To the UK and Back

Well Jan 4th was the second day after alex's arrival here in good ole Marburg. 
The 5th we just walked around, slept in, called in a easy day on his vacation. Later that night we went over to Wehrda to have dinner with Beth and Taylor and Becca, but they couldn't make it.  So it was just the three of us, eating 6 pizzas.  Haha.. unfortunately we only ate about 3, and we had 3 left.  I was full--llll.. 
The next morning on the 6th we made French toast, only to realize we didn't really have any toppings to eat it with.  I tried it with honey and some with jelly and then just butter.  It was actually pretty good.  I was quite pleased :)
Then we went exploring the my running paths behind CWH, we walked for about maybe 2 miles on the path all the way back to my room.  On the way though we saw an elliptical, just chillin on the path for anyone to use... soo of course I jumped on it :P Gotta stay in shape right??
then Alex helped me fix my belt by putting a couple of notches in it, that belt is almost about to fall apart.... ekk.. hopefully it can make it.  That night Alex cooked chicken on the stove, it was good.  while I attempted to make some mashed potatoes from  bag.  Which didn't turn out to well.. they tasted a lot like flour, even with all the ingredients, it was rather sad :( Oh and we also bought wine to try .. good thing it was small bottle for like a Euro- it wasn't our favorite .. that's for sure.. haha I think I may even have it in my fridge. oh boy.
On the 8th we decided to be adventurous and walk all the way into town.. Which roughly took us about hmmm..... 40-50 mintues it was really not that bad of a walk.  Then we walked around town and picked up some groceries :) yay for groceries.  Then later that day when Sarina returned from London - we went to dinner at Paprica!  Alex had auflauf... and so did I.  He liked the auflauf and he said it deff filled him up and he would deff get it again.. yay another auflauf success story :] I think so !!!
Then the plan for the rest of the night was to meet up with Beth, Taylor and Becca and hit some bars and then go clubbing.  Well that was the plan at least.  After dinner we walked around the oberstadt and Sarina went home, then alex and I hit up a bar while waiting for the other 3, haha we got a smoothie.. it was good. Then when we finally met up with the others, we were headed to sudhaus.  To bad the security guard was a crabby pants so we left and went to the dungeon.. It was my first time to this bar and to be honest I really liked it.  It wasn't that smoky and the drinks weren't that expensive.  I had a redbull and Jager  Seeing as I already liked jager, it was a lucky guess to try it together.  It is quite tasty.  Sadly, everyone was tired after the bar and we did not end up going Clubbing..- better luck next time??? I sure hope so!
The 9th was Sunday- filled with packing and card playing and watching the PACKER GAME!! WOOT WOOT!! Which they won.. thank god!  Then they next day we were off to Ireland- the land of the Irish!  I WAS soo EXCITED and PUMPED for this trip!! <3
So we got up caught our bus to the train station then the train to Frankfurt then the bus to Frankfurt Hahn then waited and waited and waited to be able to check in and finally we were through security and by the gate.. waiting because we were flying Ryan air and its a free for all when it comes to seating, so first on gets first pick.. It was a race.. haha.. I was determined to get a good seat, and we did, but it was a weird experience to say the least.  When we finally arrived in Dublin I was amazed.. by all the English and just its greenness!!  I will say I went through bit of a culture shock that night.  I was in a really weird mood and nothing felt right, but we managed, we went to Eddie Rockets it reminded me of Johnny Rockets, it had shakes and that old diner vibe it was pretty sweet :)  We called it and early night because the place we were staying at gave us a free trip for staying for more than 2 nights.  We were going to Kilkenny and Glendaloche.  :)   We woke up ate our breakfast and we were on our way!!! In the Paddywagon- Big GREEN BUS <3 so cool!
Driving on the left side of the road and the driver being on the right side of the car was deff something we had to get used to .. we purposely sat in the front so we could see out the front window and of course of the extra leg room, it was def needed.  I was determined that this would be the day that I would see my jumping sheep.  Unfortunately none of the sheep I saw were jumping but they did walk about.  Still an awesome experience.  we went to glendaloche first and it had ancient ruins and it is a monastic site.  With a really high tower with a door about 15ft up and you need a ladder to get up it.  This made it difficult to be attached.  It was really cool, I will post pictures later when I get them all uploaded!  There was this dog there that had a shock collar on but was running free, he ran up to us then away and we kept seeing him back and forth.. It was interesting to say the least.  Then we were on the road again, back to the paddywagon!  Off to Brownshill dolmen, an ancient burial rock held up by three stones, It was pretty sweet and quite magnificent when you see the size of this rock!   Then again back to the Wagon and off to Kilkenny, where we would eat lunch and I would buy my wool sweater!! It is so cool and Im super pumped that I bought it.  It was a bit pricey but I will wear it and it will just be awesome!  We also walked along the outside of the Kilkenny castle which was pretty magnificent and beautiful.  Then piled back into the wagon and back to Dublin we went.  That night we played cards with some people from Australia, New Zealand, and Germany.  We Played spoons and then presidents and a$$holes, but they called it Kings and a$$holes.  It was fun :)  We ate pizza that night.. yumm!
