Dublin and Paris with Candace December 20, 2011

I have been busy cleaning and studying but wanted to make sure I posted about the rest of our adventure.

Candace and I arrived in Dublin late on Tuesday night (Nov. 29). On Wednesday I had classes all day so Candace decided to catch up on sleep while I went to my last Wednesday classes and took a final. That night we went and had dinner in an Irish Pub and listened to some live Irish music and then went down the street to the Mezz and we had a couple of drinks.

    

 

Thursday Candace went to my two last classes with me in the morning and then we headed into the city. I showed her around Grafton and O’Connell and then we did some shopping.That night I had a mac and cheese party for my roommates and some of my friends from Galway because Europe does not have Mac and Cheese. They were all very skeptical but overall I think they liked it. Agata even said that they have something similar in Poland but that it is with white cheese and it real cheese. lol

Friday we woke up and had pancakes and toast and just sort of had a nice relaxing morning before we went into the city. The first thing we did though was we went to the Guinness Storehouse. I highly recommend it! It cost 10 euros a person (if you buy online) and you get a free pint which is usually 5.50 alone so it is a great deal and very interactive and interesting! We then walked around the city some more but it was pretty late since we spent at least 3 hours looking around the Storehouse! We went back to my apartment and made some pasta and had Garlic Bread that was supposed to be made in an oven but since I didn’t have one we compromised and first defrosted it in the microwave then put it on the stove (or hob as they call it here) and it didn’t turn out too badly!

Saturday morning we woke up super early…well more so Candace woke up early and I didn’t sleep because we had to leave at like 2:30 in the morning to catch the bus to the airport to catch our 5:30 flight to Paris!!

So we landed in Paris and then had to take an like hour and fifteen minute bus to the actual city. From there it was a bit complicated to figure out how to get to our hostel because the bus company didn’t tell us where we were being dropped off they just sort of left us there. But we followed the crowd and they took us to the metro. That also took some time to figure out where we were and what stop we had to get too…and with it all being in French that didn’t help much either.

Once we did figure it out we got off the metro and there were people EVERYWHERE! It was crazy and you could tell immediately that it was not the greatest area. It was like some sort of market that was there on Saturdays and Wednesdays I found out and that it wasn’t a market that you wanted to go to. It was more like people selling anything they could cigarettes, old metro tickets, pudding, really anything to get money. But it was super sketchy and luckily our hostel was right across the street so we didn’t have far to go. We put our bags down and then figured out our plan for the day since she only had like half of Saturday and then all day Sunday.

We made a decent dent in Paris considering the trouble we had finding what metro stops went with what attractions. We were first trying to go see Notre Dame but when we got off at the stop that said Notre Dame we found out that it was actually a street lol but it was okay because it was where the Luxemburg Garden was so we decided to stroll around through it. It had the biggest kids park I have ever seen. It was like 6 of the ones my grandpa used to take us too all combined into one. It was crazy….and Candace and I both secretly wanted to go join the kids.

After walking around the gardens we got back on the metro and finally figured out where Notre Dame was…though it was totally by accident. We were going to switch trains and then I saw a sign for it. It was so pretty and had a little Christmas market and phone-a-thon going on. The detail and the architecture was unbelievable.

 

After walking around the outside of Notre Dame (since the line was a couple of hours long and we didn’t have much time) we headed over to the Eiffel Tower. It was dark by then so it was sooo pretty. We were even able to wait around and watch it light up and sparkle. Every hour on the hour after 5pm it lights up for 5 minutes and it is a spectacular sight and we had a front row seat for it! After seeing it we decided to head back to our hostel because it was 8pm and we wanted to be back early since it was pretty sketchy outside it.

On Sunday we woke up early and headed to the Arc De Triomphe. It was at the top of the Champs De Elysees which is one of the biggest shopping streets in the world. The Arc is a memorial and is where the Tomb of the Unknown Solider is. There is an eternal flame and some flowers that help mark the tomb. We then walked the Champs De Elysees and there were shops along each side. Most of them were very expensive shops including BMW and other car dealers. Then we saw this long line of people and wondered what store they were lined up for..to our surprise it was the Abercrombie and Fitch haha It was definitely quite a surprise and was funny but we found out that they are only in a few of them in Europe so it was very popular.

 

Towards the end of the avenue there was a lovely Christmas market. Lots of cute shops and places to eat all decorated and made for some great Christmas cheer. There was even this really cool ice skating rink for kids. Instead of just being a circle it was a little maze like thing that swerved in and out and then they had like small zoo animal like toys to help them keep their balance.

 

After walking up and down the avenue we walked over and looked at the Grand Palace which again was sooo beautifully done. After the Palace we got Candace the crepe that she wanted. And then we went back to the hostel because it was super rainy and cold and it again was getting late.

