Slainte

Hola,

Well I can't believe I am down to it, my last blog entry. I am so incredibly sad thinking about having to leave this wonderful country in just a few short days. Although it hasn't hit me yet because I still have my last final tomorrow, it is starting to hit me when I had to say goodbye to my roommate and  see her room empty. It reminded me of my first day here in Ireland and coming into the empty room, a bundle of nervousness and excitement. I honestly cannot even believe that I have been here  since January and that this is the longest time I have ever been away from home. I remember leaving like it was yesterday but then some of my experiences that I have had here felt like ages ago. I am having weird feelings that are hard to put into words really. 

Although I was super excited to go home last week I think as my last days approach it becomes more into sadness. I walk around campus and actually stop to smell the flowers even though I look like a weirdo I am trying just to take in all my last moments here. I can't explain the feelings of leaving a place and knowing that you will never have an expierence like this again in this same place. I always feel emotional at the end of any semester but this is just a lot worse I guess. I know for sure that I would like to come back to Dublin at some point in my life but it makes me sad that even when I do come back it will never really be my home again. I will see the places and have the memories though of when I got to spend an unreal semester in Europe. 

As this comes to a close though it is hard not to think about how I am so lucky to have gotten this experience. Studying abroad has given me the chance to see amazing places that I never imagined I would be able to see and do things I never thought I would do. I am so grateful for my mom and dad for encouraging me and supporting me throughout my time here (emotionally and financially lol). I have learned so much by traveling and living away for the first time. I know i can be a pretty uptight person at time but I really hope that I will be able to come back home at least a little more relaxed. There are so many times where we got lost or something went off the books during traveling that it is hard not to develop a go with the flow attitude. When I think back on the things that went wrong it just makes me laugh because those are the  experiences that we can grow from, well most of them anyway. Getting fined from the Italian police for not validating our train tickets, looking like dumb Americans in Paris trying to use the wrong underground or trying to use a pay phone in Prague to find our apartment are things that I will always remember about being here. There were also times where I thought I actually might die like when we came into the wrong train station in Rome at midnight and were surrounded by homeless people I don't think my heart has ever beat so fast or when our flight tried to land in Scotland twice and it actually felt like I was on roller  coaster which is actually a little more legitimate reason to be scared than the other. Anyway I guess my point is that the things that don't go the way you want I guess end up turning into funny memories that stay with you. On top of that I am glad I got to see all these things with my best friends and new friends. Being able to travel so much with Erica, going to London with Alex, and Megan visiting us made me really grateful for the friendships that I have. It makes me happy to know that I will always share these experiences with them and same with my mom and nancy! 

Although I cannot possibly even begin to summarize my study abroad experience I think I will first think of Ireland. I know Ireland will always carry a special place in my heart and that it will kind of feel like it is mine. At home we are surrounded by Irish things especially bars and I know that these will be a constant reminder of my semester here. I will remember the rolling hills and mountains and lakes and sheep and how Ireland is so green and beautiful and how it is amazing that I got to soak up these sights for a semester. Besides just Ireland there are other things from my travels here that will stand out like all the different cities I visited and things I saw. I learned a lot of history and in general became a hopefully more informed person about different cultures.

Even though I have to leave this behind I have a lot to look forward to in the future! Traveling around Europe has made me realize that the USA is great too and that there is so much of it I haven't even seen. While I was in Dublin I wanted to see all the touristy things there and in the area but I have lived in Milwaukee for almost 3 years and never really before had a desire for much exploration. Hopefully this can change when I get back as I will be living there this summer! 

I have seen this Irish blessing before and have always liked it but never before I have really thought about Ireland when I read it. Only after being here do I look at and realize how it perfectly sums up my feelings about Ireland and about having to leave it behind. 

'May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand'

Well overall Ireland had been grand and cheers to it giving me an amazing semester! I am going to attach some of my favourite photos from my travels to this post. Until next time! 

Revision week 2014

So I didn't really want to post this blog because I have gotten bored of all this blogging, I knew the time would come. I am going to power through though since I only have a few weeks left here in Dublin. Well I am at the airport waiting for our flight home from our revision week extravaganza so I will write about that! We were able to hit up 3 countries in a little under a week! 

