On The Road – Page 4 – Darkk Horse Travel

Next Stop: Denver, CO

Published on March 26, 2016August 21, 2016 by Emilee1 Comment

Okay, confession. I bought another plane ticket.

It wasn’t planned. But something I promised myself I would do, once I got back into the U.S., was to explore the places in the United States that I wanted to see (even if it’s just on a weekend). So, I’ve decided to go spend five days in Denver, Colorado this May. Travel is something that’s so important to me. I don’t know that I’m really ever fully happy unless I’m planning a trip, or on one. I’ve wanted to visit Denver for quite some time, so when I saw $100 round trip tickets I decided it was time to take the leap. Honestly, the months of April/May is going to be some pretty awesome.

I’d be lying if I said that transitioning back to “normal” life in the U.S. has been easy. I don’t think I could have anticipated how much I’d changed during my time in France. Coming back, it was so difficult to just be my “normal” self, again. I think it’s only been recently that I’ve started to realize that going back to my old normal shouldn’t (and can’t) be the goal, here. I was a very different person before I moved to France. I had different priorities, I approached life differently and I my overall personality was different. But some shit (sorry, mom) went down, in France, that changed me a lot.

Some of it might have been for the better, and some not so much. But, regardless, I AM different and I think it’s taken me almost a year to realize that. Luckily over the past nine months I’ve built a pretty awesome life that I’m pretty happily settling into. Is it perfect? No. But it is something that makes me happy to wake up, and it’s completely different than anything I would have ever thought I would have. But that’s okay. It lets me do awesome things like buying plane tickets spur of the moment.

Back to Denver: I have never been to Denver and I’m not sure whether I’m going to Airbnb it, or if I’m going to Couchsurf, but I’m so excited! I definitely need suggestions of what to do/where to go from all of you who have been there/live there! I’m looking for restaurant suggestions, museums, parks, geek things, and any other little spots!

Here’s what I have so far:

Denver Art Museum (FREE on May 7th, since it’s the first Saturday 🙂 ) Gilterri exhibit , Samurai: Armor collection
Museum of Air and Space
Museum of Nature and Science: Chocolate the exhibition , Live show Destination Solar System
State Capitol Building
University of Denver
Molly Brown House Museum
The Denver Potters Association Spring Show @ Sixth Avenue United Church
Elie Caulkins Opera House, The Scarlet Letter, May 7th
Saint John’s Cathedral
The Black American West Museum & Cultural Center
Banjo Billy’s Bus Tours (Groupon!)
Walking Tours

Cheers to another adventure!

Stratford-upon-Avon, England: The Birthplace of English Literature

Published on March 11, 2016June 14, 2016 by EmileeLeave a comment

If you’ve ever wanted to time travel, Stratford-upon-Avon may be the right spot for you. While the little town is filled with modern conveniences, much of the century old history is still preserved within the town where Shakespeare was born, lived and died. From the buildings, to the food, to the Shakespearean quotes and statues, Stratford-upon-Avon is truly one of a kind.

I got a bit excited about seeing Shakespeare’s house.

I’d be lying if I said this city existed prior to me buying a plane ticket there. But I have a lovely friend who is studying Shakespeare there, and visiting friends who are living abroad, while traveling, is an absolute must. I have a strict rule that every time I travel I have to go somewhere new, and even though I had been to Ireland, Scotland and England before this trip, I tried to visit places that were new in each one.

Our trip over to Stratford was right after our time in Dublin, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t crying my way through the airport on my way there. But, such is life. Leaving Ireland is never easy.

12799089_10207903158310249_3572587434026728494_n — Photo Credit: Victoriana Dan while we were on the train to somewhere.

The plane ride over was the tiniest plane I’ve ever been on, but luckily I got my row to myself. We initially touched down in Birmingham, England which (I’m so sorry to anyone from Birmingham who might be reading this) honestly has the most bizarre British accent I’ve ever heard. Once we commuted a bit, we hopped on the train and were off! I honestly love taking trains across the English country side. It’s just miles and miles of green hills and sheep. If you ever just want to relax for 9 hours, take a train from Scotland to London.

When we arrived at Stratford we met up with our friend, Heidi and spent the evening getting a bit of a tour, watching a movie and ordering Indian food. ~~We were~~ I was pretty tired, so there may or may not have been some unplanned naps on the couch, as well.

I wish I had a photo of our food, but the meal AND the tea was lovely.

