After the most perfect day in Tuscany we took a train to Rome. Our first stop was the Vatican. The Cathedral was absolutely awe-inspiring. However, I am quite glad that we missed all of the Easter craziness. The Vatican Museum was absolutely enormous! It took at least a couple hours to walk through and ended with the infamous Sistine Chapel. They didn't allow photography in the chapel and security was extremely strict about this policy; we saw two guys get escorted out of after they tried to take a picture of the ceiling. After the Vatican, Sam and I met up with my roommate Dani! I was so incredibly excited to see her and she took us on her own tour of the city. Our first stop was to her favorite gelato place (of course :) It was honestly the best gelato that I have ever had! It was huge and wonderful! She then took us on a tour of the Jewish ghetto and told us the history of the area. After dinner she took us to a nice little wine bar that had a really neat atmosphere!
The next morning we got up bright and early and Dani continued her walking tour of the city. She took us to the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain and finally the Colosseum before she had to leave for her own trip that afternoon. It was unbelievable to see all of these places that I have read about and learned about in school and seen in movies. It was even better that I got to see and experience it all with Sam and Dani too!
Our final destination was Paris. By this time we had been traveling for so long that we were all extremely exhausted. We spent the majority of the day in the Louvre but I was honestly so exhausted I don't think that I appreciated it as much as I could have. The museum did have two Vermeer paintings which were quite neat to see! After the Louvre we walked to the Eiffel Tower, but again we were all in a zombie-like state when we got there so we took pictures and didn't even go up to the top. I think we were all ready for a good night's sleep that first night in Paris! The last day we spent in Versailles. I had been before but you never get used to the beauty of that place. The gardens are absolutely stunning and you could spend all day just wandering the grounds. That night we met up for dinner with Sam, one of my friends from Luther, who has been studying in Paris for the semester. After dinner he took us to the Sacre Coeur, a beautiful church on top of a hill that gives you a beautiful view of the city! We got to watch the Eiffel Tower light up and enjoy the Paris night landscape. It was the perfect way to end the vacation!
So that is the main points of my two week romp around Europe. As I mentioned earlier it was probably the most exhausting two weeks, but also the best two weeks of my life! Allie, Mitchell, and Sam were the best travel companions that anyone could ask for and it was an absolute blessing getting to see my Luther friends, Dani and Sam. Every place that we went was wonderful and I wouldn't change any part of the experience!
Monday, May 9, 2011
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Euro-Trip 2011 Part 2: Venice, Lido, Florence, and Tuscany
Its finals time which means one thing: I am slowly but surely losing my mind. Thus, taking a break to continue the adventure about my wonderful European Romp seemed like the perfect distraction. After Amsterdam we flew to Venice. While each place that we went to was my favorite for different reasons, Venice was definitely the most beautiful city that we went to! It was similar to Amsterdam in that there were canals everywhere...however unlike Amsterdam there were only canals...no cars or busses or other forms of motorized transportation! If people needed to get across the city there were boat taxis or boat busses! I have never seen anything like it! The entire city was an absolute dream and even better than I imagined! We stayed in this adorable bed and breakfast that Joe Mantenega visited when he was in Venice (I was super excited about this!) Venice was also a nice change of pace from London and Amsterdam because we weren't constantly on the move trying to do a bunch of touristy things, but rather we spent our time just walking and taking in the beauty of the city. We did take a gondola tour which we got for a discounted price. While the tour was a little shorter than we had hoped it was a neat way to see the city and there would be people in other gondolas singing and playing music which was wonderful! We also discovered our obsession with gelato...we literally got gelato twice a day...everyday...it was amazing! It was also in Venice that Mitchell discovered his distaste for cuddlefish. Our first night we went to a restaurant and Mitchell decided to be adventurous and order something that he didn't know what it was. The problem was what came out was pasta in a black sauce with fish that had tentacles. Allie and I both thought that it tasted good...unfortunately it was a little too much for Mitchell so for the rest of our trip we made sure not to order anything that could potentially be cuddlefish!
Our last night in Venice we actually stayed in Lido, a small island just off the coast of Venice. We spent the afternoon exploring the beach area. It wasn't a sand beach, but rather a rock beach so we had fun climbing all over the rocks and watching the waves crash in. While there wasn't a whole lot to do in Lido the owner of our hostel was really nice and over breakfast the next morning gave us a brief history of both Venice and Lido as well as a quick lesson in Italian history! However, probably my favorite story from Lido only Iowa people will appreciate. We went out to dinner and we all got pizza and I was extremely excited because mine was honestly the best pizza I had ever had. It had mozzarella cheese, fresh parmesan cheese and corn!! It was so delicious but my companions could not get over the fact that I ordered corn on my pizza...they just don't understand...they aren't from Iowa :D
After Venice we took a train to Florence. We were all pretty sad to leave Venice because it was such a fairytale, but Florence was also fun! It was extremely different from Venice because it had more of the big city feel. Sam and I decided that it would be a good idea to try to get to an area on a hill in the distance to get a good view of the city. At first we thought we were golden because we found a staircase that led to a huge hill...unfortunately for us that hill never seemed to stop. We walked forever and along both sides of the road were huge walls so you literally couldn't see anything. We were about ready to turn around and head back but Sam talked me into walking 5 more minutes just because we had already invested so much time into climbing this hill. Of course just after we had decided this we turn a corner and we found the view we were looking for! Looking down at the city we couldn't believe how far we had walked.