Munich

Our first stop on our trip was Munich. Springfest was starting on Friday so we thought it would be fun to be there for that. Munich was really great and so pretty! It reminded me of the Germany that is in Epcot because it was just so cute looking. When we got there we went to a cute market where of course I got a real German bratwaurst and it was delish!  Later we went to the English gardens which were super weird because there were old naked men laying and walking around! Who know that was even legal, it was very strange. We walked past a few more of the sights to see in Munich but overall this trip was a lot more relaxing than the others that I have been on. I think it is because we were all tired of seeing all the museums and such and Munich also did have less famous must sees. Anyway while in Munich we were able to get a lot of traditional food and beer. Our friend Anika who is from Germany was also able to come with us which was helpful to have a translator while she was around! Springfest was just like a giant carnival with huge beer tents. The Germans were also dressed on their traditional outfits which was fun to see! 

While in muncih we were also able to see a concentration camp. Dachu was a little outside the city and was the first concentration camp formed. It was really eye opening and sad to see this in person and hear about all the horrible things that happened there. It hardly even seems real. I learned a lot from being there and even though it was really disturbing I am still glad I was able to see such a big part of history. 

Salzburg

Another city that we were able to see was Salzburg in Austria! Me and Erica decided to take a day trip there because we thought it would be worth it to go since we were in the area. Salzburg is where the sound of music was filmed an it is really small and adorable. You could see the mountians surrounding the city and all of the buildings were really old but still well kept. We went up to a fortress which had a gret view of the city and on the other side a great view of some country and the most amazing mountians. I think this was definitly one of the most beautiful things I have seen. It just was so picture perfect. Anyway we did a tour of Salzburg and were able to walk around and see some things before heading  back to Munich. 

Prague

On Sunday we departed for Prague and embarked on a 6 hour train ride. Getting to the apartment that we rented was  a bit of a hassle because the lady gave us the wrong phone number. Thinking there was something wrong with the phone we wwere using we attempted to use a pay phone. We obviously looked like big idiots with 10 of us surrounding a pay phone trying to figure out how to use it. Luckily we were eventually able to meet up with the lady and get into our really cute apartment. We went to a traditional Czech place that they suggested and it was great! We also went on a walking tour which covered a lot of the main points. The Prague castle was also dry awesome and huge so we looked around that for a little. Throughout our stay we saw a few more sights like the John Lennon peace wall and the Charles bridge. We also went on a pub crawl and did a lot of eating and enjoying the cheap food. Prague was another city that was really cute. It was so different from all the other cities I have seen so it was a nice place to have my last trip. It was also interesting since the Czech rebulic has a really unique history compared to other countries so it was cool to see how that impacted the city. Like I said we were pretty tired of muesuem after museum so we didn't really hit up any of those in Prague.

This trip was nice because it was a lot more relaxing than some it the other trips where we were running around like maniacs. I think Eastern Europe is so beautiful and this may have been one of my favorite trips so far! 

Hola Madrid

I am just on my way back from Madrid so I will continue with my en route blog! I am actually going to try and proof read this one before I post it though so that might be nice for readers (lol). I am experiencing some great views on my flight since there are no clouds! It's really very cool I think I have begun to take advantage of the views I get when I am flying since this is actually my 10th flight since being here. That is so crazy I can't hardly believe all the places that I have been! I just have one more trip to Munich and Prague at the end of April so I am excited to spend a few weeks in Dublin without leaving. After that I will be almost done with my time here. It's weird how fast it seems like everything is coming to an end so I am going to try and take advantage of my last 40ish days left in Europe as much as I can. It is really easy to get caught up doing nothing all day but now that the weather is getting better that is not a good excuse! Also I need to try and finish all my last homework assignments. Okay well enough rambling I will continue on about my trip to Madrid.

Madrid from Above

Airplane View

Since we had a field trip to the grave yard  on Friday I had to go on Saturday morning. Even though I didn't have that much time in Madrid I think it was the perfect amount of time and we were still able to see so much. I arrived around 11 and Allison luckily met me at the airport so I could go drop my stuff off at her apartment. It was so nice and easy meeting a friend there since she knew what she was doing and I didn't have to worry about getting lost or finding my hostel or anything of that sort. After we refueled with a quick snack we set off on a tour. First we went and saw the royal palace and the church that was next to it.  The church was big and very nice on the inside like most of the European churches I have seen. We then went to a plaza that I think is famous but once again I forgot the name of it. We got a delish sangria and lunch. After that we continued our tour seeing more of the city. Even though Madrid is the capital city it didn't feel like a huge city. The buildings were all really cute and reminded me of Italy a lot. On one of the streets we saw a Dunkin donuts and I couldn't resist getting an iced coffee. A great taste of home. Later we went on a gondola ride over the outskirts of the city that led to a park that was the old royal hunting grounds. It was much bigger than we imagined it would be and looked like a forest. We didn't want to wander too far since we were afraid we would get lost. Later we picked up Katie at the airport since her flight got in at 10 and we got some churros con chocolate since it is a staple Spanish treat. Apparently you are supposed to drink the left over chocolate which I started I do but it was so rich I could only have a few sips. I can't imagine how people drink the whole cup. Anyway I was pretty surprised at the late night shenanigans of Madrid. I know they do things differently in Spain but it was just so surprising to be wandering the streets at midnight and see so many people out like it is 8 in the evening. There were so many cafés still open. Very weird to me since things are much quieter in Dublin at that hour except for the drunks. 

