My semester in Ireland

April 2012!

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 02:18:26 +0100

April 2012!

Eurotrippp here I come

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 02:17:29 +0100

What?! I’m going on a eurotrip tomorrow? No. This is crazy I can’t believe it’s really here. After all the headaches and endless hours of planning and stressing over hostels, flights, trains, where to go and how long, it is finally done. I’m sure I won’t get any sleep tonite.

Here is the itinerary:

Munich, Germany -> Neuchatel, Switzerland -> Venice, Italy -> Florence, Italy -> Rome, Italy -> Madrid, Spain -> Barcelona, Spain -> Paris, France -> Athens, Greece -> Corfu, Greece

Woo!

And then back to Cork to finish out the semester.

Quotes

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 01:37:18 +0100

Just some quotes that relate to my life:

“Just when you think it can’t get any worse, it can. And just when you think it can’t get any better, it can.”

“Life’s under no obligation to give us what we expect.”

“You can have it all. Just not all at once.”

“A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.”

“Everyone’s Irish on March 17th” St....

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 01:33:28 +0100

“Everyone’s Irish on March 17th”

St. Paddy’s Day in Dublin. Glad I went, but probably wouldn’t go again unless I was gonna be drunk all day. The parade was the most bizarre thing I’ve ever seen. I was expecting to see floats, lots of green, and irish dancing - wrong. It was theatre companies dressed in the weirdest costumes walking down the street. Still a fun weekend, interesting to see all the different people that come from all over the world (New Zealand, Australia, 2 very nice ladies from Texas) dressed in as much green as possible.

We also went to the Guinness factory and the Wicklow mountains (which is where P.S. I Love you was filmed).

ireland <3

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 22:21:55 +0000

ireland <3

Ring of Kerry weekend: It was grand! I loved everything about...

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 15:40:38 +0000

Foghar Cliffs

Killarney National Park

baby lamb <3

Ring of Kerry weekend:

It was grand! I loved everything about it. I got to make new friends, eat some great food, stay in a nice hotel, and see more of that familiar green.

We broke a sweat learning irish dances the first night. Saturday was spent sightseeing and stopping at the most beautiful places for pictures. The first picture is of the Foghar cliffs. We climbed a huge hill to see the view behind me in the second picture and stopped at Ladies’ View in Killarney National Park for lunch on sunday (third picture).

We also learned about the Skellig rocks just off the coast of Kerry where monks spent several generations building steps and a monastery on the treacherous islands.

And last but not least, we got to hold some baby lambs :)

Missing home

Sun, 11 Mar 2012 02:07:01 +0000

Just talked to my family on skype and I miss them :(. Started feeling homesick about a week ago.

Things I miss about home: coffee, bagels, coffee, pontillos, wegmans, starbucks, dunkin donuts, driving, my blackberry (oh, and coffee).

Although I miss home, I wouldn’t go back. I love it here and am gonna be so sad when I have to leave.

Amsterdam!

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 23:42:12 +0000

Amsterdam!

Oh gosh, so like 2 weekends ago I went to Amsterdam - an...

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 23:39:45 +0000

the amsterdam sign

bikes

coffeeshop

Oh gosh, so like 2 weekends ago I went to Amsterdam - an interesting city for sure. I didn’t know exactly what to expect, but I knew there would be prostitutes, weed, and lots of canals. That’s pretty much what it was. The prostitutes in the red light district stand in these windows half naked with red lights over them, waiting for some guy to pick them out. One night we saw men weaving in and out of these alleys with the windows shopping for prostitutes. It’s just weird.

But anyway, the bikes are everywhere and there are so many! They have their own lane and traffic lights and they don’t stop for anybody. The coffeeshops were also everywhere and the last picture is the one we went in. They have everything from junk food to space cakes, and of course weed.

The canals make the city very scenic. There was a bridge on every corner and houseboats lined the edges. Oh and sex shops. They were also everywhere, the souvenirs were often penis-shaped, and you can go to a live sex show.

Things we did: the Anne Franke House, walked around the red light district, sex museum, the Heineken experience, a pubcrawl, and spent forever taking pictures at the amsterdam sign.

Aside from my friends making the trip hard to enjoy, it’s a cool place to visit.

Dingle Peninsula Beach

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 00:01:05 +0000

Dingle Peninsula Beach

Some more of Ireland. Two weekends ago we took a trip to Galway...

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 23:48:48 +0000

Connemara

Connemara

Galway beach <3

Some more of Ireland.

