Ok, wow. Just got back from 2 incredible weeks of vacation. I put up the pics

hopefully that address works: those are Paris...

http://www2.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=155076896/PictureID=3013493091/a=43430901_43430901/t_=43430901

London:

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=155072208/a=43430901_43430901/t_=43430901

Ireland:

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=155082969/a=43430901_43430901/t_=43430901

March 7th, 2007

Boarded the train at 6.42 pm to leave Pamplona. Arrived in paris at 7.10am the next day. Met some people on the train, passed the time reading, etc....was uneventful but easy going.

March 8th, 2007

I´m in Paris! Woo wee! Oriented myself and walked the 40 minutes or so to the hotel of Justine. She had stuff to do in teh morning so i went out on my own. Went directly to the Eiffel Tower and went up. there wasn´t a line since it was early and i got to see a view of hte town. HUGE city. Then i walked to the Cité de l´architecture et du Patrimaine. a great view of the tower from there. then i saw the Arc d Trompe (or whatever) and walked down teh main shopping street: Champs Elysées. Then teh Grand Palais and Petit Palais. They are now musums. Then the Jardin des Tuilleries by the Louvre. Took pics ofhte Louvre adn met Justine and her friends at Notre-Dame Cathédrale. the inside was pretty and we took the stairs tothe top. by the time we made it back dwon, my legs were trembling. But the views on top were nice and the Gargoyles were really cool.

then we went to the Montmarte Basilique up on a hill. Great view of the city. Walked to the Moulin Rouge. Looked like a cheap knockoff of what should have been the Moulin Rouge. I wasn´t impressed. Then that night we went up the Eiffel tower and saw the city at night.

March 9th, 2007

I got up early and took the train to Versailles to see the Palace. It was HUGE. and elaborate. But the gardens were even huger! Took me over an hour to walk from one side to the other. Then it was rainy and i was tired so i took the train back to Paris and went to the Picasso museum. I didn't realize how many works and different types of works he had. Afterwards found a nice little coffee shop and had some tea and read for while. Then i went tothe Louvre. WAAAAAY TOO BIG! First thing i did was go straight to the Mona Lisa. The place was packed and i was winding my way through the crowds of people, through the great hall adn into room 5, or something like that. saw her behind a 2 inch thick glass. Took out my camera. snapped  a picture. security came up and yelled at me in a foreign language. I'm all like "como?" and htey took my camera away and escorted me out.

ok not really, but i did get a picture and i did get yelled at.

but this place was way too big. so i power walked through the whole thing to see as much as possible. i could have spent a day in each wing and that would have been more comfortable.

That night after Justine and Sarah got back from dinner, we went out to a bar and danced a bit and made some French friends. They were nice.

March 10th, 2007

We didn't do much but walk around today. Tried some french croissants. really rich chocolate. then we took more pics at the eiffel tower.

we sat in the sun drinking wine at the foot of the eiffel tower, very french like.

Then we took the train to the airport and flew to London. That night was uneventful. we got to our hostel, very sketchy. Seriously, i stayed in nicer hostels in Morocco, but whatever, we were together and safe and went to bed.

March 11th, 2007

Got up early and walked around. We're near Notting Hill, so a 10 minute walk puts us in some nice areas. We walked through Kennsington Gardens and Hyde park, saw The Peter Pan statue and searched forever for hte Princess Di memorial fountains. We walked by then without realizing it, only when we looked at the map did we realize we'd walked by it without knowing. Then we went to the changing of hte guards. watched about  an hour of it, got boarded and left. it's over rated. Saw BIg Ben and Parliament. Then walked along the Thymes river to London Bridge and Tower Bridge. Justine went into The TOwer of London. Sarah and I waited outside for her because we didn't want to pay the 13 pounds. fricken expensive. THen we walked back along the river and saw Piccadilly Circus. LIke times square but not as wild. Got some Thai food and went back to the hostel to sleep.

March 12th, 2007

Walked through Notting Hill to go to Portabella road and take pics. Went to Westminister Abby but it was closed to tourists. the queen was having some sort of invite-only service. so we went tothe guards palace and took pics with the horse guards and fed the horses carrots. Then we went to abby road and took pics. THen we went to a jazz bar that night and met up with some of my spanish friends who were in london that weekend.

March 13th, 2007

Got up early and took the bus to Stonehenge. Very cool. nothing special. but the scenery was beautiful.

Then we got back onthe bus and went to bath. The town was very posh and beautiful. I would have loved to spend more time there but we only had 2 hours or so to explore the baths and the town.

March 14th, 2007

Arrived in Dublin around 4pm and met up with our group at the hostel. It was David, Carlos (from Puerto Rico), Justine, her roommate Sarah, me and 3 of david's friends from Switzerland (Daniel, Matthias, and Arno.) we had a very excellent group of people.

We explored town a bit and got a beer at a cool pub. Then we went back to the hostel to get ready to go out. We all went out together to a couple bars and went home early. We were all tired from traveling.

March 15th, 2007

Got up at 5am, dont' know how we all did it and took a bus to Belfast to take a tour up to Northern Ireland. THe scenery was beautiful. Saw 'giant's eye. and 'giant's causeway'

and balleycastle and balleymoney and everything that started with bally. then went to the northern most tip of ireland, saw scotland across the water. went up to derry adn explored the town for 3 hours or so. it was a nice sunny day and we all had a lot of fun together. Then we had dinner at an Indian food restaurante for Dani's birthday adn went to bed.

March 16th, 2007

GUINNESS FACTORY!

 It was cool. I heard it was overrated but i actualy liked it. There was live drummers inside and live music and beer and snacks on every floor. and it was very informative and there was a 360 degree glass bar on top with a view of the city. Very cool. Then that night we went out dancing.

March 17th, 2007

GOt up early to go into town and get traditional Irish Breakfast. yuck, i knew was it was so i strayed away. Then we saw the Parade at noon. It was cool. Not a typical American parade with floats with with dancers and people in elaborate costumes, etc.

Then we danced in the street at an outdoor music festival with traditional irish music, very cool. lots of people of all ages dancing adn having a blast. We were there until 5.30 ish then we ate dinner and went to a club adn stayed there all night dancing. When it closed at 3.30 we got a bus back to the hotel adn Justine adn Sarah had to catch their fligth.

March 18th, 2007

Today we took it easy. Got some breakfast around 1pm. Actually more like lunch at this point. Fish adn chips the boys got. I settled on soup and a salad.

Once again,  i knew what fish and chips would be. Then we went to Trinity College and Saw the Book of Kells. interesting. Then a thunderclap and it was hailing....not peltin us with ice balls. then it started snowing. then it cleared up and was sunny. then it was windy. then it was FREEEZING. and all within a 2 hour period....oh ireland.

We went to an irish bar to hear some live music adn ended up talking and playing cards there until midnight. we got some food, danced at a club for a bit. and then at 2.30am we had to find a taxi to our hotel to get our luggage. we didnt get aroom, since we had to leave so early in the morning. figured we'd pull an all nighter. however, in ireland, during st. paddy's festival, and on sunday, there are no night buses. adn only 10% of the taxis are employed. meaning we waited in line in 30 degree weather for 2 hours for a taxi. when it came to be 4.30am we NEEDED taxi, so we bought one off the meter for 60 euros to get to the airport. but it was cheaper than missing out flight.

and now i'm back in pamplona. it's cold and been snowing for 3 days straight. but on the flip side, i'm heading to zurich next week to visit arno and matthias as well as see some of switzerland.