3 Days in Tuscany

The next few days in Italy were spent in Tuscany, under that hot Tuscan sky. We were lucky though, no raiders were present (... that's a Star Wars joke I've been waiting to make it all trip, haha). 

Through sheer Tetris skills, we were able to fit all 14 of us plus luggage into 4 cars. So grateful I didn't have to take a bunch of trains/busses to get to Tuscany and instead shared a car with Theo, Samar, Diego and Kristen. Thanks!!

The ride was about 3.5 hours, with a stop for gas (how are the gas station cappuccinos better than any regular ones in Canada?!) and then lunch at Eataly! So glad I went all the way to Italy to eat at a restaurant they have in Toronto 😅. My pasta took a million years to be made but in the end, it was one of the best "highway dining" experiences I have had. 

Diego introduced me to a new game that entertained us back seaters for the rest of the trip - the movie game. Alternating between movie and then an actor/actress in that film with no repeats, you try to stump the other people. My kinda game. Kudos to John who later on at the villa one evening gave me a run for my money with his mad movie skillz! 

We arrived in Poggibonsi, a small town about an hour away from Florence in the late afternoon and I was blown away by our air bnb. It was a villa, with gorgeous backgrounds of vineyards and Tuscan hills and a beautiful pool to ourselves. I swear, this has been the fanciest trip I've ever been on.

Our Villa

Churches, Swords and Fooooood

Today we visited the abby of Saint Galgano, an old church which houses the original "Sword in the Stone". I only knew of the Arthurian legend but apparently it was derived from this one (ah, cultural appropriation). In this story, an Italian knight (Galgano) decided to denounce his murderous and violent ways and become a good, peaceful and religious man. He sheathed his sword in a rock in defiance so that no more violence would be shed. He then helped poor/sick people and became a Saint. The end. More or less. 

It's a sword and it's in a stone

We entered into the cathedral portion first and walked around the ruins in awe. We even saw a group of scientists/archeologists who were doing an excavation outside the building. We walked up a giant hill (inappropriate footwear strikes again!) to see the small church where the sword is. 

The main church 

Next, we visited the town of Siena. It's a gorgeous sand coloured town surrounded by the Tuscan countryside. We grabbed lunch with a view and wandered the town for a bit. Gelato was obviously had (ginger & honey, mixed berry).

After lounging at the pool and refreshing ourselves, we headed to dinner in Poggibonsi. While some were super amped for their MASSIVE steaks, I was blown away by a charcuterie board and some delicious cheese ravioli. After we stuffed ourselves, gelato was obviously had (strawberry). 

San Gimignano, Wine & a Home Cooked Meal

We needed a sleep-in morning, but we rallied and Lauren and I joined up with Theo and Samar to check out the walled city of San Gimignano. I had been there once before back in my 2010 Italy trip, so it was nice to wander the streets again. We bought a few souvenirs, felt it was too crowded with tourists and left after about an hour or so. Gelato not had.

The streets of San Gimignano 

After naps and pool hangs, we headed off to a wine tour. This was my favourite part of the trip so far. It was at a gorgeous agrotoruismo (Matt had stayed there before) and we sampled four of their wines alongside some cheese, olives, meats and breads. I ended up purchasing my two bottles of wine to bring home from here, as well as some amazing homemade olive oil. 

<wine tour>

Theo, who is a personal chef, treated us to a home-cooked meal for dinner. Nick, who is apparently an undiscovered charcuterie wizard, treated us to one gorgeously large and impressive spread. Both were super delicious and we were so grateful for it!

We took it easy the rest of the night (more or less) as we were all shuffling off to different destinations the next morning. I am so glad to have met and bonded with this group of people. I was quite nervous joining up with people who were paired up and already friends (thanks covid induced social anxiety), but it turned out that we all meshed so well (and not everyone knew everyone like I originally thought). Everyone was able to bring something to the group and people were so kind and accepting. Sometimes you get lucky with people and this was definitely one of those times. I'll never forget the laughter and good times with this crew, thanks Matt & Laura for bringing us all together. 💕✌️

A Wedding in Italy!

