Raf's Travel Diaries

London. I was so overwhelmed I don't even know where to start. I'd been wanting to go there, to what I consider the Capital of Creativity, for ages. And I wasn't disappointed. I arrived to Luton Airport and took a train from there to St. Pancras Train Station (£22,50 return) . I knew I was staying somewhere close to that station, so I took it as a starting point. Black cabs and red double-deckers From there I walked randomly till I got to the British Museum (Free/Donation) . I'd heard about it, but I didn't expect to literally find half the world's historic items there! Qur'an at the British Museum Just as I started off in the Islamic room, I cam e across a 700 year old copy of the Qur'an. Then in the main hall a couple of black Egyptian Obelisks and the massive Lion of Knidos from Turkey (200 BC) drew my attention. I also saw numerous statues from Egyptian Pharaohs, many Roman copies of famous Greek sculptures amongst which was Lely's Venus. Final

I got my weekly roster on Saturday and saw I had Wednesday and Thursday of the following week off, that same night I checked Ryanair for offers but they all had to be booked 14 days in advance, so I decided to take a bus and go somewhere in Ireland. I'd heard a lot about Galway, and felt like being outdoors, so I decided to go there. I started looking for hosts through couch surfing, and after reading a few profiles I sent 3 couch surfing requests and got an answer the next day. The night before I prepared my bag with the essentials: sneakers, a jumper, a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, toiletries, camera, spare batteries, mp3 player, extra pair of socks and underwear, my diary and pens. Knowing the Irish weather, I set the clothes for the next morning, all water proof and very warm. I woke up at 6 the next morning, took the Luas to the Busaras bus station and bought a return student ticket to Galway for 16,50 (I wonder until when will I be able to pull off the student discounts?). I wa