little sunshine, gigantic city

Here is a quick rundown of the past three days in London: 

Saturday: 

Almost missed our plane to London (kinda forgot to double check the schedule). Checked in to our cute hotel in Notting Hill and off we went! 

Portobello road market... Yes, start singing all you Bedknobs & Broomsticks fans. In Notting Hill we shopped, browsed around and ate our first jacket potato. Tummies were full so we continued through the streets for a few hours coming across Holland Park, Kensington, the Palace Gardens and some beautiful residences. Due to Ireland exhaustion, we called it an early evening with a bottle of wine, baguette, cheese and Cadbury deliciousness. 

Sunday: 

Off to the Tower of London we go! Well, not at the planned early morning time. Can't seem to get ourselves out of bed in the morn! We walked ourselves to The Underground and spent a good lot of time figuring out the proper Tube ticket to buy. With the help of a very kind gentlemen, we succeeded to "mind the gap". The three hours at the tower was intriguing and historical information...Crown Jewels, royal suits of armor, bed and torture chambers. Our expectations of a proper jewel has changed...500 plus carats will do. ;) 

After we left Tower of London, we walked the Tower Bridge. What a magnificent site! Our walk took us to Bermondsy Street, which was a great local spot for a cocktail and bite. Walk, walk, walk, lost, lost, lost, ended up in Sloane Square. Rains coming down, shops are closed, headed towards Chelsea and landed upon a needed pint. 

Eventually caught Tube at South Kensington and called it a night! 

Monday:

Tourist day on The OG Tour! We saw a lot of city this way! 

Our first hop off was Regents Park...a great place to smell the flowers and "Mary Poppins" around. We saw the Queen's Garden. The parks and gardens here are glorious and peaceful! 

Hop on...we saw Regents/Oxford streets (great shopping) Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar's Square. 

Hop off, St Paul's Cathedral. Beautiful, huge and over 500 steps to the top. 

Hop on, continued to 'double decker' around.

Hop off, London Eye, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey

Hop on, zoom zoom to Buckingham Palace

Hop off, see Buckingham, 20 minutes later...

Hop on, headed home! And then...broke down bus led us to a long trek home in the most torrential rain yet. We walked our wet selves through Hyde Park to find a great, warm spot for wine and dinner! Might be the best meal of the trip!

All in all, it was a memorable day of sightseeing! London has so much to offer that it feels like we hardly made a dent. 

Cheers,

Mack & Belle

Big ass storehouse, tiny pint

Hello from the "top" of Dublin. 

We just finished a self-guided tour of the Guinness storehouse. It is huuuuge, very well thought out and quite informational. They made it well worth the 16 euro. We learned all about the brewing process, Guinness history & at the end, you get a complimentary Guinness pint at the Gravity bar 7 stories up with a 360 view of Dublin city. 

The Guinness here in Ireland is delicious, and today's quick tour of the city was deserving of a reward of a smooth porter.

We slept in today, which was much needed, after a fun night out of listening to live music at a few different pubs. Then, we set out for the day to see Dublin. Trinity College was first, and as we arrived around 12:30 we noticed a sign that the college was being closed at 2 for the "Trinity Ball." Bad news for admission and having to rush through, good news was that we got to see the Book of Kells & Trinity College Old Library for free! Woohoo! 

Lots of walking around, little shops, a pit stop for wine & a snack and now here we are! 

Slainte! 

Mack & Belle 

Tiny island, Big winds

To Aran Island or not to Aran Island? That was the question!  

      Did we really want to endure this?? 

With the help of a few local recommendations we decided it was a must see even though we feared the mighty storm. A shuttle and a ferry ride later we made it! Soooo...the thing to do is rent bikes and cruise the sites but with numb toes we chose the mini shuttle bus with a private driver (sweet local man). 

We made our way up to the historic site Dun Aenghus, which is a 2,000 year old Celtic fort. It sits right on a massive (200 feet above) cliff. Mack was more of a peeker of the edge and Belle ventured a tad bit closer. Luckily, our umbrellas were closed because the wind would scoop us right up! It was an amazing site to see and it felt as if we traveled back in time. 

The island in itself is pretty spectacular; it consists of mostly limestone, growing moss (not one tree on the island) and limestone walls (man made) that have been there since the first inhabitors. Turns out the shuttle was a great choice. We stayed warm and learned a lot of inside island secrets.

We headed home, took warm showers & headed out for a yummy seafood meal. Live music (and a few brews & whiskeys) at The King's Head pub and The Quays...aaaaand an unplanned nightcap with a fun couple we met, we had a blast of a night. 