It's been a long time comin', this trip to Italy. Originally planned for June 2020, my friend Matt was getting married to his Italian fiance, Laura. Well, we all know what happened in 2020 and thanks to Covid, the wedding was delayed for two years. 

But we made it! The journey over was not ideal with the Canadian airports being a mad mess of delays, luggage worries, an 8 month old as a seat partner for the red eye, and unfortunante digestive issues ("it's not a trip til Susan ____"), but we eventually made it. Only about 5 hours later than planned. 

I was traveling on the same plane as Matt, Laura and Matt's parents so I luckily scored a pick up in Milan by Laura's family and we drove to the small town of Erba, near Lake Como. 

The wedding and the next three days was spent at Castello di Casiglio, a castle in Italy! It dates back to the 1400's. It's served noble families and the bourgeoisie of the area. And now it serves us. :)

After dealing with jetlag, the next morning we spent exploring Lake Como. We stayed in the Duomo area of Como, helping friends buy new suits and dresses whose originals had been lost in transit. We met up with Nick and Rob who had joined us from a pre-italy trip to Switzerland. Then, we all enjoyed a drink in the shade of the basilica (most had the classic Aperol Spritz but my heart belongs to anything that has guava in it so I got a mixed cocktail).

The Duomo, or the Basillica de Como was gorgeous, even moreso on a quick glance inside but we decided to forgo the admission fee and take a walk down by the lake instead.

Lake Como is located in the shadow of the alps and we walked a bit around the area where a lot of small yachts were moored. There is a reason George Clooney loves this place. After a walk about and seeing the outside of Volta temple (in honour of Alessandro Volta, the inventor of the electrical battery) we headed back to the castle hotel for pool time.

That night, Matt and Laura hosted a welcome dinner at a pizzeria nearby and I called an early night for myself to prep for the wedding the next day!

Lauren - my bajan bestie, and I slept in next the day and further enjoyed our lack of wedding responsibilities by hanging poolside most of the day until the big moment arrived.

The wedding was absolutely 💯 Bella. Laura's dress was the perfect embodiment of an Italian fairy tale princess with detailed embroidery on the bodice, intricate lacing and a back to die for. They got married outside under the Italian sun and I won't lie, a few tears were shed.

The aperitivo was served after with aperol spritzes, bubbly, and a kiwi cocktails to go around. The meat, seafood and cheese platters were amazing with most of my attention spent on the latter. This girls heart is betrothed to the dairy industry in Italy I think. 

The dinner (and later, dancing) was held in the basement area of the castle and the decor was medieval boho chic. Our table was a fun bunch and it was great getting to know more of the "friend group" of the trip. Meals and speeches commenced. 

However I do need to bring particular attention to the delicious and slighty crazy vegetarian option of roasted vegetables, potatoes and an entire baked brie. It was amazing and just what I love, but probably not great for my gut later haha.

We went outside for cake and then returned to end the night with dancing to a ridiculously close-minded DJ intent on refusing to play our requests. Closing the night, we ended up by the pool with beverages and as many limoncello wedding favors as our little arms could carry.

The next day was a hungover relaxing on by the pool with an amazing evening dinner (beat risotto with creamy cheese, ice cream with fresh blueberries, and of course, red wine) to end our time at the Castillo. Onwards to our next adventure, an air bnb villa for the friend group in Tuscany. 

Ending it in Dublin

Even though I'm sitting at home typing this out and no longer in Ireland, I still need to wrap up my last few days of this amazing adventure. Writing this is helping to stave off the "Post Trip Depression Blues" (I'm not making it up, it's a thing) and just wait until I start posting all my pictures too. hahaha. My obsession with this trip will never end.

Dublin - Reunions with Old Friends

My trip into Dublin was awful. If you recall from my last post - I was incredibly hungover from the Cork Pub Crawl the night prior. So I didn't think I would be up for much of anything the first night. However, f-it. I only have three days left, might as well make the most of it.

I met up with Sam and Luke (and their girlfriends: Laura and Lily) for dinner and drinks. When I traveled to Dublin six years ago with my best friend Dan, we stayed with his cousins and aunt/uncle. So when I was coming back, I reached out to the boys to hang out. I was a bit worried it would be weird without Dan there, but we transitioned into chatting and drinking rather seamlessly and had a great night.