Tortilla Espanola

Yummy

Our Gondola

Well we ended up sleeping a little later than we planned the next day but things also seem like they start a lot later in Spain. Since this was Katie's only full day in Madrid we had to cram a lot in. In the morning we went to a flea market that I forgot what it was called in Spanish. They had some pretty great deals and I got a really cute scarf for 2 euro! It was so big though it seems like it went on forever. Later we hit up the Prado and we were able to get in for free with our student ids!  I actually enjoyed this art museum more than most, it was very very big. For lunch we went to a cute Spanish restaurant and had something like al menu dia where you pick different courses so that was nice. We also went to the retiro park which I loved! It was a Huge park and there was a place to rent rowboats and a bunch of fountains and statutes. We had some ice cream and laid in the park soaking up the sun. On the way back we viewed a few more Spanish buildings and  sights and got to see a beautiful sunset with the mountains in the background. When we finally got back at 10 we were pretty hungry so we went back to Tierra which was a yummy burrito place that me and Allison went to the night before but couldn't resist. I couldn't believe the crowd that was there at 10! 

Churros con Chocolate

Sangria

Me at the Palace

Street in Madrid

The next day we just went to the park and soaked up the sun since it was in the 70s and did some shopping and I was finally able to get some tapas. I really loved the tortilla esponola (?), very yummy!  Unfortunately then I had to make my way to the airport.  

Turtles

Palace

Us at the Retiro

One thing I was really surprised about in Spain was how little English they spoke. In most of the countries I have been to a lot of the people spoke English so I was still able to communicate but most people in Spain didn't even try and talk to us in English . So luckily I knew a decent amount of Spanish and I had Allison there to help communication otherwise it would have been very difficult to understand them since they talk so fast and seem to expect you to be on their level which I was not. Overall I really liked Madrid and I think it seemed a lot less touristy then a lot of the places I have been. It also was a lot safer feeling than I expected. I was luckily that I had Allison to show me around and be a great host! I am sad that I was only to go to one city in Spain though since all the cities seem so diverse but at least I was able to go! Okay that seems all for now ! Adios 

Having some Visitors

Its me again. Since I am putting off my assignments I am going to update a quick blog entry on my weekend. I was really excited because Alex was already here for her spring break and Megan was flying in on Friday!

On Friday night after megan arrived we all went on a musical pub crawl with Ericas mom and Logan. The pub crawl was fun and I liked seeing the live Irish music and hearing the stories but I think since we were all catching up we spent alot of the time talking. Anyway it was still really fun. The next day we did some more touristy activities starting out with a walking tour that I really wanted to do. Unfortunetly the tour was very strongly centered around history and after 40 minutes we had moved about 100 feet so we decided to abort that. We then hit up the Guinness Factory which I had already been too but I saw more this time since I wasnt chasing around our tour guide and I could go at my own pace. We enjoyed our Guinness as much as we could and then headed back. We hit up an Irish pub that night.

On Saturday we did a Paddy Wagon tour to the Cliffs since Megan and Alex insisted on seeing them. I was not too excited since it was a long drive but the trip actually ended up being really fun! It was a perfect day and after being in a few other countries I had a new appreciation for the Irish Landscape. There really is nothing else like it. We made a few sight seeing and photo stops along the way and then finally made it to the Cliffs. This time we got to walk further than last time and I even went closer to the edge. We even were able to take a great pyramiding photo although this did involve us climbing over the wall that said do not climb. Its not like other tourists were going to yell at us for breaking the rules. Anyway we did get some onlookers as we did our pyramid but I think they were looking on with Jealousy! Overall great day trip. Along the way we also stopped at a Panini shop which made me remember my dream about opening up a Panini shop someday! When we got back to Dublin we had a nice burrito dinner and then I had to say goodbye. It was great to have Megan and Alex visit because it is very comfortable having them around, I was sad when they left.

