Ireland:

Around the time we arrived in Dublin, I was beginning to get very sick from something I had caught in London. This restricted my exploration a bit in Ireland, however, we still had time to see plenty of amazing things. Of course, the Guinness Storehouse is a must see in Dublin:

I had no idea!

I also had no idea that the world record books were formed after an argument between a Guinness director and friends over what the fastest game bird in the world was. I didn't even know there was an affiliation.

Here is a shot from the "Gravity Bar" at the top of the storehouse which provides a 360 degree view of Dublin.

The storehouse was great because it combined the history of Guinness in Ireland, the process through which Guinness is brewed, the history of Guinness advertising, and of course, a free pint, all into one day's tour. Another interesting visit was to Kilmainham Gaol, the old jail in Dublin. The jail once housed incredibly famous historic figures from the days of the Easter Rising, the Irish Civil War, and earlier decades, many of whom were executed at the jail. It was surreal seeing some of their graffiti and cells, all of which are marked now for tour purposes. The jail tour was also guided which was cool (and actually pretty unusual from my experiences thus far) because our guide was exceedingly knowledgeable. Here are some photos:

This formula was part of the then-new long drop hanging method with which, given an individual's height and weight, executioners could calculate the proper drop necessary to break a prisoners neck without decapitating them, thus avoiding prolonged struggle and pain or a gruesome spectacle. As twisted as it sounds, the system was actually developed by medical professionals with very humane intentions.

This is a cell from the oldest part of the jail (1796)

This wing was added to the jail decades later

Artwork inside the cell of Grace Gifford, wife of the revolutionary Joseph Plunkett who was executed in 1916 following the Easter Rising.

Some prisoners were executed against this wall by firing squad, as marked by the cross.

Now that I have successfully ruined your appetites, we'll move on to some less grim material... One of the nicer days we took a walk to the Dublin "Castle" (it really isn't a castle anymore) and the campus of Trinity College in Dublin:

The flags of all the Irish counties line the castle

And while the city of Dublin is very cool, the reality is that the countryside is where Ireland blows most of the world's nations out of the water: 

We made a visit to a traditional Irish cattle farm in the Burren, a unique rocky landscape in County Clare.

The weather wasn't exactly perfect during our stay, and the Cliffs of Moher were cold, wet, and windy, but nonetheless spectacular.

I can't remember the name of this castle for my life, sorry. Cool location though, huh?

My picture taking was a little better in Ireland; however, I still missed out on pictures from the National Archaeological Museum, the Irish Wax Museum, the Irish Natural History Museum, and a few others. We also visited a ton of cool pubs, both new and old, from which I have no photos. I guess you'll all have to go to Ireland to make up for it then; I would highly recommend it. The friendly atmosphere in Irish pubs (and on the streets too, for that matter) is truly unparalleled. Sigi and I had a ton of laughs and met tremendous people. My only regret is not exploring more of the countryside, which in truth was a result of me being sick for a while. Still, there is always time to return...

England:

Considering the amount of time we spent in London (over a week), I did an absolutely horrific job of taking pictures. I had grown tired of carrying my camera around everywhere and so the most of the pictures I did take were on my phone, which has since been lost. Therefore, I only have photos from about two or three of our days in London. I'll try my best to explain the rest of our endeavors in writing but I don't want to bore you so I will be quick about it. But first, here are a few of the photos I do have (Note: I recently went over my 1GB limit for photo uploads. I thought I was given more space but unfortunately now I have to reduce the quality of all the photos. Sorry guys):

This is a restaurant my mom worked at when she used to live in London back in the day. She  asked us to check it out so  we found it our first night in the city.

It turned out to be way, way to fancy for Sigi and I, but we tried to keep it cool despite being very under-dressed. 

Some random street

Abbey Road Studios

Outside the British Museum

The Rosetta Stone

This plaque is in reference to the debate over the Parthenon sculptures that I mentioned earlier. I forgot to take pictures of the ones here in the British Museum but between London and Athens we were able to see basically the entire existing collection.

Honestly, I let you down in terms of pictures... Anyway, in addition to visiting the British Museum, we also visited the London Science Museum and the Tate Modern Art Museum which both house incredible collections (not to mention, they are free). Although, the Tate had many pieces that were on the verge of being, in my opinion, completely talent-less, even compared to the pieces we have seen in other modern art museums on the trip. Then again, when did I become the supreme art critic? Sadly, I have no photos to back up my claim (I'll have to grab Sigi's camera at some point and see if he did better than I did).  Aside from visiting museums, we did a ton of walking tours in London, including through Hyde Park, which definitely one-ups Central Park in terms of aesthetics. Let's see what else... ah, we also saw the new Bond movie while in London (two weeks before it was released in the states!) which was cool because most of the scenes were shot between London, Scotland, and Istanbul, all areas which we have been to so far on the trip. Needless to say, we felt like we might as well have been in the movie. I also got to see Jack White and Ty Segall perform live in London which was INSANE. I totally lucked out too because both shows were sold out but I managed to get resale tickets for under face value. Thanks to the internet, I can show you some photos and reviews from the concerts. Click here for Jack White's show and here for Ty Segall's show.

To tell you the truth, without the photos as reference, I'm having trouble thinking of all of the things we did in London. It's late and I'm tired so I think I'll pull the plug on this one. I'll have remembered plenty of stories to share by the time I get home that I can tell in person. I am pretty disappointed and again, sorry, but the good news is that I think the reason I have so few photos from London is that I was having so much fun there. It's an incredibly exciting city with it's own unique architecture, style, and overall vibe. You just feel like a badass walking the streets of London, like you are part of the Beatles or something hahah; I can't explain why. It is absolutely one of my favorite cities so far and without more pictures, I guess I'll have no choice but to come back to refresh my memory of its appeal!