Photo Sunday: Hugging an Irish Statue

When I went to Northern Ireland my friends from there and I looked up some local places to see. One that came up was these old statues. From the description they sounded cool and easy to find.

Cool, yes.
Easy to find? No.

This supposed tourist spot ended up being down a dirt road and in a graveyard. Of course it was raining too, so the whole thing was quite creepy. After going through all the work of finding these strange statues, I had to hug one.

So here is me, hugging an old statue, in a graveyard, in the rain.

Oh Northern Ireland.

Have you ever gone to somewhere on a tourist brochure and ended up in a tiny old graveyard? Have you hugged a strange statue? Hit me up!
-Alisa

Bloody Hell I'm in England: The South Edition

This summer I (Hope) was fortunate enough to be able to spend a month traveling around England. My dear friend and travel companion Emily is half English so we were able to considerably cut down on costs by staying with family and friends. We started our journey in London than traveled north to York and Rothbury before looping back around to hit the Lake District and Nottingham before flying out of London at the end of the month. Rather than go in chronological order I am going to go geographically. So this post will focus on London and Nottingham primarily.


London:

Like any good children from the 90's Emily and I are avid Harry Potter fans and as we had spent my 22nd birthday at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Universal Studios we thought it was only fitting that we spend my 23rd at the Warner Brothers Studio tour in London. I could literally devote an entire blog to the wonders of this magical place but I will try to keep it short and to the point.

Point one. If you are a Harry Potter fan than you MUST go here. It is like a sacred pilgrimage. Seriously there should be a test to get in some days so that only the truly devoted are allowed inside. Those muggles lovers just get in the way and give you weird looks when you start to get emotional in Dumbledore's office.

Point two. Get the audio guide and book deal. The audio guide really completes the experience for crazed fans like myself. If you find yourself grinning like a child with a new toy any time you discover a new tidbit about the Wizarding World of Harry Potter on the internet that the audio guide will be like a dream come true. The book is of course a must because you can pull it out in a few weeks when you get the shakes from Harry Potter withdrawl.

Point three. Eat all of the things and do all of the photo-ops even if you don't intend on buying them. I had no intention of shelling out money for a cheesy photo of me flying through London but that does not mean that I was not going to hop on that mechanical broom and take it for a joy ride.

Point four. LOOK AT ALL THE THINGS

Photo Sunday: Charming Dublin

I decided to start a Photo Sunday. Since I rarely do anything productive on Sundays anyway, may as well make use of the time to show off some of my photos.

This photo comes to you from Dublin, Ireland.

Normally I am not overly found of cities. I hate traffic and I am not great about crowds. So even though I adore Dublin, I doubt I would ever live there. If I had to live a city though, Dublin is high on the list.

The architecture around the city is gorgeous, the people are friendly, and there are so many wonderful cafes and pubs.

Ireland is one of those places that just keeps calling me back, so I'm sure I will be returning to Dublin eventually.

Have you ever been to Dublin? What did you think of the cute Irish city? Were you as charmed as I was?

-Alisa

Magical Northern Ireland

I feel like Ireland is one of those places that everyone and their mother has been too.

This is not true of Northern Ireland.

While everyone wants to visit the rolling green hills of Ireland, no one seems to want to visit the neighbor to the north. I am here to inspire you to give Northern Ireland a chance. You'll love it!