For now these next few days are trying to finish a paper due Friday and start some other assignments that are due in the next few weeks. It is a little overwhelming but I know all the work will eventually get done. Having to write all these papers has reminded me why I am a business major.

okay ta ta for now!

Londontown

Okay now I will write about my trip to London! Me and Alex are on the bus to the airport now after a great few days!! Maybe I will give a bit more details at the request of Rose and also because I want to (sorry mom) and I have a lot to say.

After getting home from Paris I slept for about 3 hours before I had to wake up and catch the flight to London. I arrived pretty early and had to wait until 1 because I was meeting up with Alex who was visiting for spring break. Around 1 I started to get pretty nervous that I wouldn't be able to find her and thinking about the worst case scenarios. Luckily however she popped off a bus right as my worries were getting out of control! I was very glad that our plan to meet worked out since neither of us had wifi or a way to contact each other. We caught a bus to the city center and then attempted to use the tube to get to our hostel. It was pretty confusing and overwhelming at first due to everyone looking like they knew what they were doing and all the different routes to figure our. We luckily had some instructions from Rose which did assist us. We finally arrived at our hostel and dropped off our stuff before we went out to look for somewhere to eat and to walk around a little. Alex was getting pretty hangry (hungry and angry) so we luckily found a great pub on the river by the Tower of London. Very cute and I had a yummy burger. After our dinner Alex was refueled so we walked around to the Tower of London but it was all closing up so we didn't go in but we were still able to marvel from the outside. We did a bit more sightseeing in our area then headed back and hit the day since we were both tired from traveling and Alex had jet lag.

The next day we were up early for our free breakfast which was great,! (Sorry to mention this mom).  Unfortunately me and Alex thought it would be okay to go down in our pjs and looking overall ratchet but this did cause embarrassment on our parts since everyone else was dressed and looking acceptable. Oops. Anyway we decided to buy a daylong travel pass which let us ride the tube and the bus as much as we wanted for the day and this turned out to be our biggest asset since we could see everything we needed too. BEST DECISION EVER! We started off our day with a great free walking tour. As I have probably mentioned before I just love these tours because I like hearing stories from the guides and history about the city. The tour hit up a lot of main sights like Buckingham palace, St. James palace, Big Ben, Westminster abbey and the House of Parliament. Overall a great tour and very informative! I love how London has the royalty because it seems like there is so much owned by the queen. One funny thing was when our tour guide Jake told us how the squirrels were very friendly with people which I did not believe until the next day when I was trying to eat and 3 squirrels would not leave. It was a very scary moment and I was afraid they would try and steal my cake. Well anyway back to the day, we also were able see the natural history museum and hit up abbey road. This is why we loved the tube pass so much since we were able to go to all these places in one day. Although we may have gotten a little to obsessed with the tube and figuring out which route to take so we decided the next day to take the bus more so we could at least see the city while in transit. We took another scenic walk along the river then hit up a pub for some cider and food for Alex and then hit the hay again.

On Monday we were excited to have the whole day to see things. First we went to Kings cross station (about 9am) to get the classic tourist photos. After that we were able to make it back to Buckingham palace to see the changing of the guards ceremony. It was interesting to see but there were so many people there and it was a little less anticlimactic than I thought. But I still liked seeing all the guards and hearing them play music. Next up on our agenda on the recommendation of Rose was to hit up Leicester square. We didn't really know what to expect but it was a nice area with a lot of theaters. I am very glad we went because while we were there we saw a sign advertising for an ed sheeran show that night. That seemed a little unreal to us since we are both pretty big ed fans so we went in to ask and the lady told us tickets were 120 pounds!! That was not going to fly. We were pretty excited about the possibility of seeing Ed in London so we jetted over to royal Albert hall where the concert would be to see if we could get tickets. This was a failure but they said we could check back later. We did not let this anticipation stop our day so we continued on to see the parent trap house since we are both pretty big fans. We also hit up the British museum and ate lunch at a cute place. After that we decided we should head back to check for our tickets and it was a success! By that I mean he said he had 2 behind the stage in the last row left but they were 35 pounds so we couldn't resist! Such a great excitement. We had some more time to kill before the concert so we went to notting hill and Kensington palace which unfortunately closed right as we arrived so we could only see from the outside. We got some sweets and ate them in the park and then went to the show. It was another great show by Ed and I was very excited to see him in his home city plus the hall was very cool and historic looking so I felt like I really got a lot for my money. Unfortunately at the end of the night Alex got very hostile due to her hangryness so we ate a snack the chicken cottage also at the recommendation of rose. 