Candace left on Monday morning  but I had to stay until Tuesday because even paying for an extra night in the hostel it was still cheaper than a flight back to Dublin on Monday. I however had to switch rooms and ended up staying with two students studying abroad in Barcelona from I spent the day walking around but for some reason all the museums and things are closed so I couldn’t go into the Luve or anywhere else really. So I just walked around and checked out some other sights but then called it an early night since i had to be up at 5 to catch my flight.

Paris was great but I definitely wish that we had more time to explore and see everything there was to see!

We live in a Small Small World aka Italy with Candace December 11, 2011

I know I know…I clearly am terrible at this blog thing…but I was also sick for ohhh about a month so nothing too exciting happened.

I left for Rome on the 23rd since I wouldn’t have been able to get a flight there to meet Candace on Thursday. So I arrived at night and had some difficulty figuring out how to get to my hostel but once I did it wasn’t a terrible place. I roomed with 7 others and none of them spoke English so I basically just went to bed. Then on Thursday morning (well like 11am by the time she got to me) Candace arrived. We discovered that my hostel was in a great location and we walked over to the Vatican. After the Vatican we took the metro over to Pope’s Plaza which had a super long line to get into…well we don’t really know but the line was really long. lol The buildings had some great architecture and were so beautiful.

We then took the metro to the Trevi Fountain which was unbelievable. We went back later that night to see it lit up and that was even more amazing. After we sat at the fountain for a while we decided to go find our Thanksgiving dinner. We had wine and pizza. It was super expensive but it was a very Italian Thanksgiving haha

 

We walked around some more and went to the Colosseum but since we had the suitcase with us we were unable to go in. When we came back to catch our flight on Tuesday we put our luggage in a luggage room at the train station and were able to go inside. It again was amazing. It is crazy to see the detail that they were able to put into making it back in the 80 AD. As we were walking around Rome we also noticed all of these pretty fountains…long be hold…they are their drinking fountains. But they look like fountains you would make a wish in sooo crazy and cool! Every time we passed one Candace had to take a picture lol

After spending a day in Rome we took a late night train to Venice. It was a 6 1/2 hour train ride so it was supposed to be our hostel for the night…though we didn’t really manage to get much sleep. We arrived in Venice at like 5am on Friday but were unable to get into the hostel since no one was answering the door. We managed to accidentally get a free bus ride to the main part of the city and discovered you could buy a 24 hour pass for the bus, train, and ferry boats so we decided to buy it and ended up riding the bus from one end to the other passing the hostel to stay warm until we saw it was open. At 8 we finally saw the door open and were able to go in. At this point we had been up for over 24 hours and Candace was on a 7 hour jet lag so we went in and slept until noon.

When we got up we went to go find lunch and walk around the city. It was so pretty and very romantic. Very small though. We ended up going to a restaurant and again having a very Italian meal. Candace had pasta and I had pizza. Then Candace wanted some water and we somehow ended up spending almost $5 just on the water…they definitely take advantage of us not speaking Italian. Once we ate we walked around and looked at all the beautiful shops and buildings. There were venetian masks and blown glass everywhere because they are both hand-made in Venice.

We then took the ferry ride. It was sunset at this point and though it was chilly the ride was gorgeous. The sun was setting and the lights were coming on. It was very relaxing and it went around the entire city. By the time we got back to where we were starting it was close to 8 and we were still tired so we ended up going back to our hostel.

The next morning we had to be up early because check out was 9am. We again had to take the suitcase around and it was found to be interesting because the entire city is surrounded by water there are bridges with stairs…lots and lots of stairs…everywhere. Which makes for a beautiful view but with a suitcase it was difficult to get around.

We walked around for a few hours and then discovered just how small the city was. It was beautiful but we were able to walk most of it the first day and then walked the outside of it the second day. By night we were tired again and many of the places were shutting down so we ended up going to a bar and sitting there for about 3 hours. It was nice and warm but we had to leave eventually and we still had like 8 hours until our 3am train to Florence.

We decided to go hangout in the train station to learn that the train we were suppose to take 1 stop to where our actual train leaves wasn’t coming because they were on strike. It is strange because they were on strike but some trains were running…including our train to Florence…and they knew that it would end by 9pm the next day…only a 24 hour thing. We ended up meeting these two girls that were studying abroad in Tuscany but spent their last weekend in Venice. Their train was cancelled and the one girl was now going to miss her flight back to the U.S. We ended up hanging out with them and meeting others while we were all freezing at the other train station for close to 4 hours. Once we got on the train we again tried to sleep but it was with no prevail.

