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Finally getting to the day we were flying to Malta was extremely exciting. We planned this trip over a month in advance so the emotion really build up. Believe it or not the best part about this trip wasn't only the fact that we would get to travel around Malta, it was also that we would be meeting with two other friends from Colombia, Valentina and Martin. Seeing each other after months (maybe even a year?) was great, and getting to travel all together in a new place made it even better.
We got to Malta late on Thursday, we met with Martin and Valentina in the hostel and walked around for a little until we decided to go rest to have a full day on energy for Friday. In the morning we ate a really good breakfast at a pace near the water and then took a boat to Valletta to explore Malta's capital. Valletta was really nice, we did a lot of walking and of course eating & drinking (in moderation of course!) The views were amazing especially the combination of the rocky mediterranean architecture with the deep blue seas. The boat ride back, as well as the one there was really enjoyable and entertaining since the views were spectacular all along. That night we decided to go explore the nightlife, after getting a few recommendations we made our way to the bar area in Valletta (we invited a new Italian friend to come with us as well). Going out in Malta was super cheap and fun especially since we were all together again. The following day we had to wake up kind of early because we had booked another boat trip to Blue Lagoon. We spend the whole day laying in the sun and swimming in the freezing waters and of course taking lots of pictures. We finished our trip with an amazing dinner, which was the same place we started our trip eating breakfast! The great thing about studying abroad is that there may be people you know studying abroad as well or even living abroad. Yes, this means that trips can be made cheaper by staying at your friends house instead of paying for a hotel, but this also means that you can travel all over the world with your friends! This makes trips much more exciting and makes for amazing memories.
After our travels around Paris we finally arrived to Dublin, but not alone! The snow decided to follow us and we had a full weekend of snow. There was very little activity going on around the city, stores, restaurants, museums and even movie theaters where closed. Although this could be a situation to get upset about we decided otherwise. Hannah and I had an amazing time building a little (but very pretty) snowman called Lubie, since that is what we used to make its mouth, sadly Lubie didn't last more than few days :( We also had an interesting experience waiting in line to get to the grocery store because people were concerened of going through a food shortage due to the snow storm or rather, the "Beast from the East". Many people had to go a few days without electricity, thankfully our little apartment survived and we were confortable, warm and entertained the whole time.
After sleeping it off in Dublin we where ready for our next adventure! We arrived at Paris very late at night and we had to take a bus from the Beauvais Airport to Paris which took a little more than an hour (being on a budget means communing a little bit more than we would like too!) But this didn't stop us, we got to the metro around midnight and then finally to my cousins house in Paris about 40 minutes later.
Since we where going to stay in Paris a week we weren't rushed to have full schedules every day so we could relax and sleep in a little. The day we arrived all of the streets where covered in snow which as we later learned is something that Paris isn't used to. We had to accommodate to the snow but we couldn't let this stop us either. During our trip we visited the Eiffel Tower, (of course!) we went to the Luxemburgo Gardens, to NotreDame, we drank coffee in Trocadero where we had a beautiful view of the Eiffel Tower (we don't recommend since this was clearly an expensive tourist trap, but the hot chocolate was amazing!) We also went to Versailles which was a beautiful experience, the gardens where covered in snow and it looked magical. There was a fun game going on, everyone was throwing snowballs to one of the fountains trying to get them to go into the frogs' mouth, unfortunately it got shot down when the police came telling us to stop. We also visited the nice neighborhood of Montmartre and had heavenly falafel in the Jewish neighborhood La Marais. Paris is one of the trips that I am definitely going to repeat, maybe when the weather is a little warmer though! Not only was the food amazing, the views stunning and the whole experience delightful, but the company and the memories is what really makes it special. After traveling around Ireland we where ready for a bigger adventure so we decided to go to London, United Kingdom. Hannah had already been there a couple of times, what she was most excited about however, was to see her sister Fiona (whom we stayed with during our time there). And from my side, I had never been to London so I was more than ready to explore the city.
Our flight over was smooth, and for our surprise getting into London was very easy since we didn't even had to go through any kind of security. We got in at night and tired so we decided to rest and be ready for a full day of exploring ahead of us. London was a great experience, kind of like a Dublin but supersized (and a little bit more expensive too!) But at the end of the day we had a great time exploring everything from the Buckingham Palace, Camden market to Piccadilly Circus and having every meal at Pret A Manger because of the awesomely cheap prices. And finally being amazed of how expensive some of the fruits where at Harrods, especially since back in Colombia we could get the same ones for about 10% the price they where there. All in all London was a great trip and even though we where tired from all the walking and sightseeing we couldn't rest just yet because next stop, (with just one day in Dublin in between) was Paris! We decided to go to Howth after hearing from various people how incredible it is..and they weren't wrong! Again we took the DART, after about 25 minutes we where there. It was beautiful, the boats, the seagulls, and the cute little restaurants and shops. Of the couple trails available we decided to take the shortest which is originally intended to be about an hour and a half. Walking through the mountains was amazing, the view got better each time and the energy was great. Unfortunately it was a little muddy and potentially dangerous so we decided to cut the trail short. After our walk, we where once more hungry. We found a nice little place, and as usual all four of us (we where with two friends from the US, Mady and McKenzie) ordered fish and chips, delicious once more. After getting ice cream and walking around a little more we decided to go back home. But we knew this wasn't going to be the end of it.. we decided to definitely come back one more time to complete the trail all the way to the end and enjoy a little bit more of the little town of Howth.
After Dalkey we decided to make our next trip a little bit more adventurous. We decided to go to the Cliffs of Moher which are 702ft high and span eight miles across Ireland's West coast. We booked a tour bus that took us directly to the cliffs, the trip was about four hours long since Dublin is in the opposite coast of the Island. Unfortunately the conditions where incredibly misty so the visibility of the cliffs was poor. However we did have a fun time with the wind (it felt just like being in the middle of a hurricane!). After the cliffs the tour bus took us to a couple other locations with amazing views. Finally we made our way back to Dublin making it the end of an amazing trip.
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