Vivian Goes to Dublin

Dublin is a nice city but going there after Edinburgh was a mistake. I just loved Edinburgh so much and Dublin cannot compare to it. Plus, it was the last place I was visiting and I was just ready to be back in Oslo. I spent a day and a half there and just did a walking tour of the city. I didn't take as many pictures as I usually do because Dublin isn't a very photogenic city. There are some nice places and a lot of statues. And I got lucky again with the weather. I think Mother Nature was trying to make up for Paris. Overall, I think Dublin is alright. I don't particularly have any strong feelings towards it. If I were to visit Ireland ever again, I'd probably hit the beautiful coasts instead of Dublin.
So this concludes my travels in Europe. I'm back in Oslo now and it feels great to be back in my own room. I'm leaving to go back to the U.S. in three weeks and I'm definitely excited for that. I'll just spend the next few weeks studying for my finals and going to the gym. Yes, I bought a gym pass. :) We'll see how that works out...

River Liffey

Ha' Penny Bridge -- built by the same people who built the Titanic... most people avoid walking on this bridge

Hehehehe

Christmas decorations on Grafton Street, the main shopping street

Gaelic is such a weird language

Occupy Dublin

City Hall

Dublin Castle -- most disappointing "castle" I've ever seen

The only medieval structure left of the castle

The Royal Coach

Christ Church

Temple Bar -- area with a lot of pubs

Forgot the name of this bridge but it's the only bridge in Europe that's wider than it is long

The Spire on O'Connell Street

Trinity College

Apparently, if a student walks under this archway, they will fail all of their classes for that term

Trinity College Library -- the inspiration for the Hogwarts Library :)

It's Dublin. Of course there's a beer bottle in the lake

St. Stephen's Green

That's Gaelic for Merry Christmas

Vivian Goes to Edinburgh

Edinburgh is definitely tied with Prague for my favorite European city. Within the first hour, I was more than impressed. It has one of the best, if not the best, Old Town. The architecture is amazing to say the least. Edinburgh is pretty small. Everything is within walking distance, which is so refreshing after being in Paris and London. I prefer Edinburgh over London. It's just so quaint and lovely. And it really has a rich history. Edinburgh is actually built on top of another city. When people were sick during the plague, they just threw them down into the underground city. Because of this and other reasons that I don't know of, Edinburgh is considered the most haunted city in Europe. They have a lot of "ghost" tours at night. I wanted to take one but it's November and it's Scotland, which means it's extremely cold. I got lucky and had really great weather during the day though. I'm not gonna write a lot because I'm extremely tired. I had to wake up at 5 AM this morning to catch a flight to Dublin. But Edinburgh is seriously a wonderful city. I absolutely love it there.

Salisbury Crags

Parliament building

Old Town

Kilts and bagpipes... can't get any more Scottish than this

Calton Hill

Edinburgh Castle is on the right

Waverley Train Station

Edinburgh Castle

City Council

If a person was caught for petty theft, they would be nailed to that door for 24 hours... they can either serve the 24 hours and have people walk by and throw things at them or they can cut their sentence shorter by pulling their ear, ripping off a piece of it

Since this is where people used to pay taxes, it is tradition to spit on this heart... sometimes, men who don't know of this tradition get down on one knee to propose... GROSS!

The Hub -- this is where they plan all the Edinburgh festivals

Edinburgh Castle

View of Victoria Street from Victoria Terrace

School that inspired Hogwarts of Harry Potter

Victoria Street (used to be the Edinburgh's Red Light District)

This is the square where they executed a lot of people

Harry Potter :)

National Library of Scotland

Edinburgh Castle