When we got to Florence it was again a crazy morning. We arrived around 6:30 so we decided to try to get into our room since we again hadn’t slept in over 24 hours but there was no answer so we found a little cafe that was open and waited there for an hour to stay warm. We then went back to the hostel and we got buzzed in. We walked up a couple flights of stairs to be greeted by a cranky man in his underwear….we were very frightened and when he took us into what looked like his apartment with a few extra beds we were concerned but checked and were able to leave our suitcase until our beds were ready at 11. We decided to walk around and see some of the city. That is when we discovered that there was a marathon that was shutting down the entire city basically for the whole day and since the trains were on strike we also couldn’t take the train to any of the surrounding towns. Sooo as soon as 11 hit we went to bed for a couple of hours.

And we discovered that no we didn’t stay in the apartment but that the hostel was actually an apartment upstairs and it turned out to be the best one we had! There were two guys staying there that were from Kalamazoo, Michigan and were backpacking around Europe. They had already been gone for 6 weeks and were not planning on returning to the U.S. until July. They said they bought a one way ticket and were seeing where their money took them. Which is funny since they are about to spend a month in the mountains of Switzerland working for a lady for money while having free room and board because they are already lower on money than they would have wished. But they definitely had some exciting stories to tell us. There was also a girl from Australia who was there who has also traveled a ton! She even spent like a month or something like that on a boat in Antarctica.

That night we woke up and walked around a little bit but pretty much everything was closed so we had to wait to actually see the city until Monday. When we walked around Monday we first took the train to Pisa to see the leaning tower of Pisa….which was soooooooo cool 🙂 It was apparently a mistake by the architecture or something and now it is a this famous monument.

On the train to Pisa we met a girl who actually knows a couple of people I go to school with in DC but she is spending her senior year in Paris and was visiting a friend of hers in Florence. She was stopping in Pisa before heading to the airport. She gave us places to go and see while we were in Paris and helped us out a ton!

After Pisa we walked around Florence. We went and saw the Dumo which is this giant church and then went over to academia museum where Michael Angelo’s painting is held. But since it was Monday all the museums were closed so we couldn’t go see it…well no the real reason we didn’t go was that it was 30 euro so almost $40 just to see the one painting….how ridiculous?!? And as we were walking around and looking at the shops making our way back to the hostel we ran into one of the girls that we met on the train…her and her mother came up to Florence for a couple of days. How crazy?!?!? It is such a small world.

We then went back to the hostel and went to sleep early because we had to catch at 5:30am train back to Rome. We then spent the day in Rome just sort of re walking around some of the things we saw before but this time without the suitcase so we got to go in the Colosseum and ventured around this site with ancient ruins since it was part of our ticket. Both were amazing and then off the airport we went to catch our flight to Dublin.

Italy was great. It was crazy as you could see and nothing really ever went to plan but somehow it worked out and we got to meet some interesting people along the way!! It was definitely an adventure we will never forget! 🙂

Northern Ireland, UK November 11, 2011

I know you have all been waiting all week but I have been sick so I am just getting around to it.

Most of your probably know but for those of you that don’t there is a section of Ireland (Northern Ireland) that is not part of the Republic of Ireland. Therefore, it is part of the UK. It uses Pounds rather than Euros and even has the traditional cabs you would see in England. And as you could have guessed this separation in Ireland did not come without a fight. There is a huge distinction between the Catholics and the Protestants (especially in Northern Ireland) and it is basically a war that is not over.

The first day we were in Belfast we had the option to just walk around and see the sights. But as we were coming in we passed a sign that said that the IRA was there (picture above) and one of the leaders asked if we were staying around there (she sounded slightly frightened since  she was from Ireland) and the bus driver made it very clear that we were not and that we should not hangout  around there. Therefore, my roommates and I stayed around city centre. It wasn’t anything tooo exciting just a normal city with normal shops. However, the European Music Awards were going on that upcoming week so the town was getting ready for it. We even passed a hotel where Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga were staying. Unfortunately the concerts didn’t start until Sunday night and we were leaving that morning so we didn’t get to see any of that. After a couple of hours of walking around in pretty cold weather we found  a place called the Globe to eat. It was a pub that had a great special  5 pounds for a meal and a pint! So that was like until $9 for the meal and the drink!

Once we went back to our hostel we got ready to go out for our pub crawl. Ironically our second stop was the place that we had dinner so obviously we found a pretty good place :). The drinks there were delicious too! They had these specials that were candy drinks mine was rainbow something and tasted like cherry soda and then came with pixie sticks in it and my one friend, her drink tasted like black liquorice. They were all pretty good but I still think mine tasted the best 🙂 After the pub crawl we went back to the hostel and I got to Skype with all my girl friends from home! They were having a girls night and it was sooooooooooo nice to be able to join in! 🙂

The next day we were able to sleep in a bit after our late night and then went on a famous black cab tour. It was quite interesting because there was nearly 200 people on the trip and we all rode in cabs that could fit up to 7 so we did them in shifts. The black cab tour was called a 50/50 tour because 50% of it was about the Catholic side and 50% of it was about the Protestant side. It was such an unreal experience for me because there is still that drastic division in Belfast.

