Home Again Home Again Jiggity Jig

I remember what I was doing right now, 2 weeks ago. Some people can’t even remember what they did yesterday, but I remember this because it was a big day for me. 2 weeks ago I was in an airplane on my way to Detroit from Chicago. There was a man sitting next to me and we were both frustrated because the plane was delayed 2 hours… but I could not keep my eyes open to save my life. If we had been falling from the sky to our deaths, I probably would not wake up. I was that exhausted. That day was a long one to say the least. I was up from 7AM to 10AM Irish time (2AM to 5AM American time). One thing I learned this past semester is that traveling is hard work. It makes you tired, sick, and being crabby just comes with the package sometimes.

I did not know what to expect when I came home, just like I didn’t know what to expect when I went to Ireland… just had a flashback to that first day in Ireland. My first Guinness in the old man side of the Roost before we had our first meal in Ireland which was Chinese, lovely. This sounds silly in my head now, but before I went I had only tried to imagine what the semester would be like two times. I came up with a vision of being in the country and the college being kind of secluded. It was next to many fields of sheep and if you went for a run down the country road you would run into some old Irish men with their canes. Don’t ask me why I thought of this. But this vision was anything but reality. Maynooth was a good size town, small but a good size. There were things to do and places to see on a sunny day. It was a bus or train ride away from the city and there were many more people than the old Irish men, although there was a fair share of those... I couldn’t have asked for anything more perfect.

More about being home… I’m still trying to get settled in; my room is coming together slowly but surely. I do wish so badly that I could go back to Ireland even if it’s just to visit, but being home has its high and low points. Some highlights of being home thus far:

Being greeted with pizza rolls

Finding that my 3 year old cousin cut her hair while I was babysitting

Seeing my family at the Tiger’s game and grad parties

The Lumineers concert

Reuniting with all my friends and catching up

Spending time with the fam

My newfound love for working out

I had mentioned in an earlier post that I had an Irish Bucket List. I just wanted to say that I crossed off all of them besides going to a rugby/hurling game. That’s pretty good if you ask me.

Some things I’d just like to mention... I now like some fish, getting back behind the wheel was a breeze, and these past five months have been the best months of my life. Although my bed is the best bed in the entire world, it is quite depressing coming home because sometimes all I want to do is just take the 66 bus into Dublin and walk around St. Stephens Green or sit in a pub and listen to Irish people talk. I never took those things for granted, but I wish so badly that I could just have some of those moments back. Home is usually a good place to be though.

As I am writing this, it is midnight thirty and I’m in a nightgown having a no pants party, in such a good mood, and it’s thunder storming outside… a perfect moment.

So I’m going to answer these questions for everyone who wants to know because I get it all the time…

Q: What was your favorite place you visited in Ireland?
A: I loved Dublin because I love the city life, but Dingle is tied as well. Dingle is so cute and quaint, and the Ring of Kerry is stunning. I went there with my family and we had such a great time seeing all of the sheep and just goofing around.

AND

Q: What did you love most about Ireland in general?
A: I don’t mind the weather but I loved how laid back the culture is. If my class started at 9 I would start making tea at 9 and then go to class. I even turned in one of my final essays 2 weeks after the due date because everything is just so relaxed. I also loved the people. We met some of the friendliest, nicest Irish people. We had many conversations with old Irish men in pubs.

In the past 2 weeks when people have asked how Ireland was and if I liked it I feel like whatever I say doesn’t express how I feel about this past semester. Like I said, it was the best few months of my life so far. Although I lost a few Irish phones, got the worst haircut, destroyed my feet from walking everywhere, and slipped and fell down a muddy hill in the rain, I also celebrated St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin, visited 6 other countries, made the most amazing friends, went to an Irish ball, went surfing in Portugal, went to the driving range in Maynooth, celebrated beer with Germans, had the best Guinness in Howth, found my new favorite store (Jack Wills), went on a 4 hour walk and met up with my best friend in Barcelona, kissed the Blarney Stone, got free "bubbly" and had the best birthday in Dublin, and even found the Geraldine Castle where my ancestors are supposedly from. These are only a few memories… when people ask how Ireland was, I could probably talk about it for hours. 