The next morning we started out things right with a trip to Benson’s for a true English breakfast and then a stroll around the town for me and Victoriana, after Heidi went to work. During this time we actually (consciously) got to see the town. I’m not gonna lie, one of my favorite parts was the Beatrix Potter themed shop, Timeless Tales where I bought a Peter Rabbit book and a silver spoon for my mom (who collects them, not just for funzies).

We also ventured over to Church of the Holy Trinity, which is where Shakespeare is buried. The overall beauty of the churches in Europe get me every time. Even in the smallest towns, the loveliest structures stand. I don’t think I ever would have guessed how storybook like a town could be, but I guess that’s the nature Stratford. We walked along the river and saw swans everywhere we looked (and they are scary – don’t get any magical ideas). The brick houses had ivy climbing the walls and the Royal Shakespeare Theatre stood off looming gloriously in the background. It was magic, and I couldn’t help but imagine it in spring when all of the trees have their leaves and the weather is warmer. I think it would be the perfect spot for a writer’s retreat, and I definitely have it on my list of places I would love to go back to, to stay for a while.

Road Trip To The Olympic Peninsula

Published on February 23, 2016May 2, 2016 by EmileeLeave a comment

You may or may not know that I am the editor for a website/community called The Exploress, that connects women from around the world who travel and explore the world around them. Since I became an editor I haven’t had much time to actually write a piece, but this week I did and I’m so happy with how it turned out! Click the photo above to take a peek!

Belfast, Northern Ireland Part II: Bridge Of Death

Published on February 17, 2016June 14, 2016 by Emilee2 Comments

Victoriana N. Ireland

I didn’t have to think very long to come up with a title for this blog post, because the second part of our Belfast tour almost ended abruptly with us falling our deaths, into the Irish Sea. That’s right. Dead.
After the museum, and the chilling winds that we fought on our way back to the bus, the skies around us were gray but they started to clear, letting us see some patches of blue. Relief at last, we thought, climbing off the bus. All I have is to laugh, now looking back.

I have never felt rain so hard that it hurt. Until Northern Ireland. I don’t know how fast the winds were blowing, but what I will say is that we were the last group let across the popular Carrick A Rede Rope Bridge (aka the bridge of death). A little history about this bridge:

This is where I didn't go. If the weather had looked like this, maybe I would have. — This is where I didn’t go. If the weather had looked like this, maybe I would have.

It was built in 1755 by fishermen
It was probably not intended to last hundreds of years, and have people walking over it
The bridge leads to nowhere extraordinary, it’s just something to check off the books
Peer pressure makes you do stupid things.

The good news is – we didn’t die, but we were completely soaked and freezing cold by the time we made it back to the tour bus.

Where I did go to. I wish I had a photo of the inside, it was such a Victorian beauty.

Our last stop was at the Giant’s Causeway, which has a really awesome story, but which I didn’t go to a) I was freezing cold and soaking wet b) I know I’ll go back to N. Ireland, again c) I was freezing cold and wet. Instead, I ended up at the most beautiful hotel, and enjoyed one of the best Irish stews and brown bread that I’ve ever had. It was absolute heaven. Here are some of our pics, all of which were taken dangerously, with the potential for my camera (or me) falling into the sea. P.s. Don’t be fooled by the blue skies – it was FREEZING.

Coastal beauty will always take my breath away.

These were our German friends who were full grown men being blown over while crossing the bridge. Help.

Once we were completely soaked the sky finally DID break out in a beautiful sunset. We got a pretty good taste of Northern Ireland, on both sides of the spectrum.

You can BARELY see it – but this is the castle which inspired CS Lewis’ Cair Paravel and some castle in Game of Thrones

Belfast, Northern Ireland: Part 1 – The Titanic Museum

Published on February 8, 2016August 28, 2016 by EmileeLeave a comment

Did you know that there are two Ireland’s? It may sound humorous, now (since I’m developing quite a reputation as Irish obsessed), but I had no idea of that fact when I first landed in the Northern one. During my first backpacking trip to Belfast, back in 2013, I made the terrible mistake of thinking Northern Ireland was just an extension of what is formally referred to as the Republic of Ireland. True story. Now thinking back, it’s pretty ridiculous given that you would think that I had learned about Northern Ireland’s history at some point in school. But either I didn’t, or I retained none of it.

Luckily, a rather tart bus driver was more than willing to educate me on the difference as he kicked me off his bus for trying to use the wrong currency (N. Ireland = Pounds not Euro). There’s nothing quite like learning firsthand from the locals.