The peace wall on the Catholic side

We drove to a peace wall that had murals of people who went on a hunger strike and died and that was in the 90s (wall pictured above). That peace wall was on the Catholic side. Then we drove through these gates. Like an actual gate that could be locked and that is when you know you are on the Protestant side. There the peace wall was made up of different graffiti and signatures. The cab drivers all had markers so we all got to sign the peace wall. We then went to a place where on the back of like apartment buildings there were murals and they explained many of them but it was so unbelievable how this war is still going on today. There was a mural of a kid who died at 22 years old but was honored by this mural because he had killed 15 Catholics…..in 2000. Can you believe that? We were talking to the driver and he said that it is a lot better today but that Protestants and Catholics still cannot work or live together. And we asked how the city centre was able to be mixed. His response was as long as you avoid questions like what part of the city are you from or what school did you go to usually you can get your shopping done without running into problems but that if those two questions are answered it is very easy to tell with side they were from. He then went on to tell us how the children are raised to hate either Catholics or Protestants and that it is still to this day passed on from generation to generation.the gates that divided the two sides

the mural of the boy who killed the 15 Catholics in 2000

He told us that his tour company tried to take 15 Catholic students and 15 Protestant all 12 years old and mixed them up in the cabs. So a few Catholic and a few Protestant and then show them the tour to try to show them both sides of the city but that the hour and a half tour was only 2o minutes under way when the kids started fighting in the back seat and they had to take them all back. These kids are 12 and have no idea what is going on and yet they already have such hatred for each other. It was so sad.

After that heart wrenching tour we were dropped back off at the hostel. The intent was to go see the dock and the shipyard that the Titanic was built-in BUT it was soooo cold and a very far walk so we decided not to take it and instead check out the college down the street and the botanical garden. Again, we ate at a very nice place that was just 5 Pounds for a meal and then went back to our cold hostel to try to warm up before we went out for the night.

Queen’s College (beautiful campus)

The next morning we woke up at 8:00am and after a long night out it was rough for quite a few people but we got on the bus and were off to the very north of Ireland. We stopped at the rope bridge first! It was right along the water front and the mountains and the scenery was unbelievable. After the crossing the rope bridge since we didn’t have time to eat Carey and I along with pretty much then entire bus stopped in the tea cafe and had well a cookie and tea for breakfast but it was better than nothing!

Once everyone got to see those amazing sights we were onto Giant’s Causeway. And I must say the weather was remarkable the entire weekend…sunny (for the first full weekend since well probably the Galway trip) but it sure was cold. But between the sun and the spectacular views on the causeway it was breathtaking. You basically just walk along the waterfront and can look at the rock formation and things. It use to be a volcano (a realllllllllyyyyyy long time ago) so the formations are the rocks are unique and make for such great sights and pictures! The coolest thing about it is that you can walk/run/bike the water front from the Causeway to the rope bridge. Wouldn’t that be amazing to be able to wake up and do every morning?

 

And after that amazing day we headed back to Dublin. Though about 20 minutes outside of Belfast we see this girl go up to the bus driver and they are talking and we are all tired and half listening but then chatter around the bus started. Turns out this girl was not part of UCD and that she actually was just staying at the hostel and instead of taking the early tour bus (that looks just like ours) she got on ours and thought that it would take her back to the hostel. And on top of that she had a plane to catch from Belfast airport that night soooo we ended up turning around and dropping her off near Belfast so she could get a reasonable cab to the airport. She is lucky she was paying attention because I was asleep before everyone started talking and wouldn’t have realized we even passed through Belfast so I am glad it was not me!

Overall it was an extremely emotional weekend. Between getting to see my best friends for the first time in a long time (well over Skype) and then learning about the monstrosities still going on in Northern Ireland today it is such a saddening thing to think about let alone to witness the compete separate of two religions that should be able to live together in peace. And then to go and see the wonders that mother nature can make. It was definitely a remarkable weekend and would recommend it to everyone.

Cork and my 21st birthday! :) October 25, 2011

Along with midterms this week I also lost internet in my apartment last night so it was hard to make up these two posts so I am combining them.

I went to Cork city in the south of Ireland from October. 14-16th. On the way to Cork we stopped at Blarney Castle so we could kiss the Blarney stone. Carey and I first ran up the 100 or stairs to the top of the castle so we wouldn’t have to stand in line since we did only have 1 1/2 and there were 200 of us. It was a great decision because as we were coming down the line started to form. It was interesting, you laid down and held on to handles while you kissed a almost brick like thing at the bottom of the wall.