Reunions and Cider

We started off at the Porterhouse in Temple bar for some dinner and fancy Espresso cocktails (I needed a bit of a caffeine push to continue the night). After that we headed to the Brazen Head which is Dublin's oldest pub. It had some awesome ambiance, a variety of rooms and live music and we sat on the patio and drank cider to my hearts content. A fantastic first night in Dublin!

Security at The Brazen Head

Wandering Around the City
The next day was a bit of a disaster -- Super Organized Susan wise, I mean. I had planned on waking up early and going to Kilmainham Gaol for the morning --- but I slept in. Then when I finally got my ass in gear, I found out that the tickets for the day were sold out and I'd have to return tomorrow at 9am to try to get tickets for Tuesday. Ah well, I'll just move on to something else. Maybe the museums? Nope, closed on Mondays. Okay... Maybe the cool crypt with mummified bodies? It doesn't say they are closed online. Nope! When I got there, the gates were closed shut. Hmmm... what to do? Oh look, The Jameson Bow Street Distillery tour is right beside me. I don't even like Whiskey... OH WELL.

Whiskey for You, Whiskey for Me

The tour was pretty informative and interactive which I enjoyed. There were a lot of cool audio visual tricks and we saw the entire process of distilling whiskey. We had a taste test where we compared a Scotch Whiskey (Johnnie Walker), An Irish Whiskey (Jameson) and an American Whiskey (Jack Daniels) and while I am not a whiskey connoisseur in the slightest -- the Jameson WAS the smoothest to drink. I didn't particularly like the shots, but after the tour I had a glass of Jameson with Gingerale and lime which was delicious.

After the distillery, I needed a nap to recoup before heading out to meet up with Séamus, a travel friend I had met in Derry. As we were both a little rough from the previous nights before, we decided to have a chill evening of pizza, coffee and wandering around the city. Séamus had no idea of my love of loose leaf tea but nevertheless took me to a fantastic little coffee/tea shop where we caught up and learned more about each other. He then took me to St. Stephen's Green and walked me back to my hostel where we had a fantastic view of a rainbow. It was a great way to spend the twilight hours.

Found me a Leprechaun at the end of the Rainbow

When I got back to my hostel, I met up with my two Taiwanese roommates from Cork who were ironically also staying in the same hostel as me. We went down to Temple bar to find some live music and hit the jackpot at the Quays. We had a fantastic guitar player, totally catering to North American audiences, play "irish" versions of various pop songs. It was lively, packed and wonderful. I'm pretty sure that one of my favourite things in the world is listening to attractive men with accents play music in pubs.

Reunited for some live music!

The Gaol and One Last Hurrah

I was much more prepared and left really early to make it to Kilmainham Gaol (Jail) for a tour. I grabbed a day-of ticket and because I had an hour to kill beforehand, I wandered around a park nearby. It was the Irish War Memorial Gardens and with the exception of one other tourist and a man doing gardening, completely empty. Gorgeous and relaxing, it was a gem to find. That's been my favourite aspect of this trip so far, stumbling across beautiful places and experiences that I had not had planned. Maybe I need to rethink my organized nature to allow for a little bit more of this happenstance beauty.

Ireland War Memorial Gardens

Kilmainham Gaol was incredibly interesting. It was a former jail, used up until the mid 1920s, housing "criminals" during the famine years and up to those involved in the Easter Rising. There was a touching story about Joesph Plunkett and Grace Gifford who got married mere hours before he was executed for his involvement in the rising. We saw the jail cells of various important figures involved in Ireland's independence and even saw the spot where they were executed. I apparently have a fascination with morbid history. But honestly, I think everyone should visit places like this (or concentration camps or the killing fields, etc) because only then can you understand the magnitude of what happened here. Those that do not study history are doomed to repeat it, no?

Kilmainham Gaol

After the Gaol, I walked over to a museum recommended to me by Séamus: The Museum of Art & Design. I was getting a little museume-d out, but I did check out the beautiful portrait gallery, some information about Ireland's involvement in WWI (Including a life-preserver from the Lusitania -- the "pretense" for American involvement), and an entire section devoted to the 1916 Easter Rising. As I didn't have time to do a walking tour of Dublin, this was a nice encapsulation of that era of history.