All I can really say to people who are in college who have not studied abroad and are able to, do it. Those who are not a little scared and nervous by the thought of moving to another country for a few weeks/months are not normal. Everyone has second thoughts, but it is 1 million percent worth it. My advice is don’t let anything hold you back, just go somewhere, and have the time of your life. Say yes, don’t have regrets, and travel and go on adventures while you are young. It sounds so cheesy, but when you are young you don't really know how good you have it until it's over so we may as well take advantage of it.

To all those who I have become friends with while abroad... 

Thank you for making my time in Europe the best time of my life. I did not get a chance to say goodbye to all of you, but every one of you added something different to my experience. Ireland has yet to see the last of me so I will see you all again, hopefully quite soon! Thank you so much for everything, come visit Michigan! xo miss you already. 

I am falling asleep and am about to be dreaming, and there would be plenty of funny things running through my head, but I will spare you.

Goodnight American hicks and Good Morning Ireland.

Much love to the place which has become my second home, xoxo. 

(Some of my favorite photos)

View of Sligo, Ireland from Maeve's Tomb

Sligo Beach

 Dublin Doors

Left: A Guinness sign in Dublin   Right: NUIM's South Campus

 Henry Street in Dublin

 

My first and Last days in Ireland

My first and last Guinness's!

Left: The Roost   Right: Guinness Storehouse

Goodnight!

( I had written this last week but did not have a chance to put it up until now )

Today is one of my last days in this beautiful country. Not forever that is, because I know I am coming back someday if not soon. But it is one of my last days in Dodder 8C, living in Maynooth, where I celebrated my 20^th birthday, and where I met some really, really great people. I think I should be doing something to make the most of my time here tonight, but sitting here in my disastrous room trying to pack, I cannot bring myself to leave it until someone drags me away. I can’t help but reflect on my time here and think about my favorite memories and how much I am going to miss every single person I became friends with.

One phrase I always believed to be true is “your experiences make you who you are” and ever since I have been in Ireland, I take that to heart more and more every day. I have learned so many lessons and have realized how important it is to just enjoy life without any distractions. I have always been a fan of quotes and lyrics and at points in my life I’ve used them to get me through certain things, but I have also realized how much of a distraction they are from actually living. I mean, why not use your own thoughts to power through your struggles instead of using someone else’s every chance you get? Pinterest is definitely to blame… Maybe it’s all a part of growing up and changing. I mean, everyone changes, some for good and some for bad. But by distracting yourself with social media all the time and not taking initiative to go experience the world, I almost feel like that’s a sin. Leisure time is important don’t get me wrong, but doing something, making mistakes, and experiencing new things… that is living life. What’s the point of living on earth if we don’t take advantage of it?

I've met some really great people while traveling. In Portugal, I talked with an Australian traveling around Europe by himself about what we wanted to do in life and where we saw ourselves in a few years. I was never one to have a set plan on what I wanted to do too far in the future. I’m just a go with the flow type of gal. I don’t know what I want for my future entirely, but I know what I don’t want. Anyway, while talking and looking out over the peaceful water in Lagos, I gained a whole new perspective on life. It is such a precious gift wasted so often. I could go on and on about what I think about life now, but that’d just be boring. SOOO to sum it up…

Make mistakes

Fall in love

Eat

Say yes

Work hard

Step out of your comfort zone

Pray

Let loose

and most of all, Travel.

Because you only have one life, you might as well live it while you can.

Onto other things… a few weeks ago I went to the Aran Islands in Ireland with the whole Saint Mary’s group. It was our last trip with the group, including Roberta and Eugene! Pretty crazy to think about… The first night we stayed in Doolan which is smaller than my hometown in Michigan, apparently it is possible. We went to a pub that night which seemed to be where everyone from nearby came to hang out. We ran into a stag party (a bachelor party) who was very entertaining seeing as they had been there since 3 in the afternoon and it was about 8 by the time we walked in the door. They were very friendly, some even a little too friendly. They had live music there and one of the men taught me how to play the spoons!  Madison learned as well and we picked it up pretty fast… I don’t think it’s too hard to do. The next morning we found them in our pockets, oops! She had the little spoons which means she was more advanced, she’s so talented! We met people from Marshall, Michigan, The Netherlands, and France, so many international people in one little town.