Then we walked around the castle. The castle’s grounds were amazing! Gorgeous gardens and well kept landscaping made for a beautiful area to walk around. There was a Poison Garden that had different types of plants that could be dangerous or illegal and then there was another garden that held different mythical areas like the wishing steps and the witch’s kitchen each harboring their own story.

 

Once we left Blarney Castle we headed to Cork. Carey and I went to the grocery store and bought dinner (chips and chocolate) and then returned to the hostel to get ready for the pub crawl. It was interesting because in Galway i stayed with 5 others in the room and here in Cork it was just her and I in the room. It was nice because we didn’t have to worry about our stuf but it was also a little quiet since we were alone and already knew each other. So we went on the pub crawl and met a few people!

The next day we had a scavenger hunt. There isn’t much to see in Cork so the committee decided to make us see the sights while having some fun with it. There were all sorts of tasks like climb a tower of a church and ring the bells, sing in front of a food court, go plank at the University College of Cork, get a picture with the guarda (Irish police) and other quite interesting tasks. It was a ton of fun and then on my birthday actually we found out that our group won the scavenger hunt so we get to go to Belfast in a couple weeks for half off!!!!! That night we all hung out together and played some card games and things before all of us going to a club.

Sunday on the way home we stopped at the last stop the Titanic made before it sank. They had the original dock and had a restored but similar building where people would have gotten their tickets and waited for the boat.

Now for my birthday! After that crazy exhausting weekend I had about 20 hours to recover and get ready for my birthday. I had an American themed bday party with American games like flip cup, beer pong, quarters, and some card games. There were people from all over the world there so we were able to have teams like Germany and Ireland against the rest of the world haha.Then we decided to go to a club and finish celebrating there. It was definitely quite a night 🙂

My roommates were the greatest they all signed a card for me in their own native language. It is sooooo cool! Leo is from Ireland so he used Gaelic, Laura from the Netherlands so she used Danish, Alberto from Spain so he used Spanish, Alyssa from America so Enlgish, and then though Sara is from Ireland she is a languages major so she used French and German…how cool!!! They also got me a delicious cake that I ate at like 4 in the morning while skyping Mike haha

Agata is from Poland and was my roommate in Galway so she went home shortly before my birthday and bought back a honey vodka that she says you can’t get anywhere but Poland…how awesome! I am saving it to bring it home 🙂 I also got a bottle of wine from two of my roommates and a bottle of Jameson from two other of my roommates from Galway.

And then of course Mike made me that super cute video of us! I had a fantastic 21st birthday despite it being in a country that I was already able to drink and I appreciate everyone who made it so special 🙂

 

Oh hey…lets go to London for the weekend! October 19, 2011

I know it has been a long time….sorry Sarah 🙂 I am going to try and catch up in the next couple days!

It is midterms week and on the weekends I have been gone so I haven’t had much time to write!

On the 6th I went to London to visit a friend from high school that is studying abroad there! It was so much fun! I got there pretty late on Thursday so we didn’t do much and then on Friday while she was at her internship her flatmates took me around! We visited Harrod’s and had a real British meal…crumpits and tea 😉 haha and then we walked around the store! It is very large…almost too large haha

Then I walked around and looked at the major tourist attractions. Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, Parliament, the London Eye and just enjoyed looking around the city! It was large and there was lots to do!! Once Alonna was off work we had dinner in downtown London and got some AMAZING ice cream and then went back to her place

 

We just hung out with her flatmates for the night and on Saturday to go sight seeing. We went to Abbey Road (where the Beatles recording studio was) it was neat but definitely not as touristy as you would have guessed. Then we went to Tower Bridge and London Tower. Both were very pretty sights. After that we met up with her friends at Camden Market. It is like the best market ever! Lots of street vendors selling lots of random things and since you can haggle with them you can get it all for a really reasonable price! Then we went and had dinner with her friend from Depaul who ironically enough is studying abroad in Dublin (so we had lots to talk about). Then we went back to Alonna’s apartment and got ready to go out for another one of her friend’s birthdays. We went to an area with lots of different bars but were not there long because everything closed by like 1am.

We got back late because it was like a 2 hour bus ride between the 2 buses since the tube was shut down so we were exhausted and went right to bed. On Monday I had the day to myself pretty much because she had to work. I woke up and went to Hyde Park and walked around for a bit then went to King’s Cross station and took a picture with Platform 9 3/4ths just for Candace and then went back into the city and met up with two girls from my sorority that were visiting London as well because they are studying in Brussels.Then I went and met Alonna by her work for lunch and then it was back to Dublin for me!

It was a great weekend and I was so happy to get to see so many familiar faces! It definitely helped with any homesickness I had haha

I will try and write about Cork and my birthday later today or tomorrow!

