Auschwitz

Auschwitz was my second stop. This is probably not going to be a long post because even to this day I still get emotional about this place. How we, as humans could do this to other humans, is beyond me. How we could hate people we don't even know so much to mass murder them.... I just can't wrap my head around it.
There are 3 different Auschwitz locations. Regular Auschwitz, Auschwitz-birkenau and Auschwitz -m(something) but its gone. I went to both Auschwitz and auschwitz-birkenau on my tour.
It is humbling and horrifying all in one. I cried and prayed for all the people that had to go through this.
Everyone needs to see it, everyone in the world needs to see this, and maybe just maybe we wouldn't be so hateful to our neighbors.

The entrance to Auschwitz

Auschwitz-Birkenau

The gas chambers that they blew up so no one would know what they did

where the prisoners stayed

they slept 6-8 people in each row. 

Budapest

Budapest was my first stop on the month-long whirlwind tour of Europe I did in September 2016. Buda and Pest are two different cities separated by the Danube River. It is a beautiful city and I'm really glad I started my trip there instead of in Krakow like I had originally planned. There is a communication issue, most of the taxi drivers do not speak English, at all. I had to show the guy what I wanted on the map. Be warned and come there with the expectation to not understand anything.


MUST SEE/DO LIST AT THE BOTTOM!! 

Szechenyi Spa

Oh, am I so glad I started with this. Absolutely beautiful day for an outside pool day. I slept away in the shade for several hours. They provided me a "cabin", it's more of like a closet, but it fit all my stuff easily and allowed me to change and leave my stuff without worry. At 3 pm, I got a massage. It was very relaxing. I had plans to go exploring during the day, but once I was in the spa I couldn't just leave and come back. In all reality, me staying at the spa for most of the day was a good thing. I was so exhausted from my flights where I got no sleep, that napping and relaxing was just what I needed. 

Castle Hill

After I changed my clothes and grabbed my suitcase, I took off for the train station. I got one of those big lockers to put everything in and hailed a cab. I had things to see. I started off at Castle Hill. This is where Buda Palace is (picture of the backside above). It's where all the Hungarian Royalty lived. It's very pretty and offers an astounding view of the Pest side, including one of my favorite buildings Parliament.

Parliament

I took maybe 800 photos of this building because I was obsessed with it. It reminds me of the Parliament building in London, but it's just so picturesque. I decided to leave Castle Hill and make my way to Parliament for some better photos. 

Chain Bridge 

The first ever bridge to link Buda and Pest.

The Danube River 

On the Chain Bridge with Parliament in the background

In front of the Parliament down on the Riverwalk is a memorial called the Shoes on the Danube. It's a must see. It's a memorial for the people that were shot and thrown into the river during WW2. 

Shoes on the Danube

Shoes on the Danube 

After this is was time to head back to the train station, and board a train to Krakow! I only got to spend one day here, I wish it would have been a little longer to really dive into the city, but maybe next time :) 

Must SEE/DO LIST

1. Castle Hill
2. Spa - thermal baths are wonderful
3. Parliament
4. Shoes on the Danube

Ireland

Ireland is by far my favorite country. I went in August of 2015 and had the greatest weather. I was not expecting to love Ireland as much as I did. Most people love Paris or London or Rome the most, no one really says Ireland is their favorite place. It's underrated. But the people, the atmosphere, the food and the beauty, make this by far my favorite place.

CHECK OUT THE MUST SEE/DO LIST AT THE BOTTOM!! 

St. Patrick's Cathedral

St. Patrick's Cathedral

After arriving in Dublin in the afternoon and spending the evening meeting up with my tour group. I spent my first day in Ireland. Our first stop was to St. Patrick's Cathedral! We heard the stories of St. Patrick, however, we didn't get to go into the Cathedral as there was a funeral going on for one of the bishops of the church. We did go in later that afternoon with a smaller group of the people I became friends with.
After that, we had a free afternoon. Our next stop was Trinity College to see the Book of Kells. It's one of the oldest manuscripts in the world believed to be created in 800 A.D. It's beautiful with golden illustrations. No photos are allowed inside. To get to the Book of Kells, you have to go through the library of Trinity College, which is beautiful itself.

Library of Trinity College

Next was a walk through St. Stephan's Green, before going back to St. Patrick's Cathedral. 

St. Stephan's Green

Our last stop for the day was Guinness Storehouse. I mean how can you go to Ireland and not stop off for a pint of Guinness. It was pretty cool. Not as good as the Heineken Brewery tour though. 