My final night in Dublin consisted of meeting up with Luke, Lily and Hugh (the other brother who couldn't make it out the previous night). Luke, Lily and I enjoyed some bubbily with our traditional Irish sushi? haha, Luke had suggested it and I couldn't believe it. I had been talking to my fellow travelmates how much I had been craving sushi! It was quite delicious and afterwards we met up with Hugh and went to a bar off the obvious Templebar path. Can't for the life of me remember the name of it, but I enjoyed some Guinness and Cider before retiring for the night. I really hope the boys come visit me in Canada soon!

Goodbye Drinks!

Stop-Over in NFLD
My flight left at 8 in the morning, but I had a long layover in St. John's, Newfoundland. My Dad has a lot of family still over there, so I met up with some of his cousins and was toured around for the day! I was surprised by how similar the landscape is to Ireland!

Ireland or Canada??

My Dad's cousin Gail drove me to Cape Spear and we watched some whales. I had lunch with more relatives in honour of my Great Aunt Lee and Uncle Bruce 's 54th wedding anniversary (what good timing I have!). Aunt Lee was my Nana's younger sister. We also met up with Aunt Silvia and Uncle Bruce.  Then my Dad's cousin Jan took me to Signal Hill for some hot chocolate before dropping me off at the airport. It was a whirlwind tour, but so kind of everyone to be excited to see me for even just a few hours.

Happy Anniversary, Uncle Bruce and Aunt Lee!

Welcome Home
And now I'm home. Don't get me wrong, I had missed so many of my friends and family when I was over there, but its a little strange being home. I missed my dog and cat. I missed my bed and shower and the heat of the city. But I feel a little changed and I don't think its very noticeable upfront. I went on this trip not sure if I would make any friends nor have any fun. I was worried I would just want to be back in London with people I knew. I thought I was a little crazy to decide to do it myself.

But after this trip, I realized how fantastic it is to travel alone. You can choose when to wake up or what to do. You are forced out of your comfort zone to make friends and those friends want to be friends with you just as much as you do with them. I used to be sad when no one wanted to go to a festival or event with me. Now? I'll just do it on my own and make friends there. I've developed the confidence to eat in a restaurant alone or to just spend time with my own thoughts and that's no longer a bad or scary thing. I still LOVE being around people and actively search for things to do with others, but this trip helped restore my confidence in myself. And for that, I will be forever grateful to Ireland.  To its friendly people, it's amazing scenery and my fellow travelers on the road.

Sláinte!

Put a Cork in it!

Next stop on the trip: Cork. Dubbed Ireland's "second city", this place was very different than the hip and fancier Galway I had just came from. It has more of a gritty feel to it, but also seems more "real", had a crap ton of music and would probably be a place I would love to live in. Less touristy for sure.

Modesty at its finest.

I arrived and quickly made friends with my new roommates who were traveling all the way from Taiwan! I grabbed some fish n chips take away from a fantastic place called "The Fish Wife" and settled in the common room to enjoy my meal. The hostel I was staying in was called Bru Bar & Hostel and had live music in the bar downstairs every night! Perfect! I didn't even have to get dressed up to listen to some good jams.

New roommates enjoying some music!

The musician on the first night was a girl who played a mix of acoustic covers and originals. I enjoyed some beverages with my new friends, ending the night when we lost one friend who went out for some air and didn't come back for half an hour.

Ring of Kerry

The next day I signed up for a bus tour of the Ring of Kerry. I had tried to extend my trip by another week to add more time here but had to settle for a bus tour.  I was gutted when I realised that if I had changed my flight a day prior, it would have been feasible (300€ return) but because I waited an extra day the flight home would have been 500€! So sadly, no extension for me.

Ireland is 😍

Luckily I was still glad I had a chance to get a taste of County Kerry. It was beautiful. We had a 2 hour stop in Killarney. Killarney is a town beside a national park and while it's rather touristy, it has good reason to be. Its beauitful and relaxed, very removed from the hustle and bustle of the cities nearby. I wandered around the Killarney House gardens (Queen Victoria once stayed there) and a saw a slight bit of the national park. I do want to come back and visit more of this area.