An Adventurous Irish filled weekend! October 6, 2011

After a pretty calm week Carey and I decided to join the International Student Society and the International Office in some “Irish” weekend activities!

On Saturday we went to Causey Farm in county Meath. It was a rainy and dreary day but made it for a good day of getting down and dirty on the farm. The first thing we did when we got there was form a semi-circle and watch the sheep dog manage to herd the sheet from waaaayyyyy across the field into our “human pen” it was rather impressive!

We then went inside and made some brown bread! It was an extremely simple recipe that made for some delicious Irish bread!

Once we were done making the bread they put it in the over while we went and learned an Irish jig! It is actually a lot like line dancing. Similar moves and all…it is just to a different tempo! After the jig they took us to the barn to milk a cow and paint on the wall (it is a farm that school groups go to for field trips so some of the activities were for a younger crowd…still fun though!).

When we were done milking the cow and painting the walls we went in to have our lunch. It was made up of the bread we made, scones, cheese, and tea. I very simple but Irish lunch.

Once we finished there we went out to the bog. It is about 9,000 years old and is just a pile of what looks like mud. It is however, only made up of decayed plants and rain water. What happens is when a lake or some body of water dries up it sometimes leaves behind this land that is left low and fills with water. There are different types of plants that grow there and nothing can be built on top of the water soaked land. Irish people used to take the peat (the mud) from the bog and use it to make blocks that they would burn in the fire. The bog itself is also suppose to be good for your skin but I decided not to go in it…some did though.

After we went into the bog we went back inside and learned played an Irish drum called a Bodhran. It was fun and again not too difficult to learn…even for someone like me with no rhythm haha.

And after the bodhran we were pretty much done we made a rope out of hay and then  jump roped with it and then took a walk to look at horses and then it was back on the bus and the hour ride back to campus.

Though we decided to all go to a pub once we got back to Dublin and it turned out to be a FANTASTIC decision! While we were there talking I mentioned I didn’t have a phone and someone in the club was like oh I have an extra one and I ended up getting it on Tuesday…so YAY for having a phone…finally…it only took a month! haha

On Sunday Carey and I went on the Dublin Adventure Tour…which turned out to be more of an adventure than we had thought! It started off with us learning how to play Hurling…it is an Irish game that is made up of football, soccer, baseball, lacrosse, and any other game that you can think of…even sort of hockey! We had about an hour or so lesson and by the end of it I was able to score a goal and defend the net successfully!!!

After that we hopped on the van and drove to some place in Dublin…not sure where…and got out. We climbed some rocks and ended up inside a very old burial ground. We looked at the church and the large graves stones and then left and walked further down the path. This is where we slide UNDER a fence and looked at a statue that they think used to be a women but then after it started collapsing they chissled it down and made it into a cross and now that is slowing falling apart.

We then again walked down a path…hopped OVER a fence and walked along an abandoned train station. At this point many of us were skeptical of where we were going. We went under a bridge and we were in a forest…now there was even more questions. After about a 10 minute walk we get to a river…how do we cross it? Well not with a bridge if that is what you are thinking. We walked along a tree that was laying over the water. We finally then made it to a 4,000 year old burial tomb. And naturally since it was raining what did we do? We went and took shelter..INSIDE the tomb haha

On the way back to the van we decided to not take the same route over the river we did the first time we instead decided to walk along some rocks and then got stuck so what was next? Oh a swim just happened to be hanging on the other side so we swung OVER the river! haha It was sure an adventure!

After our morning excursions we were all wet so they took us back to campus to change clothes and then it was off to lunch. But we didn’t have lunch in a restaurant or a food court…no we went to a farmers market in the seaside town Dunleary. I managed to get some delicious chocolate fudge for much cheaper than I would in the US!

After the farmers market we went to Dalkey Castle where we had a guided tour by a queen and a servant haha It was interesting way to learn about the history of the castle to say the least! lol

That was my weekend and it sure was filled with some adventures! It was a ton of fun and was a relatively cheap weekend for everything that I did. Saturday only cost 35 euro..and the Hurling lesson alone would normally be more than that. And Sunday was completely free!! It was a fun filled Irish weekend for sure.

This week went by fast and was quite busy. Tuesday I have my second Irish language lesson where I learned the numbers (super confusing) and how to have a conversation about where a person is from. And then Wednesday I went to my first swim practice. That was SUPER hard. But it felt awesome to get back in the water….though I had never had practice in water so warm before. I was burning up just standing it there…It was warmer than bath water. And even though I was exhausted when I got back to campus I met some really cool people and am happy to get back into the swing of things!

Now I am off to London until Monday evening to meet up with Alonna and Katie…can’t wait for the adventures that awaits me there!

weekend in Galway and a week of new things! September 29, 2011

Dia duit!! (hello)

I know it has been a while but it has been a pretty busy week!!