The next day Sam and I decided just to wander around Florence and see what we could find! We found a beautiful park that had a pond in the middle where we could sit and watch the birds and soak up the sun! We then tried to see a this huge old fort that was near the park...unfortunately for us when we tried to go in there was a big sign that said that it wasn't a tourist attraction. I am still not quite sure what that means because it looked like an extremely large but extremely old fort. In the afternoon we decided to climb this huge tower that was apart of the Duomo (a massive Cathedral in the center of the city) The tower had 414 to get to the top! Those of you who know me best know that I am quite claustrophobic and this stairway to get to the top was a teeny-tiny passage way...so it was quite the struggle for me! Thankfully there were four places on the way up that were open areas so you could stop and look out and snap a few photos before continuing on the journey up! But once we finally made it to the top we got an absolutely gorgeous view of the city!
My favorite day of the trip was this last day in Florence. Sam and I took a day trip to Tuscany! Our guide Nicola was a very entertaining guide who was full of fun stories! Before we went to Tuscany he took us to Piazzale Michelangilo, which was this gorgeous Plaza overlooking the city that had this huge staircase and people could just sit and read, eat lunch, drink wine, relax, or whatever struck their fancy! It was the perfect way to start such a great day! Nicola took us to a farm in Tuscany that had dozens of horses! He passed us along to the man who would be taking us on our tour and Nicola and the the other two people on the trip Andrea and Matt (a very nice couple from Canada) went for a vespa tour around Tuscany. It was honestly an absolute dream, Sam and I got to horseback ride through the Tuscan country side! I don't know if I have ever seen a scenery so beautiful and so peaceful! Part of the ride was through the vineyards that were apart of the farm and our guide told me a little bit about the vineyards as well as the wine that the farm produces! My horse and I got along great! I was nervous because we didn't really get any instruction before hand about horse riding but my horse was so smart! Sam's on the other hand was....hungry! It was absolutely hilarious, it seemed like every five minutes his horse felt the need to stop for a snack! When we got back to the farm the vespa people hadn't gotten back yet so while we were waiting our guide brought us wine that was made from the grapes in the vineyard that we had just rode through! It was absolutely amazing! When Nicola, Andrea, and Matt came back the five of us went to a castle for lunch! The lunch was absolutely amazing! For the first course we had a meat/cheese/bread plate and then two kinds of pasta and panacotta for dessert! It was amazing! And if the day couldn't get any better after lunch we went to a wine tasting! It was so neat to be able to drink wine that was made right there in Tuscany. During the wine tasting we all tried a shot of Grappa, a particularly strong kind of alcohol....it burned all the way down. The wine tasting ended our day and I was so sad to leave! Tuscany was a fairytale that I never wanted to leave and I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day!
What a perfect place to end for now! The finale of the trip still to come!
Cheers!
Our last night in Venice we actually stayed in Lido, a small island just off the coast of Venice. We spent the afternoon exploring the beach area. It wasn't a sand beach, but rather a rock beach so we had fun climbing all over the rocks and watching the waves crash in. While there wasn't a whole lot to do in Lido the owner of our hostel was really nice and over breakfast the next morning gave us a brief history of both Venice and Lido as well as a quick lesson in Italian history! However, probably my favorite story from Lido only Iowa people will appreciate. We went out to dinner and we all got pizza and I was extremely excited because mine was honestly the best pizza I had ever had. It had mozzarella cheese, fresh parmesan cheese and corn!! It was so delicious but my companions could not get over the fact that I ordered corn on my pizza...they just don't understand...they aren't from Iowa :D
After Venice we took a train to Florence. We were all pretty sad to leave Venice because it was such a fairytale, but Florence was also fun! It was extremely different from Venice because it had more of the big city feel. Sam and I decided that it would be a good idea to try to get to an area on a hill in the distance to get a good view of the city. At first we thought we were golden because we found a staircase that led to a huge hill...unfortunately for us that hill never seemed to stop. We walked forever and along both sides of the road were huge walls so you literally couldn't see anything. We were about ready to turn around and head back but Sam talked me into walking 5 more minutes just because we had already invested so much time into climbing this hill. Of course just after we had decided this we turn a corner and we found the view we were looking for! Looking down at the city we couldn't believe how far we had walked.
