My long morning - Day 015

It's raining right now and plus I'm really tired, so I am going to do today's post, plan the next few days, and then bedtime. This morning I woke up at 2 AM and couldn't go back to sleep. I waited till 3:30 before I decided to just get up. Lots of drunk people were just coming in from the pubs. They were fun to meet. They spoke their native language and were very happy to meet me, too; well, it seemed that way. I met some French people out in the lounge/cafeteria place. That's where I am now. We chatted until 5 and some lady came to tell us all to go to bed. I said I just woke up. She wanted me to leave anyway so she could prepare the room for breakfast. I went on a walk.

Budget:

Groceries: €10 ($15.62)

Hostel: €18.5 (28.89)

Total: €28.5 ($44.51)

The hostel, Avalon House

The Millenium Bridge (Dublin's version I guess)

The beach

Dublin - Day 014

I arrived in Dublin at 10 AM. I found an ATM and got 20 Euro. Outside I found the buses and I bought a one-way ticket to the city center for 6 Euro. I got downtown and had no idea where I was. I had a map, but I learned very quickly that it is very hard to find what street you are on. It seems most the streets have no signs, but when they do the sign is on the side of a building. It was also very cloudy, so I couldn't tell my direction.

When I came to the Spire of Dublin (which I'll post a picture of later) I knew I was on O'Connell St, but I only found the name of one of the intersecting streets. There was a large statue of a man with his hands extended placed in front of the Spire. I thought he was welcoming outsiders to Dublin so I thought I'd walk past him and it would lead me to the center of Dublin. I was wrong.  I got to the end of O'Connell street and turned back. So actually, the man was facing the river; he must just be happy for the river in front of him or the large spear behind him, or both.

I was on the O'Connell bridge before I even realized it. The walk was much quicker than I anticipated because my map is at a much larger scale than my Manhattan or Philadelphia maps. Also, the street was very crowded with pedestrians and the bridge is so wide I didn't even notice the change from street to bridge. From that point on I found my way very smoothly.

The first thing I noticed when I walked into my hostel was that they were playing Bob Dylan on the radio.  I couldn't check in until 2. I hung around since I had all my stuff with me.  Then I checked in, put my big bag in the luggage room, took a shower, and then took off to walk around Dublin.

Budget:

Bus to downtown: €6 ($9.37)

Food: €11 ($17.18)

Hostel: €18.5 ($28.89)

Total: €35.5 ($55.44)

Also, my bank charged $5 for the ATM transaction.

Pictured is a group of buildings termed Bachelors' Walk, on the North side of Liffey.

This is the O'Connell bridge.

Airport - Day 013

I spent the entire day in the airport.  Thankfully, I made it safely onto my plane to Dublin, Ireland.  Thank you very much to everyone who helped me on the East Coast.  Thank you very very much Kelli, high five!  Thank you Jen, Emily, and Cara for letting me stay in your places!  All of you have been so much fun to see and meet!

Last day in Worcester - Day 012

Wednesday - Kelli went back to work. I walked to the post office and mailed my phone out. I feel bad I didn't call my mom to let her know I was mailing it out. Instead, however, I thought in case people try to call me I should change my voicemail to answer "I'm in Europe." I felt funny saying that in the post office of Worcester because people could hear me, but that's what I did. As I wrote that part, something came to mind: my stories don't always have the punch-line you might be expecting. So, instead of erasing the post office story, I thought I would tell you that it has typical characteristics of my stories.

I left the post office and walked to the Worcester Art Museum. I toured the museum at a very slow pace. Kelli and I later met up for Mexican food. After that we picked up Jen and the three of us went out for ice cream. Then I was up very very late procrastinating my packing that I had to do. Eventually, I ran out of time and packed up all my stuff. I even packed my pants and shoes, the very pants and shoes that I was wearing. (That was for Mike)

Historical Houses - Day 011

I woke up early! Kelli belongs to the Preservation of Worcester Society and I had the pleasure of joining her and the group for a day to tour two houses in Waltham, MA. The Lyman Estate and the Gore House are both houses of federal-style architecture.  Their design is very similar to the White House, i.e. the central part with wings on the side, an oval room, etc.  They both had ballrooms with a piano, however, I didn't play either of them.  :(

The Lyman Estate:

 

The Gore House:

Run through Worcester - Day 010

I went on a run.   The weather my whole stay was very nice, high five! I got a chance to take some pictures with my own camera.  I had been taking fewer pictures and sometimes just bumming off other peoples' cameras.   I took a picture of a triple decker house because Worcester is well-known for them.   If I recall correctly, they had so many factory workers and not enough city to hold them so stacking them up in the triple deckers was the route they chose.  Also, Boulevard Diner was on my way back, so I took a picture of it, too.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday - Day 009

I woke up at 9:30.  I had the intention of going to church because Kelli pointed out a Trinity Lutheran church that was right across the street from the Worcester Art Museum.  I quickly got on my laptop and googled "trinity lutheran worcester."  I found the website and the service started at 10 am; I had about 25 minutes!  I opened up Google Earth and entered in addresses to find directions; it was about a 1.9 mile trip. I saved a picture of the directions and uploaded it to my phone.  I put on pants and shoes and ran out the door.  I was down to about 21 minutes.  As I was running up a steep Adams street I thought I'd text Kelli and let her know I'd be back later.  Kelli called and asked, "Where are you?  What are you doing?" ... "Stay right there I'll come pick you up."  Kelli picked me up and we made it to Trinity Lutheran with about 9 minutes to spare.  Thank you, Kelli.  :)

After church, Kelli and I drove Jean-Marie and Melissa to the airport in Boston. Then we walked around Boston. We walked through the Boston Common, which dating back to 1634 is the oldest park in the United States.  We walked over the bridge and I was pleased to see a lady playing an accordion and she was playing the waltz from Amélie! (La Valse D'Amélie) We walked through some historic parts of Boston; I liked the historic street names that show how simple times were back then: Water Street, Milk Street... haha.

The picture is Faneuil Hall; it has served as a place for market and meetings since 1742. Currently, the ground floor is still used as marketplace, the second floor is used for meetings, and the third floor is maintained by the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company.