We then drove around the Ring of Kerry which is a beautiful drive along the coast. We stopped at the seaside town of Waterville (aptly named) for some lunch. Random Waterville fact: Charlie Chaplin used to vacation here and ever since then they've had a comedy film festival and Chaplin celebration every year.

We also drove along the coast and saw Skellig Michael from a distance. HEY NERDS, IT'S WHERE THEY FILMED THE NEW STAR WARS. Yeah man. #tripofthenerds

Skellig Michael from a distance.

I arrived home tired and lazy so the roommates and I just decided to take it easy and listen to the band performing at our hostel. They were a great rock/metal band covering Jimi and Black Sabbath as well as just tearing it up on the harmonica. 

Blarney Castle

Turns out it only took half an hour to bus it to the castle so I decided to do that on my final day in Cork. Even though I definitely do not need any help with being chatty, maybe I'll be a little less foot-in-mouth now that I waited an hour to kiss the Blarney Stone! Haha.

*Muah!*

The castle itself was pretty interesting to walk around. In addition to long halls and bedrooms, there were things like murder holes and oubliettes (Labyrinth anyone? I kept waiting for  Hoggle to hop out). There was also a Poison garden with all these dangerous plants, their descriptions and sometimes even cages around them. I kept referencing my herbology lessons from Harry Potter and felt very smart. Haha

Madrake roots are not screaming babies apparently.

The grounds itself were the most impressive though. The Fern garden and rock close were very pretty with a lot of gaelic/fairy/witches lore attached to it.

Fern garden 

Never one to turn down folklore and superstition, I walked down and up the witches stairs with my eyes closed focusing on one wish. I'll let you know if it ends up coming true. ;)

The witches stairs

After the castle and gardens, I met up with Christina and Cindy again to go on a pub crawl! Joining us was Christina's friends Susie and John and we had a great time roaming around Cork doing random shots in alleyways and getting hit on by bizzaro Italien men (hahaha, NO patch).

First bar on the pub crawl!

The train ride to Dublin was ROUGH the next day and I fufilled the Howse family motto of "Its Not a Trip til Susan pukes" with gusto. ;)

Next and final stop: Dublin.

Galway Girl

After the craziness of Derry, I needed a bit of a downswing on my trip. Not to say that I didn't go out and have fun, but I was taking life at a much slower pace for a bit. I spent two full days in Galway and really liked the vibes of this city.

Welcome to Galway!

I met two Italian girls in the hostel named Tatiana and Christina. They also had just arrived that day and decided to go on a mission to find some live music and Guinness . Surprisingly this was my first Guinness of the trip! I think I thought I wouldn't like it because it's a dark beer but honestly it's fantastic. It is not too hoppy and kind of reminds me of a coffee.

Bonding over Guinness

It wasn't too hard to find a place to hear music because it was the Galway Races this week and the streets were boppin'. The races are THE event of the year in Galway (and maybe all of Ireland?). They have the same glamour of the Kentucky Derby or Royal Ascot with big hats, big shoes and tons of smartly dressed, very, very drunk Irish folk. The races end around 9 and then the streets are filled with race goers.

It was a big week in Galway!

We settled on checking out the Quays, which had some fantastic atmosphere and a pretty handsome and talented musician who preformed on a stage above the bar.

Cliffs of Moher Day Trip

The three of us had booked a day trip to the Burren & Cliffs of Moher that departed early the next morning. It was a long trip but seeing the Cliffs made it all worth it.

First stop was Dunguaire, a 16th century Castle. We unfortunately didn't really learn anything about it (our tour guide talked a lot but never about things that were very factual).  I did take some pretty pictures though!

We continued with a drive through the Burren. It's a national park/protected landscape that is comprised of many hills of limestone rock. It was quite beautiful. From a distance the hills just looked like they were streaked with grey and then as we got closer we could see how the rocks basically took over everywhere.