In the morning we headed on a 2 hour very wavy ferry ride to the islands. It was a little long for my liking. All 20 something of us stayed in one hostel and made all of our meals. It was always a big production because groups would switch off cooking food for everyone. That is a lot of people. Now I know how the Duggars feel. There were not a whole lot of activities to do on the island that we were on because it is so small. The Supermacs wasn’t even open which means it’s a pretty deserted place.

We had no obligations; we were free to do whatever we wanted! We rode bikes around the island, explored some ruins, walked around the beach, sat on the side of the road while soaking up the sun and thinking about life, and celebrated LE’s 21^st birthday and sat on the floor of the pub while everyone was in a line swaying back and forth singing Rock the Boat. It was quite entertaining. While exploring, LE and I came across a few statues of Jesus and Mary and stopped at them to say a prayer. It was pretty unreal because as you knelt down, you were looking over a beautiful Irish countryside, it almost looked fake. There was lot of hanging out in each other’s rooms and making videos which for some were eventually added on the Book. Overall, it was a splendid time! On our way back to Maynooth we stopped at the Cliffs of Moher which I was super excited about because I didn't think I would have time to see them while I was in Ireland. They were gorgeous, even better than I remembered! Roberta (our Saint Mary’s leader of the pack) did a great job, even though we did not see her pretty much the whole time. The weather held up for the most part, the food was delicious, and I could not have asked to spend it with better people! It was an awesome little holiday weekend :).   

 

High on Life

Today was the perfect day.
The best day ever.
Today, I had my cake and ate it too, literally.

You know that feeling you get when you wake up without an alarm and you got the best night's sleep? Well that's how I felt. I woke up on the right side of the bed! After a morning workout I showered and Madison and I set off to Dublin. On the way to the bus we paid our donkey friends a little visit just to say hello. Lately, they've been out more often. We made the bus just in time which doesn't always happen because a lot of the time, it is completely off schedule. The weather today was nice enough. It was partly cloudy with some rain but it was about 55 degrees. Also, today was Thursday and Thursdays are always the best days of the week.

Once in town, we decided to grab some paninis at Aroma Cafe. We met up with Kiera and raided Pennys and I found the cutest shoes! Nic, Kiera, Madison and I went to the coolest vintage shop in Temple Bar. They had the cutest tops, hand bags, and scarfs. Shopping in vintage stores is like shopping in your grandma or great grandma's closet when she was as young as you. It's just fabulous. 
After today, I just love vintage shops. That's it. While searching for hidden treasures we found a ton of fun sailor hats as well as a Notre Dame sweatshirt! Kind of an odd place to spot that guy....

After Tulteca (the closest thing you could get to Chipotle in Ireland) we found a cute store that my sister would be obsessed with called Avoca. It had everything from tea sets to blankets to baby clothes to books to kitchen utensils to clothes to 2 cafes to a little garden area away from the hustle and bustle of the city, so cute! And we even found... Aunt Jemima pancake mix!! I may go back and buy some just because I miss them from home. Also, I think I may gain a significant amount of weight when I return to America because I miss the food so much... oops. 

Anyway, on to bigger and better things. After working hard while trucking our bags through Dublin going from here to there (everything was within a half mile of each other) we stopped at Starbucks because we didn't want to leave but didn't know what else to do. We each got a piece of chocolate cake and ate it all... We had our cake and ate it too... you better believe it.

When heading back to Maynooth the bus came right as we walked up to the stop, which was perfect. When we arrived in our cute little town we call home for these last few weeks, we could not keep the smiles off of our faces! Actually that happened all day. Things could not have been better! We parted and I finished my paper, skyped my girlfriend Lauren, and found out that I have two opportunities for the summer! So, I called my parents and was so happy I felt like I could fly or something. Then Erin, Madison, and I watched a few episodes of my favorite show, Grey's Anatomy, from the beginning. And I realize that I won't see Madison for a while because I think she may be addicted now. 
Literally everything today was perfect. I'm so thankful to be here, it's so surreal. All I have to say is, when your cake is sitting in front of you... eat it, before it gets stale. 


P.S. Information about the Aran Islands is soon to come.

Another Day in Ireland

As I was waiting to listen to Bastille this morning on YouTube this ad came up.
There's nothing like some good American stereotypes...