That was then, this is now. And on our two week backpacking trip me and one of my friends decided to take a day tour up to Belfast to visit (what turned out to be) one of the most beautiful museums I’ve ever been to. I didn’t get a picture of the outside of the museum but you can see, thanks to the interwebs, what it looks like, above. It’s absolutely immense, and you go through each level learning about a different aspect of the Titanic – from concept to construction to catastrophe. If you’re ever in Belfast I CANNOT recommend the museum enough – it was breathtaking.

In addition to sponging up as much information as possible, the overall bus tour itself was also great (despite the weather, which we’ll talk about in Part II). I’ve done three tours, now, with WildRover tours, and I’ve loved every single one. It really is one of the best ways to learn about the history of Ireland while seeing the countryside. Here are some of my favorite pics from this part of the trip!

Two Years Ago I Made A Very Irrational Decision

Published on February 4, 2016May 2, 2016 by Emilee2 Comments

Happy Birthday Blog

Two years ago I wanted to live in another country, and I thought, “If I just send out applications, I can ‘check’ that off my list as I tried.” Little did I know that those applications would lead to a job, which would lead to the start of an adventure and the all the ups and downs that come with that sort of thing.

I am so thankful that I’ve had this platform and the support of all of you lovely people, as I’ve waddled my way through the ups and downs of expat life, traveling solo, traveling in groups and everything in between. The best part? This is only the beginning.

I don’t know how on earth I managed to commit to this blog and actually post for two years, but today is our anniversary/it’s birthday and I couldn’t be more happy. Writing is my passion, and having somewhere to store my words, thoughts, ideas and rants has been just the best thing in the world.

Cheers to another two years of adventures, travel and seeing more of the world! Thank you all for following along on my journey!

Dublin, Ireland: Part 2 – City Life

Published on January 31, 2016March 26, 2016 by EmileeLeave a comment

While I was living in France I visited Ireland a lot. It was a cheap getaway, at about 30 euro a pop, and I loved being able to see my favorite country so often. On my last trip to Dublin, before I moved back to the U.S. I remember thinking, “This city would be so beautiful to see around the Christmas holidays.” And I was right. I didn’t quite get there in time for Christmas, but I did get to Dublin for the next best thing – New Years Eve.

After spending a couple nights solo, my travel companions joined me in my favorite city and we had some fun traipsing around the city, visiting the National Gallery, walking around Trinity College trying to (unsuccessfully) find the Oscar Wilde museum, and eating some damn good food at 300 hundred year old pubs. All in all, there were definitely still things that were on my list, that didn’t get done – but I guess that just means I have to do it next time!

New Years Eve, itself, was spent working (one of the beauties of having a job that is remote) and finally making our way over to Temple Bar ( a pretty touristy, but none the less charming part of Dublin where a plethora of bars and pubs are located), to hang out in one of the pubs. The thing about Dublin, I’ve learned, is that it’s not where you are in the city, it’s who you know. And luckily I know some pretty amazing people from the area, so we had a great time.

Also, can we talk about the holiday decorations in Ireland!? Talk about beauty. The best part about going late, is that people don’t rip down their Christmas decorations the second Christmas is over – the 12 days of Christmas don’t end until January 6th, so the Christmas spirit is alive and well, and the pubs are decked out like something out of a Charles Dickens story.

Something I noticed from the past times that I’ve been in Dublin has been that I never take pictures just of the city. Which is crazy. So, this time, I tried to take a few just of the everyday, walking around, scopes – here are some of my favorite pics from this part of our journey!

Dublin, Ireland: Part 1 – Malahide Castle

Published on January 24, 2016May 2, 2016 by EmileeLeave a comment

My next stop, on our two week backpacking adventure (and after leaving Edinburgh) was Dublin. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t doing a happy dance in the airport line. While I had been in Scotland with my two companions, we split up a bit during this leg of the adventure, and I flew to Ireland while both of them stayed in Scotland. While it would have been fun to stay in Edinburgh a bit longer, we all had to be honest – there was only one place my heart and mind were.

So, I flew away solo, and arrived at Isaacs Hostel, the night of December 26th. Let me tell you a little bit about Isaacs. If you are in Dublin, and you stay anywhere other than Isaacs, you are a fool. It is, without a doubt, the best hostel in Dublin (I’ve tested other ones and they haven’t even come close). I’ve been staying at Isaacs for a few years, now, and the community and staff always makes it feel like a second home to me.