The rocky landscape

We had a quick stop at the Poulnabrone Tomb where the bones of 33 people were discovered dated between 5800 and 5200 years ago. It's also known as a dolmen and apparently archaeologists still do not know who erected these dolmens. Cue the conspiracy alien theories.

Where's Mulder to investigate this Dolmen?

We went to a more modern cemetery next to see some Celtic crosses and then had lunch in the town of Dooling.  It was all just a lead up to the Cliffs at this point and man were they worth it.

I was a little underwhelmed when I had gone to Giants Causeway so I was a little hesitant to get excited but I needn't have worried. They are  stunning. Majestic and massive. Not to mention being featured in two of my favourite movies  (The Cliffs of Insanity in the Princess Bride and in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince). #tripofthenerds

Cliffs of Moher

I was a rebel at one point and crossed over the fence to get an amazing photo. Don't worry mom, I didn't go too close to the edge!

That evening, I met up with Christina (from Derry) and her friend Cindy. We went to the Front Door to have a few drinks but got waylaid enroute by some fantastic buskers. There were musicians as well as "feats of strength" such as holding onto a bar for 100 seconds to win 100€... but the bar moves! We saw one person get to 78 and that was after like watching 30 people try it.

Cheers to new friends!

My plans for joining a walking tour got thrown out the window for the following day so I met up with Christina and Cindy and did our own walking tour. We wandered the riverside and saw the Cathedral, capping the morning off with some Quesadillas and burritos (and man, watching Christina eat her first quesadilla was amazing haha).

Who needs a guided tour anyways?

I left the ladies to explore the Galway museum which amongst other things had a statue of Pádraic Ó Conaire (one of Galways most famous authors to write in Irish not English), a scale replica of a hooker fishing boat  (Not *that* kind of hooker haha), and Galway's involvement in WWI.

What a looker, that hooker.

I also visited a small museum of the Claddagh ring. I've been wearing this ring since Grade 8 (obviously because of THIS) and it was really nice to visit it's "birthplace".

Onwards to Cork next!

You are now entering Free Derry

When I first planned this trip, I wasn't going to include a trip to Derry. It seemed a little out of the way and wasn't a massive tourist city like the other places I had planned on going to. Well thank goodness Kevin suggested I'd go here because so far, it's one of my favourites.

Derry's Peace Bridge 

Derry is located on the northwestern part of Northern Ireland. It has a lot of history with the troubles, such as the infamous Bloody Sunday, and is Ireland's only walled city. So for Little Miss History Dork, I was already excited. I had also heard about a lot of awesome pubs to hear Irish music.

When I arrived in my 6 bed dorm, I was immediately befriended by my new roommates (and shared a load of laundry with one of them). We were a multicultural bunch of solo kickass female travellers who all coincidentally wanted to have an epic night out. Christina (Germany), Priscilla (Brazil), Madeline (USA), Christine (Germany) and I headed off to the town for a night of mighty criac.

The ladies of Cheeky Wink

We grabbed some pub food after wandering around... realizing many kitchens were closed and the locals had already moved onto liquid diets. After dinner, we settled on Peadar O'Donnells, a highly recommended and BUSY pub. An Irish man and his guitar provided the music for the night and the drinks started flowing.

We became friends with two Dublin boys, Seamus and Adam, who were up on holidays. The night then devolved into fantastic good times and inside jokes (that stupid boars head, Priscilla's enjoyment of "loonie/toonie", half naked Madeline, "patch-patch-patch-patch!", Christina's dancing skills, messing with Adams hair, Seamus' voice messages to my friends back home, 18 year old babies, pizza holding, "we've lost someone!", and so on). We all drank probably two drinks (and one whisky shot) more than we should have and left at like 2am.

Epic Craic

My fav part of the evening though was when we returned to the hostel. The common room was closed and after repeatedly being told to shush, we went outside our hostel to chat a bit longer and enjoy Madelines street preforming.

The end of the night 

The next morning was rough for all of us ladies. The boys left early and we all struggled to try to eat breakfast. Naps and Advil later, Christina and I went on a rainy walking tour of the city walls. I think we paid attention to about 20 minutes of the hour long tour. We came home, napped and decided to have a mellow evening.