Two weekends ago we took a trip to Galway - where the Claddagh ring originated. The weekend included a night out and my first mechanical bull ride :). We then took a bus tour to Connemara and got extremely lucky with sunshine all day! It was incredibly beautiful with its grass-covered mountains and valleys, lakes, and plenty of sheep free to roam around. Just a piece of history - you can still see the lines from the pre-famine potato crops along the sides of the mountains. We finished off the weekend with a walk along the beach.

Ireland just keeps getting more and more beautiful with each place I go. Next stop Ring of Kerry.

Last weekend I went to London with Katie and it was grand! (just...

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:29:54 +0000

Big Ben

Trafalgar Square

Tower Bridge

Last weekend I went to London with Katie and it was grand! (just something they say here in Ireland) The best part? One of my best friends from home was our personal tour guide all weekend. I had so much fun catching up with her and I still can’t believe we spent a weekend together in London.

Just a list of the things we did during our 3 day stay:

saw Big Ben/Parliament, Westminster Abbey, walked along the Thames, saw the London Bridge, toured the Tour of London (where the crown jewels are), explored Tate Modern (weird.), viewed London from the London eye, saw Buckingham Palace, Picadilly Circus, Trafalger Square, Abbey Road, the Natural History Museum, Portobello Market (an open market with antiques, crepes, and much more), walked through Hyde Park, and went to Harrods.

My favorites: Big Ben, Portobello Market, and Harrods.

Big Ben and Parliament from the London eye <3

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:03:34 +0000

Big Ben and Parliament from the London eye <3

Photo

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:21:33 +0000

Thoughts

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 12:07:19 +0000

Ok I need to start posting more to this I am so bad at keeping a journal. I’ve been meaning to write down my thoughts and feelings while I’m here so that I can read it later and remember how it felt to be away from home and experiencing the so-called life-changing opportunity. So far - not sure if it will be life-changing. I’m having a great time and I’m so happy that I’m here, but I guess only time will tell.

The months and days leading up to the day I left were filled with wondering who I would meet and who I would be when I came back. It was all very scary and I second-guessed myself all the time, but I knew I just had to do it. I could not let an opportunity like this slip away.

Now that I’m here and almost a month and a half has gone by (whoa, slow down please), I’m not so much wondering who I’ll be at the end. I think more about the things I’m learning and the different places I get to see.

One thing I need to stop doing is worrying about who my friends are. I’ve realized it before, but being here is really showing me that the friends that stick around are the ones that count.

Anyway, pictures from my weekend in London are coming soon.

-Keep going sure it’s grand

The scenery here is straight out of a storybook. When I arrived...

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:19:00 +0000

The scenery here is straight out of a storybook. When I arrived here, I could see amazing cliffs and green countryside from my airplane window. I live in a city so I don’t get to see that everyday, but when we go anywhere outside of the city I’m surrounded by picture perfect landscapes.

The first picture was taken form the Blarney castle grounds. Blarney was gorgeous. One thing I love about Ireland is that the history is everywhere. We walked through the castle and up the extremely narrow spiral staircase, to kiss the blarney stone. We also walked some of the trails that made us feel like we were dreaming.

The next few pictures are from the Cliffs of Moher. The cliffs are amazing and we were lucky enough to get a sunny day to see them. Walking along the very edge of them on a small mud path in really strong winds was a little scary, considering we were warned by our tour guide about how dangerous and easy it is to be swept up by the winds and fall off the edge! But they were breathtaking.

Oh and I can’t forget where I go to school. UCC (or Hogwarts?)

I’ve been here for over 3 weeks now and the time is...

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:33:03 +0000

I’ve been here for over 3 weeks now and the time is really flying. The first week (after getting the flu) was spent going to classes and getting settled in. One of my favorite things has been exploring the city. Cork is such a great little city and there is still so much I haven’t seen. The food is amazing.

The English Market is where you can all your meats and veggies for a good price. I love it. There are also amazing desserts and a delicious cafe upstairs. One food that I will miss when I go home: baguette sandwiches.

My new blog

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 13:07:35 +0000

Ok I’m trying something new. I’m remaking this blog into a place for me to look back at my time in Ireland and remember all the things I experienced (ignore the earlier posts - this used to be for a class). I tried the whole journal thing - wrote in it once and gave up. So hopefully this will work.

Cliffs of Moher, Ireland 2012

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 13:03:23 +0000

Cliffs of Moher, Ireland 2012