Northern Ireland Parliament Building). Mark has recovered miraculously from a terrible bicycle accident just about 8 months ago so it was great to see him doing so well! Later that afternoon everyone came home and we all caught up and then went to bed early. I ended up sleeping soundly for 13 hours that night, it was great!

Day 2:  The next day (Saturday) Colin drove me up to ‘The Jungle’ outdoor adventure park. A friend (Stephen) I met at summer camp this summer lives in Belfast and works at ‘The Jungle’ and set me up so I was able to spend his employee allowance and basically do anything I wanted. Unfortunately we were on a bit of a time-crunch, but I still got to go Zorbing! (The best way to describe Zorbing is rolling down a hill in a giant hamster ball…its very ridiculous but very very fun!) One kind of Zorbing is where you are harnessed inside the ball and the other kind is where you are not harnessed in and they put about a foot of water in the ball with you (It felt like I was in a washing machine!! Hahaha!). That night I went to a local Belfast pub with Ricky (Colin’s other son) and his fiancée Lucy and their friend. Then Colin and Judith picked me up later in the night and brought me back to the house.

Day 3: Sunday Colin, Ricky, Lucy and I all hiked/walked up a mountain called Cavehill. From the top we could see all of Belfast (and off into the far distance we could see Scotland!) it was a beautiful hike, the weather was perfect and sunny out. After we got home from the hike the whole McKee family came over (Colin, Judith, Mark, Ricky, Lucy, Lisa [7 months pregnant!!] Millsy, and Jane) for Lisa’s birthday. It was great to see everyone again because last time (and the first time I came to Ireland) I came out with my mom and sister for Lisa’s wedding. We had a delicious dinner and birthday cake.

Day 4: Monday morning I caught the 9am bus from Belfast to Dublin. Once in Dublin I wandered around and found the shuttle stop that took me back to the ship in the Dublin Port. I dropped off my bag, changed into clean clothes, and then caught the shuttle back into Dublin. I walked around the city with 3 other students where we ate lunch in a little café and bought some postcards and things. Then we got back on the ship nice and early because we didn’t want to risk being late and getting into trouble. That night everyone on the ship went to bed pretty early since we were all exhausted from our first port experience. Lucky for me I got to stay with family, but after hearing the stories of my friends on the ship, it sounded like most students ended up spending a whole lot of money ‘tasting’ the Irish beers and liquors haha. 

I had a great time! Next up I will write about my adventure through London and Southampton!

xoxo
Dayna