Today we are doing a little shopping in Galway and then our tiny feet will be 'Fred Flinstone-ing' all the weee way to Dublin! 

Slainte!

Mack & Belle

Tiny car, big adventures

Top o' the morning to ya! 

Ireland is as green, lush and beautiful as expected! Our tiny car's first stop was the Rock of Cashel; a small historic site with sweeping views of the Irish country side. The high winds and chilly weather brought us to the tiny town for our first Irish fare...soup and soda bread. 

Next stop...Cork! Nap time! After a refreshing nap, we strolled through the streets of Cork, which is quite industrialized. We landed upon a fish and chips place that looked divine and delivered to the pub across the way! Perfect! So we bellied up with a pint. Or two, thanks to the charming Irish men who eventually sang us a tune. 

On the road again...Blarney Castle. ( side note: Belle is doing a great driving!) Blarney was a great site with lots to see. We walked around the grounds for three hours.  Views, greenery and leprachauns. And even kissed the stone (kind of). :)

Off to Galway...arrival time 6:30. We freshened up and hit the town! One pint and then dinner was the plan but here come those Irish men with another pint. And these dark beers are serious sippers. With that being said, it took us a bit to get it down and missed dinner time! Apparently, food shuts down at 9:30. No bean and cheese bureets here! Luckily, we found a place to serve us fries. Finished the night with live music, a few jigs and whiskey. 

Off to the Aran islands-wet day trip ahead! Wish us some Irish luck!

Slainte (cheers)! 

Mack & Belle

nothing tiny, big history (parte uno)

The last four days have been interesting and exhausting. Interesting for many reasons: #1, Rome is different. Lets just say East Coast vs. West Coast. Nor cal vs. So Cal. People are abrasive, waiters pushy and food not as impressive. Mackenzie is about to use her boxing skills, but we are remembering our yoga breath.

But don't be fooled. When away from restaurants, it's been quite nice & a few good eats. The city is a really good city to say the least. Imagine New York (huge city) but you can walk everywhere. Except, by the time you get home, you are definitely dragging (but we had to take these tiny feet everywhere possible!) Metro was suggested by many people, but we wanted to see & immerse, even if we couldn't feel our toes by the end.

Sunday: We took off from our "guest house" with a map and no plan. Walked from Vatican-Prati area across the Tiber River to Spagna. Strolled down a popular shopping district and landed at the Spanish Steps (otherwise known as crowded craziness). The church, Triniti dei Montei at the top was gorgeous though! Picked up a few Peronis and sat down in Villa Borgehese to rest these feet. Imagine Central & Balboa Park mixed together, romantic hand holding and beer belching. Just kidding. But we did sit under a lovely jasmine tree and watched other lovers hold hands. Out of Borghese Gardens and blah blah, more walking, landed at the Trevi Fountain. It was so insanely crowded that we decided to come back later. Piazza Navona (ended up being most frequently visited area), failed pictures in front of beautiful fountains, small sandwiches and then home to shower up. Dinner with a pushy waiter, but good food and home to sleep.

Monday: Early morning for our Vatican tour. We met our funny little tour guide near the Vatican entrance & headed in. Old, balding, joke telling, seahorse tie-wearing, Michael led us past the crowds and hooked us up on some handy dandy audio systems. Overloaded with history, we walked through Vatican museums and landed in the Sistine Chapel. Whoa nelly! Amazing. To fathom the talent from that art era, Michelangelo mastered it. Thanks to Rick Steve's for his guidebook explaining each portion... Seriously, Michelangelo laying on his back in some rafters for 4 years, how did he even paint something like that??
St. Peter's Basilica was unbelievable. The architecture, the planning, the design, the tile work. Wow! There was a small mass going on in the front apse (area behind the main altar), very cool to hear all the singing and see people praising. This place is hard to describe in words, you must visit yourself! Heavens shining down in Piazza San Pietro, snapped a few pics, Belle got a few rosaries & we were starved up!!! Lunch with a jerk waiter, good pizza, salad & gelato. Welp, ended up back at Piazza Navona and wanted some more photos. Belle had a brilliant idea to pose like one of the fountain statues, but took a little spill instead. Nothing better than a good laugh! Long naps that afternoon and had a big meal to end the night. One of the only times we did a Primi & Secondi: pastas, followed by grilled squid (Mack) and grilled swordfish (Belle).

Nighty night!
Ciao,
Belle & Mack