Today we only had a few more things we wanted to see which was good since I had no money left due to the tickets and not wanting to get out more pounds when I would be leaving. We saw the Tower of London in the day time and then tried to go to the bank which I was very excited about since it said we could hold 14kg of gold but it was closed! I was very upset. We hit up some more sights like a cathedral and another museum, looked At Shakespeare's globe and the borough market. I really liked the market there were a lot of free samples and me and Alex shared a giant bratwurst. Unfortunately I could not buy all the food I wanted due to having no money (LOL).  

Well after that it was time to leave and now here we are. Luckily I got 5 pounds back for my Oyster card so I can have a snack at the airport! I really loved London! It reminded me a lot of Dublin just a lot bigger and with more royal things to see. It did seem like it was a very posh city and there was so much shopping! I have never seen so many h & ms before within a close distance. The bad part though was it was so expensive! Our tour guide said it cost 17 pounds to ride in the London eye and then went on to talk about what a waste of money it was so we did not do that. But it was really refreshing to be in an English speaking place after my last 2 weeks of travel. Everyone in London was also very friendly and helpful which I didn't expect since I had heard this about the Irish people but not the British. But overall great trip! One of my faves! 

I am excited to get back to Dublin after being away for so long and be able to do laundry, although not excited for the homework. I am also excited to go grocery shopping and actually be able to cook for myself since my next trip is to Madrid in April (yes Kristen I will be visiting Spain). Well okay that's it for now! 

Zipping over to Paris

Blogging now about my trip to Paris!!! I  on the bus in the way to the airport after a great 3 days in this wonderful city. I am finding that it is easy to keep up with my blog if I do it in journey since I have nothing else to do on the drive. Maybe if I  am feeling ambitious I will even write a bit about saint Patricks day. Okay well I will continue on.

Me and Erica arrived in Paris pretty early on Wednesday morning. We decided to stay with a lady here instead of a hostel so once we got here we had to figure out how to find her. Luckily it wasn't super difficult and we were able to drop off our things and go see the city. I had not been overly excited about Paris before I left for some reason. I didn't know what I expected but I didn't have high hopes but luckily Paris surpassed all of my expectations! It was just such a beautiful city and it seemed so clean which I loved.

The first day there we were able to see the Lourve (I have no clue how to spell this) and the Eiffel tower. The llouve was giant and even though me and Erica don't love museums we still spent over an hour and a half in there. My favorite part was seeing the Napoleon suites which were so lavish and once again made me wonder what I can do to live in a place like that. 

The next day we saw a few more sights like Notre Dame and the love lock bridges and we went to the top of the Eiffel tower. There was a pretty decent view from the top but since the Eiffel tower is such a main sight it was weird looking at the city without it. I prefer to look at the tower. But man was I wowed by it! I definitely didn't expect it to be so big and awesome! I kept thinking of the monopoly Piece whenever I looked at it. The next day we were also able to hit up a few more museums that I don't know how to spell so I will not include the names. We spent some time lounging in a park which I loved because it had great views, fountains and free chairs for all! Perfection!

My favourite part of this trip however was the night bike tour we did. Not only was I impressed by the quality of the bikes which rode very smoothly but it was a great way to see a lot of the city! Near the end of our bike tour we went on a boat tour on the river and got to see  all the main sights again while our tour guide kept filling up our cups of wine! Then I got to see the Effiel tower sparkling in it's glory. Brilliant!!! One of my other great parts of the trip (sorry to include this mom) was a delicious cheeseburger I got. It had guacamole and bacon and cheese on it and man it was phenomenal my mouth waters thinking about it. 

Okay well that about wraps most things up that I want to say! Overall Paris I think may be my favorite city so far! I think I liked that there were important landmarks all around and you could almost always see the Eiffel tower. Paris was also way cleaner and safer feeling than I expected. Maybe it was because we just came from  Rome but it was nice to not have to feel scared on the metro or everyone trying to sell me things. I also loved how Paris has so many parks, very great addition to the city. It reminded me a lot of Chicago in an older, prettier and more expensive way. Oh another great thing was that there was free water and toilets! Although the toilets on the street were extremely confusing and I couldn't figure it out I still liked the idea of a free toilet. Also even though English was not the primary language it was still easy to communicate with people which I enjoyed. The only funny thing was when people apparently thought we were French so they would say something to us and we would basically just stare at them not knowing how to respond besides saying me no speaky French. Clearly we probably should have learned a few more terms but oh well. I love seeing these countries but I am for sure looking forward to London since they speak English.

Alright well now I think I really am done with this. Sorry for the poor quality.