McDonald's Great Tastes of America

"You can choose to live your life with the joy of the front row 

or solemness of the third row."

Adventures on Adventures

On the 12^th of April Aileen took Madison and I into Dublin for a night full of traditional Irish music. After my first Big Mac we headed to Whelans pub (as seen in P.S. I love you) for the concert. This was my first time going somewhere to listen to trad music since I’ve been in Ireland… shocker. I didn’t know what to expect whatsoever. Maybe that’s the best way to go in though because I think it made it that much better! We each got a pint and a table right in front of the stage. A band named Moxie opened which was a group of young guys about my age. Their music was so fun and upbeat! Then Kan came on and they were amazing! Side note: most of the men in this band were bald. Unfortunately my videos won't upload... 

We felt pretty lucky because Dublin was last on their tour and we got to see the last show! I guess as with most concerts hearing the songs live are a thousand times better than hearing it on the radio. With trad music, it is 589325438956230 times better in person. Because we were in a small room, the crowd got so into it and the atmosphere is what made the session that much better. I know Mackelmore prefers to do concerts in smaller venues because of this, and I heard his concerts are awesome so… there you go. After the concert we walked around Temple Bar, always a good idea. In Supermac’s a drunk kid got sick in the corner which was pretty disgusting, then proceeded to get on the bus we were on all the way home to our stop… lovely.

Some fun things I’ve been doing lately…

• Stressing about essays
•  Making scones and taco soup
• Celebrating my birthday in Dublin
• Realizing that I’ve been alive for 20 years.
•  Enjoying spring (loving the flowers)  
• Climbing through windows
• Learning about the Famine in the National Library in Dublin
• Toured Croke Park where the Hurling games are held
• Feeding Donkeys 
• Went to Springfest in Germany
• Planning a trip to Portugal
• Hanging out with some awesome people (Abbie and Loren) :)
• Loving the Beach Ball

My Birthday!

Germany loves us and we love the Germans. (We may have stole the steins) 

 

Spring and Scones

 Croke Park locker room and stadium

Abbie and Loren take Ireland!

And the Beach Ball...

A Pinch of Home, a Sprinkle of Barca, a Dash of Paris, and a Call from London

So, it has been awhile... and there is much to catch up on.
In my last post I mentioned that some of my favorite people were in town. A little bit of home came to Ireland :). My mother, aunt Deb, sister Alex, and cousin Nathan all were finally miles away from home and close to me. I could imagine for some of them it was like hell getting here because of the snowstorms and missing flights. BUT they all got here and left together so it was definitely worth it, I would say. Although I was not the one traveling...

While they were in the Emerald Isle, we all did some traveling which was just fabulous! Here's a mini version of our itinerary...
Sunday: By this time everyone had arrived and still had jet lag. One accomplishment of the day was that Nathan tried blood sausage. You know what they say, you are what you eat. Of course, he loved it. After waiting for 3 and a half hours in the airport for Alex to arrive from London, we went into Dublin and had a traditional Irish meal in temple bar, what can get better than that on the first night? So Irish... 

Monday: Toured Dublin quite a bit on a tour bus, walked around Grafton Street, and even got some shopping in. It was snowing a little bit unfortunately. To get away from the cold, we had some cheeseburgers in paradise. It was a lovely day for sightseeing around Dublin. 

Tuesday: After I went to my morning class I got picked up and lectured by mom for at least 15 minutes on how and how not to burn a candle... I shall never forget, thank you. After leaving campus, we headed (on the left side of the road) to Dingle. On our way we stopped in Limerick for some lunch. The highlight of the day for me was making a few pit stops on the way to Dingle to take photographs. We jumped a fence and ran around in the field while having some mini adventures (mini things are always a good idea). The scenery was absolutely incredible. Those brief moments reminded me why I love Ireland so much. When we finally reached the little fish town, we grabbed some more traditional Irish dinner at a restaurant by the water. If there's one thing I know about this trip, it's that we ate right. (These things do matter). 