Priscilla, Christina and I decided to make pasta for dinner. Madeline joined us later and the four woman Derry crew went on an evening walk. We crossed the peace bridge to some walking trails and wandered about. It was beautiful and finally not raining. A great way to end the day.

Evening stroll in Derry

I decided to push back my bus to Galway until the afternoon so I could explore the Free Derry museum/corner/memorials and murals. This is exactly the type of history I am interested in: modern social justice history. The museum was sobering and interesting. It explained the origins of the conflicts, the marches, bloody Sunday and the aftermath. Ths museum held somber reminders of the murder such as items of victims clothing, Daly's white handkerchief, rubber bullets, etc and ended the experience with a celebratory video of the results of the second inquiry.

Funeral program for those murdered on Bloody Sunday 

After, I walked to the Free Derry corner and viewed some of the murals. My favourite I think was the civil rights/ bloody Sunday one which depicts a group of men led by Father Daly, carrying the body of Jackie Duddy (the first fatality of the day). It's beautifully painted and a stark reminder of what happened here.

Free Derry corner

So combining my love of History and my fondness for live music and making new  friends: Derry was a fantastic two days and a place I'd recommend all to check out.

Game of Giants

Friday marked my day trip bus tour to Giants Causeway and Game of Throne filming locations. GOT has brought a huge amount of money into Northern Ireland with 80% of the filming taking place in Northern Ireland, either on location or (mostly) in the Belfast studios. Time to get my #tripofthenerds on! If you haven't see GOT up to Season 6, there will be spoilers ahead so you are warned now!

Our first stop was seeing these small steps leading into the ocean that were literally in the show for a minute or so. I was starting to doubt the legitimacy of these "fantastic filming locations" I was about to witness. The scene was when Arya is stabbed by the Waif and she falls into the water. When she comes up and scrambles onto the steps: bam! That's what I saw. Hahah.

Next, we continued on to the Cushendun Caves where Davos rows Melisandre into the caves to birth the shadow assassin. Now this was beginning to get more impressive. Our tour guide attempted to get some people to recreate the scene, but alas we had no volunteers  (and I have a rip in my jeans so there's no way I'm sitting on the ground legs open!).

RIP Renly

We arrived at the Giants Causeway next. After our tour guide told us the legend about how fighting giants from Ireland and Scotland built a bridge and then broke it, we disembarked and it took about 20 minutes to walk down to the rocks. Now to be honest, I was pretty underwhelmed at first. But looking at pictures after, they do look really impressive. I'm glad I had more GOT to look forward to.

They're kinda just rocks...

Next GOT stop: Ballintoy Harbour where they film the Iron Islands (specifically the port when Theon arrives and the baptismal scenes). There's also a beach where Melisandre burns non-believers and where Gendry is set free on his little boat adventure. Also, Sheep island in the background is often used as establishing shots to depict the iron islands from the shore.

Pyke Harbour

We came to Carrick-a-Rede Rope bridge next. It was a very pretty walk there. The Oceanside landscape kind of reminds me of Newfoundland. There was a huge queue to cross the rope bridge and after my tour guide talking it up so much, it was not scary at all..cool, but not terrifying or anything. There was also a quarry area where Brianne and Loras have their duel for Renly, but I missed it (I had tea and cake instead haha).

Rope Bridge!

Our last stop was the Dark Hedges. These iconic 150 beech trees were used for the scene of the Kings Road out of Kings Landing when Arya is escaping as a boy.
Planted in 1775, they form a natural arch across the road.

The Dark Hedges

They had costumes if you wanted and why not! Embrace the fandom! Even if plaid may not be traditional Stark garb.

Embracing my #tripofthenerds

When I finally returned from the tour, I was exhausted. A cheap curry from Tesco and I decided I wanted to experience a traditional bar in Belfast. I headed to Kelly's Cellar and watched some fantastic guitar players. I was befriended by a local Irish teacher Librarian named Sean, but after two beers and him constantly telling me horror stories of solo female travellers, I decided to play it safe and walk home early(ish).

Kelly's Cellar for some local lager and music

The next day was a trip to Derry and hopefully finding friends to have a proper night out with. SPOILERS: I did. ;)