First I will start with my AMAZING weekend in Galway. I went with the Erasmus Student Network…it is a network for international students (usually just EU exchange but this club allows all international). There were 200 of us in all and it was unbelievable!

We left Friday morning and got to Galway around 4pm. I met the people in my room…there were 2 students from Germany, 1 from Poland, 1 from Belgium, and 1 from Austria. They were all super nice and we decided to sort of spend the weekend together. So we walked around the city and took lots of pictures…we found a cathedral, a fast-moving stream of water, and lots of cute little shops. We decided to stop and eat an authentic Irish resturant…it was actually pretty good!!! We then went back to the hostel and got ready for the pub crawl…with all 200 students. We went to about 7 pubs and 1 club at the end. It was a ton of fun and a super easy way to meet people 🙂

Unfortunately….after a long night we had to be up at 7am. We had to catch an early ferry to the Aron Islands. The ferry ride was rough for all of us…especially after a night out! Once we got there we had a choice to rent a bike, a horse and carriage, a van, or to walk around the island. My hostel mates and I decided we would just walk. We happened upon an old lighthouse and fort type thing. It was weird because there was no one there to watch it or anything so we climbed around the buildings and took pictures. We even climbed up the tower of the lighthouse…which afterwards we noticed wasn’t necessarily structurally sound…but we survived! haha It was a gorgeous view. We then climbed on top of the fort and again got amazing pictures!!

After we were done climbing the historical structures of the island we went back to the hostel and got ready for another night out. We all got together in the lobby of the hostel and hung out and played some games before going to the club. It was fun and again a great way to meet people!! Once we got to the club it was easy to tell it was based on an American style club with Coyote Ugly dancers and all. They even had a mechanical bull that us ESN students got to ride for free!!

Once again… after another night out…we had to get up early! On our way back to Dublin we took some photo stops at a few places. One of which was the Cliffs of Moher (more). They had a gorgeous view and not much security (or no security)  so we got to get up close to the edge. It was crazy..there was a sign that said not to pass the certain spot but hundred of people were passed it and no one did a thing about it. A lady even died the day before we were there because she was standing so close to the edge that when a gust of wind came by it knocked her off. We didn’t get that close but close enough to get some great pictures 🙂

After that stop we stopped at a look out point and then at a castle. Both were just for a few minutes so we could get some good pictures…and that we did!

After my fantastic weekend i was exhausted. I did do too much this week but I did have my first Gaelic speaking class. We learned a ton and I am not able to have a short welcome conversation in Gaelic.

I also was supposed to start the swim team yesterday but something got messed up and I ended up not having a ride so I will have to start that next week. It will be my first time swimming on a team in almost 3 years….so we will see how it goes! haha

This weekend i will be going to Causey Farm as well as on a Dublin Adventure Tour so I will update you on that next week!

Hope all is well for everyone back in D.C. and at home! The listserv makes me miss you all ❤

Slán (goodbye) 🙂

Boys in Blue! September 18, 2011

So i know I haven’t written in a while but it has been a busy week!

Classes started this week! They are much much larger than all of my classes at AU. I have a couple classes that are 300+ people. Most are international students though so we all have the same problem understanding the professors! haha The classes are interesting so far but there is soooooo soooooo soooooo much reading to do! It is going to be a semester filled with studying for sure but I think that it is going to be awesome to learn through the irish style of teaching.

Another high point of the week is that I booked my flight to London to see Alonna for only 30 euro!! I am going to be there from October 5th through October 10th so that will be exciting!! I am hoping to plan some other trips soon!

Today Carey and I spent the day in downtown Dublin to watch the Kerry versus Dublin Gaelic Football Finals. It was CRAZY!!! We first went and ate at a little resturant that was showing the game. We had NO idea what was going on so we decided to walk down the street to a pub with lots of people! Little did we know that it was called The Dubliner and was filled with All Dublin fans! So we asked what was going on in the game and essentially it was like a mix of football (tackling and throwing and running) with basketball (dribbling) and soccer (kicking into goals) and was so interesting to watch. It was two 35 minute halves with NO time outs. AND the field is a football field and a half according to someone we asked. It was such a close game there were like 3 minutes left and Dublin was down by 4 but they made a soccer goal so it was worth 3 points and then made another goal into the football goal posts for 1 point and with less than a minute to go scored another point to win the game! The pub was going crazy!! Everyone was jumping up and down and doing this chant about the boys in blue (Dublin’s team uniforms are blue) it was so much fun!!!!!

After the game Carey and I walked around Dublin to take in all the excitement in the streets! It was insane! People were chanting and running through the streets. They were all so excited! The cup (much like the Stanley Cup) was brought to a pub called Coppers but it was far from where we were so we decided not to go 😦 though it would have been amazing! I am so happy to have been able to be in Dublin for this experience. Kerry always wins so for Dublin to defeat them in such a close match is unbelivably amazing!