During my first couple of days in Dublin, I wanted to make sure I saw something new in Ireland, and I really wanted to do a bus tour. SO. I booked one with CitySightSeeing and headed out to explore a castle…at least that was the plan, but the original 9am tour got cancelled because there was only me and one other lady who wanted to go, which meant waiting until the 2:30pm tour. Normally this wouldn’t be a big disappointment, but one thing to note here is that I was in Ireland, and Ireland is very far north, and you definitely become aware of that fact in the month of January, when you’re in the dark at 3:30pm. But, nevertheless, I still jumped onboard with the tour, and had a great time looking around castles, and hanging out with a bunch of girls who were on holiday from New Zealand. The best part (per usual) was our bus driver, though. He was absolutely hilarious, and that really makes the whole experience so much better when a) The tour guide is Irish and b) He’s hilarious and makes your trip amazing.

Here are some pictures from the castle (Malahide Castle, in case you’re thinking about going to visit). Sorry about how dark the photos are, but the castle was definitely built with the cold climate in mind, and in a true medieval fashion, was quite dark to start with (and no flash photography was allowed).

By the time we got done with the tour (at the late night hour of 3:30pm) the whole place was dark, but I wanted to grab one more shot for the night.

There’s me, a tiny little dot on the premise. But I had such a lovely time, that who even cares that you can barely see me?

Edinburgh, Scotland: 1.5 Days Of Chilly Beauty

Published on January 17, 2016June 14, 2016 by Emilee2 Comments

Our lovely hostel is in the bottom left hand corner of this picture .

For those of you who have been following along, you’ll know that I was on a backpacking trip from Dec 24th – Jan 4th. I was traveling with two friends, on and off throughout the trip, and I we travelled two four cities along the way. While this wasn’t my first trip around the UK/Ireland, I wanted to make sure to hit some new places, so we went to Edinburgh, Scotland (I had stayed in Glasgow before) and we visited the adorable town of Stratford-upon-Avon. I didn’t have much time to post on the blog while we were traveling, so I’ll fill you all in on what happened in the upcoming weeks.

Our first stop (after me sleeping in Heathrow on Christmas night with my Elf on the Shelf) was
Edinburgh. We took a Megabus up to Edinburgh because the UK takes Boxing Day very serious, and decided to close down all public transportation to prove the point. So, instead of being able to take a train up to Scotland, we hopped on a bus. Little did we know, the floods had cut off many of the routes that the buses usually used to get around, so the initial 9 hour trip ended up taking about 11 hours.

BUT, when we finally did make it to our final destination, we found our Australian filled hostel, more than welcoming and headed out to that night’s Pub Crawl. While usually I wouldn’t go out after sleeping in an airport, riding buses for over 12 hours total and being jet-lagged, I’m so glad we did because we had a great time hanging out with some Scots, and going to (without a doubt) the worst club in Scotland.
After a 10 hour exhaustion induced slumber, I was up and ready to go at the bright and early time of 11am. Thankful that my hostel didn’t charge me for checking out late, and even more thankful that they showed me the best spots for me to visit, I joined one of my friends on a walking tour and we galavanted around the hilly city of Edinburgh.

Our walking tour was more than a little bit entertaining, filled with Scottish anecdotes and history lessons, such as where the term “shit faced” comes from (referencing a saying doesn’t count as swearing, mom). We also got to see the grave site of the infamous “Greyfriars Bobby” which, you may know about if you’ve spent time watching the vintage Disney film, or are obsessed with stories about loyal little dogs, (both of which my mother is) which is why I was one of the few people in our tour to recognize the reference of it.

The trip ended by a trip to the National gallery and a walk around the Christmas markets, and Edinburgh at night (which is a holiday scene you don’t want to miss out on!). A quick pop back to the hostel (luckily, Edinburgh has most of it’s main attractions within a pretty condensed area) to grab my pack, and it was off to the airport – next stop, Ireland.

Oh! And did I mention that our hostel was right next to a CASTLE!?

Visiting the cafe where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter!

The graveyard where the real Tom Riddle (amongst other characters from Harry Potter) were buried.

The history of the phrase “Shit faced” comes from Edinburgh. Apparently early in the morning, when pubs closed and men were stumbling homes, households would dispose of their chamber pots for the day (it was illegal to throw out your windows…but only if you got caught) and the unfortunate drunks were unable to (often) get out of the way – resulting in them, quite literally, getting “shit faced.”