Wednesday: We walked around Dingle and went into some shops (it is really a must to shop in almost every place you go if you're a girl, right?) Dick Mack's must have caught Aunt Deb's attention because it was a little hole in the wall haberdashery where people would go to meet up with each other. It was very neat! An old Irish man named Oliver Joseph Mary MacDonald gave us some Baby Guinness's :). The rest of the day we drove around the Ring of Dingle and stopped to see the bee hive huts and plenty of sheep... there were so. many. sheep. but they were cute :). We headed to Drumoland Castle where we were to stay the night. We stopped at the beach on our way but were only there momentarily because of the weather. We had a nice dinner at the castle, although I had Irish stew which came with lamb. I may have been able to eat it any other day, but after driving all day and stopping to see sheep after sheep, all I could think of was bahhhh when i put that poor little lamby in my mouth. So, lamb is forever ruined for me. Later, we got Irish coffee which is where one of the funniest moments happened. My mother decided to take her drink stirrer and hold it up to her eye like she had one eye. The waiter came over and literally said "I don't even know what to say". You know something's weird when the waiter says this. Then it was time for exploring and more mini adventures around the castle. We were even able to get onto the roof! It was amazing to see all the stars from that spot. Another highlight of the night was when we found the ballroom. It reminded me of Anastasia. We had our own little dance party and all the lights were turned off. I just HAD to go and ruin it though because i knocked a glass onto the floor and it shattered... oops! We sprinted out of there as fast as we could, until Ali realized she left her purse in there so we had to act like James Bond/do some parkour and sneak back in and get it. Then we all said nighty night.

 

Thursday: After free breakfast, it was a bit rainy so we headed to see the gardens which were beautiful (even without the flowers) and were off to Galway. There, we did some more shopping and walking around. We stopped at a little cafe for lunch which was really delicious. Then in the afternoon it was back to Maynooth for class. Nathan and Alex stayed with me that night and we had tapas at my favorite cafe in Maynooth called Twist. It was delicious, like always. Then we went to the Roost later with everyone and hung out there for the night. We all had a blast! I missed hanging out with those two.

Friday: We were summoned back into Dublin for the day. We got a nice Starbucks lunch and did some more shopping on Grafton and  went into Jack Wills where I fell in love. We wandered around Dublin a little more and found St. George's Arcade which was really neat and then had lunch. Later on before dinner, we went to the hotel to nap and relax. We went a little early for dinner because our reservations were for 9 and had drinks. They surprised Alex and I for that being our birthday dinner so we both got some jewelry and some Jack Wills stuff, oooo la la! It was nice :). Then we all said our goodbyes and they ran after me on the bus back to Maynooth, which made me laugh all the way home. My family is crazy, but how can you not love them? That pretty much sums up my week of having a little bit of home close to me. I couldn't have asked for anything better for my birthday (even though it was a month away). 

Now for Some Fun in Barcelona... 

Let me just state first off that Barca did it's damage. 
St. Christopher's accommodated us which is right by La Rambla ( the main road going down to the harbor where a ton of vendors are including gelato stand after gelato stand). 

I'm not going to go through everything we did, but I'll state the highlights and my favorites.

(Everything was pretty much my favorite)

• Watching LE take out her giant celery and peanut butter in a plastic bag in the airport at 6 in the morning.
• Being able to take my jacket off and getting a little sunkissed.
• FINALLY having a burrito.

• Wearing my superstar sunglasses.
• Enjoying all of Gaudi's beautiful architecture. 
• Walking to the market every morning and picking up a 2 euro breakfast, including a fruit smoothie and croissant. 

 

• The ginormous drink we all shared (the nightlife is a must)!
• Contemplating while looking out in awe at the entire city of Barca from a hill top. 
• Walking around the city one night... for 4 hours. And finding the best swing.

• Of course, eating gelato and drinking sangria.
• Walking along the beach. 
• Watching Charlie laugh at us when 3 pairs of our shoes just disappeared into thin air. 
• Reuniting with my BEST FRIEND Maddie Sampson :).
• And wandering around trying to find the shops with Madison, when we were on the road parallel the whole time, oops! I got the best scarf from Zara :). 

Some of my not so favorite things...

• Losing my phone for good and the cleaning people taking our shoes for some strange reason.
• Listening to these guys every 5 minutes.

But everything was an experience :)

Like I said, Barca did its damage. 

I have one word for Paris: Magical.

Erin and I traveled throughout Paris on the metro for about 3 days and saw so much. We didn't plan anything before we landed in France, so we just went with the flow so it wasn't stressful at all. The first thing we did when we got there was have a delicious Italian meal. You know when the owner is eating at his own restaurant it has to be good...