The next day we woke up and were ready to explore the city of Dublin.  First stop the Guinness Brewery, it was really cool, it was a self guided tour and we walked around the 7 levels of the building.  We got to sample Guinness right as it was being pulled and used our 5 senses to take in all the different tastes.  We got to pull our own Guinness which was complimentary of the tour.  I couldn't finish it all, it really is an acquired taste, but its not bad.  :)  Then we were off again, this time for lunch, we had subway... oo soo good!  Then off to the Dublin Castle - paid for our tour as students and saw the underground ruins of parts of the castle.  It was cool, not what we expected but cool non the less.  Then we headed off to the National Museum of Ireland, again not what we expected but it was cool.  Learned a lot about the independence war of Ireland .. and we also got to see some cool artwork. Then we went back to the Hostel and chilled for a little bit, on can't forget souveniour shopping, that is always fun.  Then we went back out for dinner at like 7:00.  We went to this one bar but couldn't find anything we liked on the menu so we went to McDo's and then went back to the bar later for some drinks and Irish music and Dance show!  It was awesome.  I love Irish Music and the dancing, well Sara you can tell Teks that I saw some real Irish dancing, doing some of the Irish Jig! <3 Then we headed back to our hostel to pack and get ready for the 2nd day of travel on our trip. 
The next morning we were off to Cologne- well actually London for 4 hrs and then cologne.  we made it but it was def a long day.  Our hostel was located greatly 3 min walk from the train station.  That night we ate Pizza again haha and played cards and early to bed for us.  The next morning we woke up and we were on our way.  Off to a church number 11 on the map as Alex recalls.  It was cool, and it was smaller than I expected it to be, lots of paintings and Romanesque arches.  Next stop the Dom/cathedral.  It was massive and super pretty.  It reminded me a lot of Notre Dame with its high ceilings and mix of artwork and floors patterns.  I lit a candle for Lita and we continued to walk around.  We ate lunch and did some souvenir shopping then it was off to the old Jewish ruins under the rathaus platz.  I can not even imagine what else is under that city if they are just discovering this in its location.  It is crazy!! Then  off to yet another church, this one we accidentally walked in on during mass.. but we stayed for a bit and took in the surroundings then we headed back out and we were off to our next destination the bridge, also known as the lock bridge :) It is amazing there was this one lock from December 31st 1980!!!! and it was still on the Bridge! CRAZY!!! Then we went shopping some more than we headed back and packed some and read some of this book called in the Blink of an Eye, it is awesome I would reccommend it to anyone who likes mysteries.  when we got hungry we were off to search for a resturant.  The first one was a bust so we kept looking and finally we found this resturatn called four points on accident.  We go in ask if they take visa and then order one of the biggest burgers I have ever had in a long time - its name was the Giant!  lol it also came with fries and ketchup.  We both had quarters of our burgers left by the time we were full... but I will say it was a dang good burger :) Yummmm!!! <3
Then we returned to our hostel to prepare to head back to Marburg the following day.  The next day we got up and were off. We ate brunch and then almost missed the train we could take.. the RE at 11:23.. haha we had to run!  with our packs mind you - we prolly looked halarious! But we made it and all was well.. and then we were just on our way back to Marburg with 2 train switches and then a bus we made it back to Marburg safely and early enough to go shopping and catch some ZZ's before attempting to stay up and watch the packer game.  Alex did it succesffully me on the other hand, fell asleep at half time but woke up with 2 min remaining, sadly I just rolled over and went back to bed.  But CONGRATS PACK!!! WOOHOO!
And today - well today it is gorgeous outside and the weather is crazy beautiful, we went for a bit of a walk and now we are playing cards making lunch and planning dinner and mb watchin some Football.. or a movie.. you know both are good things :)
Well TTYL- loves and misses!
<3 Ris