Meeting Mr. Holmes

Published on January 14, 2016March 14, 2016 by Emilee1 Comment

San Fran Sherlock 2016 - 2

My San Francisco adventures with Sherlock Holmes started when I stumbled across a mysterious invitation. That’s not a line – it really happened. I was searching for geeky things to do in San Francisco, and link after link after link eventually landed me on a PDF (with no website attachment) that was an invitation for January 10th, 2016 – a luncheon to celebrate the birthday of one, Sherlock Holmes.

I, being the naturally curious person that I am, looked into the matter. And after searching around (or should I say, sniffing, since my favorite book IS The Hound Of The Baskervilles – *gafaw*) I found an email address for the organizer of the event. I didn’t think I should send any correspondence, but then I realized it was such a once in a lifetime opportunity, that I had to. So I did, and as I waited for a reply, I looked up other Sherlock Holmes related things to do in the city.

It turns out that San Francisco has quite an obsession with Sherlock. Perhaps it’s because Arthur Conan Doyle once visited the city, or perhaps it’s because the city has hosted so many events such as the premier of the Ian McKellen film, Mr. Holmes and the restored 1916 masterpiece, staring the iconic William Gillette (who, by the way, is responsible for most of the iconic Sherlock Holmes imagery we associate with him, to this day). Whatever the reason, the obsession is there.

The way I discovered this obsession wasn’t so difficult.

Right about the time that I walked into the San Francisco Public Library and was faced with an entire wall of 1st editions, manuscripts and other collectables by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, I had an inkling. Another guess came when I was walking down the street and happened to walk by a bakery named, “Mr. Holmes Bakehouse.” I figured it must be good, since the line was stretching down the street. And as if fate needed to prove the point, when I walked back up the street I was met with a “SOLD OUT” sign. (Never worry, I woke up first thing the next morning and received a completely mouthwatering apple danish that was well worth the 20 minute wait to get.)

But back to the invitation! Screen Shot 2016-01-09 at 11.38.36 AM

The invitation was from a Sherlock Holmes society chapter called The Scowrers and Molly Maguires of San Francisco and looked all the right types of mysterious and intriguing. Finally I got an email back that the woman in charge had asked that I could join the otherwise closed event (only 25 people were allowed in attendance and the RSVP cutoff date had been a week before I had emailed her). I waited for an update, and several hours after the first reply I got another one saying that someone had cancelled, and I would be welcome at the birthday celebration of Sherlock Holmes (who, in fact, turned 162 years old on January 6th – huzzah!).

I made my way to the event the next day and was welcomed by a room full of smiling elderly faces – I knew I had hit the jackpot. Why? Because, let’s be honest. The only people who wouldn’t be getting together to talk strictly about how hot Benedict Cumberbatch is, at a Sherlock Holmes meeting, would be the elderly. It was time for some real, down and geeky conversations. And I couldn’t wait.

Despite the fact that the next youngest person was twice my age, and the average of the room was three times, I found myself situated next to a man in green tweed pants who whispered to me, “Don’t be afraid to leave whenever you want. These old people talk for ages.” I appreciated that he excluded himself from said “old people.” I jumped right into conversations with those around me, and soon realized that the combined knowledge was astounding! My main conversationalist was a film professor at Berkley, and others sitting around me had been part of this society for 30+ years (it was originally founded in 1944, but none of the founders are still living, to my understanding).

One of my favorite parts, though, was when I was met by the woman who I had initially emailed. She was quick and fox like in her movements. You could tell that she was a woman in charge, and she knew it. Her glasses were perched perfectly on her nose, and her sweater draped just-so. The moment she saw me she said, “Oh! It’s so good to have a young person at one of these, again! Everybody keeps moving away and dying.” I appreciated the honestly, and tried not to burst out laughing.

After dinner, a series of canonical toasts, a lecture on the different cinematic versions of The Hounds Of The Baskervilles and a 30+ question quiz about the book, a ‘Happy Birthday, Sherlock’ cake (as well as a special presentation about all of the best of 2015 Sherlock Holmes related materials), I felt very validated in my decision to crash the party. I also learned that I have a lot in common with 70 year olds – such as a love for Dick Tracy and Abbott and Costello. I’m sure they all had some questions for how a 25 year old knew so much about entertainment two generations ahead of her (#homeschooled), but we had some great conversations, nonetheless.

Overall the weekend was lovely, and having spent an hour previous to the party, pouring over the library’s collection, I felt like I had truly experienced Sherlock Holmes on a whole new level. Naturally, I finished out the night by watching The Abominable Bride.

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