We then proceeded to take a 3 and a half hour nap and lay in bed the rest of the night and watch The Black Swan. It was actually lovely :). 

The next day we got up early and started the day off right with a chocolate croissant thing for breakfast, which was delicious. 

We spent the day Wednesday starting from the Louvre and seeing Mona, the park, and the Eiffel Tower from afar. 

We visited Lover's Bridge with all the locks (we had to put one on) and the beautiful Notre Dame. 

And one of my favorite parts... NEUTELLA AND BANANA CREPES.

To finish off the day we devoured some Chipotle (a moment of pure satisfaction and a feeling of home) and visited Moulin Rouge! 

 

On Thursday we started the day the French way and got baguettes and let me tell you... the French make bread the right way. I'm a big fan. We went to the Arc de Triomphe first, then shopped our way down Champs-Elysees where all the big shops are. We got some lovely smelling lotion! We then went to sit down and relax and have the best snack in Paris... Macaroons and a nice Starbucks frappuccino! I saw everyone getting some iced chocolate type drink and so I tried it... and I fell in love again. It's that simple. The Iced Java Chip Frappuccino is my new favorite.

One thing I've learned about myself is that I get starstruck very easily. I kind of freeze up and shut down, my mouth drops, and I am in a panic/awe sort of state. So, if this happens when I see a person I've seen on TV a million times, imagine what happened to me when I saw the Eiffel Tower after looking at a picture of it hanging on my bedroom wall for a few years. I was in shock and felt like I was in heaven. It was beautiful SPECTACULAR. Need I say more? Look for yourself... 

We saw it while the sun was still shining,

At dusk,

 

And in all of it's glory at night.

It was absolutely magical. If there's any spot that's worth going to and just sitting and contemplating about whatever it may be, this is a perfect spot to do it... take my word.

Needless to say (I think), I left my heart in Paris and have no intention of taking it back.

London's Calling...

So many may already know that my favorite band is Onerepublic. One thing I realized while in London straight away is that this song is mostly about London, which just made me fall in love with the city even more. This discovery may be a bad terrific thing. As I was singing it the whole trip, I realized I was going to the places in the song and it just made me one happy girl.

The Good Life

Okay, moving on. I definitely could have spent about a week more there just to fit everything in. We just did not have enough time, but what we did do was amazing. 

Here are the highs and lows. Just kidding there are no lows because everything was a high.

( I will put pictures at the end) 

1. Harrods was like heaven on earth. Never knew it was possible. We got delicious cupcakes and ate them with a nice Starbucks coffee (this seems to be the usual on our trips). 
2. Being starstruck yet again, walking up from the tube into Piccadilly Circus and seeing the big screens. I wish we had a picture of our faces, they were priceless.
3. Everyone agreeing they would help me succeed at doing a handstand against the wall before we leave Ireland... I will not forget thank you very much!
4. Reuniting with my favorites (Charlie and Madison). :)
5. Having tea at the Orangery at Kensington Palace... I got peppermint and scones with real jam and butter.
6. CHIPOTLE.
7. Shopping for Charlie's European side was an adventure!
8. Seeing Les Miserables was incredible. Even though we stood for 3 hours watching it, it was worth it. 
9. Seeing Morgan Freeman's twin in the Chinese buffet restaurant and LE actually believing that it was him. ;)
10. Having a real English breakfast.
11. Changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace! SO glad we did this.
12. Seeing the real London Bridge and the famous Tower Bridge where we had roasted peanuts.
13. Big Ben, of course. *Starstruck* and Westminster Abbey.
14. Being the Beatles on Abbey Road... We're awesome. 
15. Seeing the Harry Potter platform! 9 3/4ths!
16. And most of all, being with some of the best people I know and goofing around! Love you all :). 

**Europe's tea has taken me hostage...**

Obviously, my favorite place in Europe is Ireland BUT out of the places I've traveled I wont let myself choose a favorite because they're all so different! And I love them all :). If I had the chance to return to any city I've been to I would definitely go back to Barcelona in the summertime and I will be returning to London for sure. I love America, buttt Europe has been stealing my heart one city at a time.