My little group at Guinness

The next day, a few of us took a bus trip to Northern Ireland for the day. After a few hours riding the bus, we made it to Belfast where we had the option of either the Titanic Museum or a Black Taxi Ride. The Black Taxi Ride shows how Protestant Irish and Catholic Irish hate each other and would murder each other frequently. I chose to go to the Titanic Museum. This is where the Titanic was built, it has no actual artifacts from the Titanic, but the museum is extremely well done. It has a ride and several other fun things inside of the museum. 

Titanic Museum

This is one of the guys on my trip Allen. He became "My Jack" for the trip :) 

Next, we went to the Giant's Causeway. So technically this is a volcano a long time ago when Ireland was connected to Scotland. You can see from other places around the world that have similar landscapes such as Iceland. However, I like the legend story much better. A giant named Finn Mccool and his wife lived in Northern Ireland. The giant goes to the shore and yells "I am Finn Mccool and I'm the biggest and baddest giant there is!" Well, a giant over in Scotland heard him and yelled back. 'No I am the biggest and baddest giant there is!" 

and of course, how egotistical giants are, Finn Mccool says "COME ON OVER HERE AND PROVE IT!" and starts to build the bridge over to Scotland to fight the other giant that threatened him. 

He works through the night to finish the bridge and starts walking over to Scotland to take care of the other giant problem, but as dawn approaches, he sees the other giant over in Scotland and he is bigger and he is badder than Finn Mccool. So he goes running back over to his wife and tells her the story. She says "Not to worry, here have a pint of Guinness." You know because Guinness was always around even back then. She laces the pint of Guinness with a sleeping medicine and when Finn passes out, she puts him in baby clothes and lays him on the bed. 

When the Scotland giant comes over finally he finds Finn's wife and demands to know where Finn is. She says "Oh he will be back shortly."

The other giant looks around and sees the "baby" that is laying on the bed.

The wife sees him looking and says "Oh yes that's Finn and is only about 3 months old. He will hopefully be the same size as Finn when he's older."

And at that, the other giant runs away smashing the bridge up as he goes. 

Giant's Causeway

Giant's Causeway

Getting attacked by waves from the edge of the Giant's Causeway

To end the day, we stopped at Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge. This was so fun, and a wonderful site for photos!!! 

Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge

Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge

Next on our journey was a bus ride through the Irish countryside, stopping at a castle or two along the way, but mainly stopping for the Blarney Stone! Rumor is, if you kiss the Blarney Stone, you'll have the gift of gab all your life! Not like I need any more of that :) The line is super long, and honestly, you feel kind of like a pig up for auction. A guy sits at the edge to help you kiss the stone saying "Ok now put your hands there and there, lean back I got you give it a kiss and up there you go, who's next?" It all happens so quickly, however, there is a photographer and you can pay to get the photos he takes. I would suggest doing it because there is no way you are getting any of your own.

Blarney Castle

It's hard to believe but at this time, we are officially halfway through the trip. Nothing saddens me more than realizing that the time is coming for me to go back home. 

After visiting the Blarney Castle, we finish our drive to Killarney. It's a beautiful little town full of Irish pubs and shops! 

We drive around the Ring of Kerry, which is just as beautiful as everyone says it is! 

Ring of Kerry

Ring of Kerry

After seeing a sheep herding show, and a few other stops along the way, we made it back to Killarney for a jaunting ride! For those of you who don't know what a jaunting ride is, it's a carriage ride! We took a carriage ride through Killarney National Park to Ross Castle. We had a serious photo shoot there and basically climbed all over the old castle. 

Driving the carriage 

Ross Castle

We left Killarney early in the morning and drove on to the Cliffs of Moher. Now the Cliffs of Moher were the entire reason I picked this trip. And they did not disappoint at all. They are my favorite part of the whole trip. There is no way to describe the beauty of this place. 

Cliffs of Moher

Cliffs of Moher

Our last stop for the trip was Galway. Galway is an amazing little town! Full of pubs, shopping, and food stands! I loved it! We drank a little too much, but had a blast! So many performers and vendors as well. 

The next day we took a trip over to Aran Islands. It is one of the oldest places where Gaelic is still prevalent. Its a beautiful little island with a lot of history. The doorways like below are super small because the people were much much shorter then. 

Aran Islands 

Must See/Do List! 

1. Cliffs of Moher
2. Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge
3. Giant's Causeway
4. Blarney Castle
5. Ring of Kerry
6. Killarney
7. Galway
8. Titanic Museum
9. Dublin