   

Today was an amazing day to be in Dublin and I am so thrilled to have been able to experience! I can’t wait to see what the next 3 months can bring 🙂

French fries? September 10, 2011

So I have had a crazy few days but nothing super exciting so I figured I would wait and give it to you all at once!

We walked around City Centre the first day or two we were here. It is super cute! So quaint with all the buildings so close together. There are all types of stores there both American and non-American brands. We just spent Wednesday exploring and seeing what was out there. We went on a shopping tour that showed us more of the city and where to buy groceries and pots and pans and things like that. We bought a few things for our apartment and our rooms to make it more like home.

Then we decided to just walk around and find a place to eat so we went to this little sandwich shop where I got a cheeseburger. It was soooo not what I was expecting! It only came with a salad (no french fries) and the cheese was cheddar. It also tasted different but probably because it was better meat than what we have in the US (though I prefer the US meat). After eating only half of our meal Alyssa and I walked around some more and found some really cool buildings!

When we got back to our apartment we were exhausted after a 9 hour day of walking so we were not going to go out…but Shannon (another girl from AU) wanted to go out and have our first legal drink! So of course we did and after a long time of asking around and trying to find an age appropriate place to go we were directed to Mezz. It is a pub that plays lots of 90s american music! It was a lot of fun!

On Thursday we just hung around campus and went to our orientations and things that we were required to do. It was a pretty easy day but it was much-needed after the day of walking we had the day before.

Friday afternoon we decided to go to Ikea and finish getting the necessary items we needed to be able to function in the apartment like cheap pots and pans and dishes were a must! After the extremely long bus ride there we decided we would eat since we haven’t had a real meal since I left the US. It was the best meal we had eaten to this point and it was also the cheapest! It was funny though because I asked for french fries and they had no idea what I was talking about.On the way to Ikea we saw an Aldi’s so we decided after we shopped we would go and do some real grocery shopping since it was cheaper and we definitely got our money’s worth! I got the best chocolate ever and it was only 1 euro! It is almost like dove chocolate only even creamier!!

Friday night we were again going to meet up with Shannon and another girl from our school. She goes to Trinity so we were going to try to branch out and meet her friends from the US. Since Ireland is so small all the Irish students go home on the weekends we Americans take Dublin on alone! We however were failing miserably at finding the pub the others we at so we ended up going to a few places and meeting lots of people! That is the greatest thing here is that everyone is hanging out on the sidewalk and when you ask them for directions they will talk to your for like 20 minutes and it is sooooo much fun! We had such an interesting night and definitely learned a lot about Dublin!!! One thing I learned last night was that french fries are called crunchies so from now on I know! lol

 

What a week! September 6, 2011

This past week is such a blur of excitement! I got to spend lots of time with my family and my boyfriend before I left and I enjoyed every minute of it.

 

But once Mike dropped me off at the airport yesterday my two days of chaos started! Thank goodness my bags weighed exactly the right amount so that went fine but then security decided to check my carry-on and once the lady took everything out she was unable to fit it back in so here I am sitting on my bag trying to squeeze everything into it while there was a line building up behind me…10 minutes later I finally got it but not before I broke a sweat! Then I had the most miserable plane ride with turbulance the entire way! But I did get in an hour and a half early and once i got through customs everything has gone pretty smoothly.

On the cab ride over I noticed a few things….

1. cab drivers here are just as crazy as cab drivers in DC…our cab somehow managed to stall the car in the middle of driving it down a pretty busy street.

2. These people LOVE windows…everything has a window and they are all open…everywhere

3. It is neat how all the buildings down an entire block are one right after another without any space between…I guess it saves room and increases your square footage!

Once we got to campus everyone was super nice and got Alyssa and I checked in pretty quickly.We met two of our roommates Sara is from an hour outside of Dublin and she is a freshman. Laura is from the Netherlands and is a junior….we have to more roommates (guys) who have not moved in yet. Our apartment is interesting…it is one long hallway with two rooms on each side and even though you are in the apartment you need your key card to also get into your room. There is also a kitchen/dining room/living room area that is pretty spacious and again has lots of windows! My room is a pretty good size but oddly enough the drawers aren’t drawers instead they are like shelves so everyone can see all my clothes. My bathroom is pretty small…I just took a shower and soaked the entire bathroom because the only thing separating the toilet and sink from the shower is the curtain and it is not by much! I’ll post pictures once I finish unpacking everything!

Alyssa and i did some grocery shopping today (super expensive) and tomorrow we are going to explore this glorious city!! I love it here and can’t wait to finish exploring!!

Miss you all 🙂