The next day Sam and I decided just to wander around Florence and see what we could find! We found a beautiful park that had a pond in the middle where we could sit and watch the birds and soak up the sun! We then tried to see a this huge old fort that was near the park...unfortunately for us when we tried to go in there was a big sign that said that it wasn't a tourist attraction. I am still not quite sure what that means because it looked like an extremely large but extremely old fort. In the afternoon we decided to climb this huge tower that was apart of the Duomo (a massive Cathedral in the center of the city) The tower had 414 to get to the top! Those of you who know me best know that I am quite claustrophobic and this stairway to get to the top was a teeny-tiny passage way...so it was quite the struggle for me! Thankfully there were four places on the way up that were open areas so you could stop and look out and snap a few photos before continuing on the journey up! But once we finally made it to the top we got an absolutely gorgeous view of the city!
My favorite day of the trip was this last day in Florence. Sam and I took a day trip to Tuscany! Our guide Nicola was a very entertaining guide who was full of fun stories! Before we went to Tuscany he took us to Piazzale Michelangilo, which was this gorgeous Plaza overlooking the city that had this huge staircase and people could just sit and read, eat lunch, drink wine, relax, or whatever struck their fancy! It was the perfect way to start such a great day! Nicola took us to a farm in Tuscany that had dozens of horses! He passed us along to the man who would be taking us on our tour and Nicola and the the other two people on the trip Andrea and Matt (a very nice couple from Canada) went for a vespa tour around Tuscany. It was honestly an absolute dream, Sam and I got to horseback ride through the Tuscan country side! I don't know if I have ever seen a scenery so beautiful and so peaceful! Part of the ride was through the vineyards that were apart of the farm and our guide told me a little bit about the vineyards as well as the wine that the farm produces! My horse and I got along great! I was nervous because we didn't really get any instruction before hand about horse riding but my horse was so smart! Sam's on the other hand was....hungry! It was absolutely hilarious, it seemed like every five minutes his horse felt the need to stop for a snack! When we got back to the farm the vespa people hadn't gotten back yet so while we were waiting our guide brought us wine that was made from the grapes in the vineyard that we had just rode through! It was absolutely amazing! When Nicola, Andrea, and Matt came back the five of us went to a castle for lunch! The lunch was absolutely amazing! For the first course we had a meat/cheese/bread plate and then two kinds of pasta and panacotta for dessert! It was amazing! And if the day couldn't get any better after lunch we went to a wine tasting! It was so neat to be able to drink wine that was made right there in Tuscany. During the wine tasting we all tried a shot of Grappa, a particularly strong kind of alcohol....it burned all the way down. The wine tasting ended our day and I was so sad to leave! Tuscany was a fairytale that I never wanted to leave and I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day!
What a perfect place to end for now! The finale of the trip still to come!
Cheers!
Friday, May 6, 2011
Euro-Trip 2011 Part 1: London and Amsterdam
So I realize that i am the absolute worst blogger ever and that it has been two months since my last post! My only excuse is that it has been a pretty crazy last few months! March and the beginning of April was a whirlwind between my family coming for a visit, classes ending, my big choir concert, Trinity Ball, my friends from the IES General Studies Program leaving, and finally my big two week trip across Europe! My trip (which we lovingly dubbed Euro-Trip 2011) was honestly the most exhausting, but also, the best two weeks of my life. When our departure date, April 16, rolled around I could hardly believe that the time had come for us to go on this huge adventure. Sam, Allie, Mitchell and I had been planning this trip for a month and I could hardly believe it when the time came for us to leave!
Our first stop was a three day trip to London. We left incredibly early on the 16th, but despite that we were all excited when we landed in London. Luckily we were there a week before the Royal Wedding so we didn't have to deal with a madhouse of tourists. The first day we toured both Westminster Abbey and Parliament. Both buildings are were so impressive and it was so neat to learn more about British history! Something out of the ordinary that happened the first day that as we were walking to Parliament we ran into a protest. I have never seen a protest before so I was very intimidating. We couldn't quite figure out what the protest was about but there were hundreds of people marching down the street with signs that said "No Justice, No Peace" There were also people driving in cars and people playing music...it was quite the event! British police officers were there however they did not seem particularly worried about the situation. One officer was even smoking a pipe while walking along the protest!
Day two of our trip we spent the morning walking in the beautiful Hyde Park. It was an absolutely beautiful day and the park was enormous! After our walk through the park we went by Buckinham Palace in hopes of seeing the changing of the guard, but of course with our luck it just so happened on that day they weren't doing the changing of the guard. So even though we didn't get to see the changing of the guard, it is always impressive to see the the building. In the afternoon, Allie and I managed to talk to the boys into going shopping at my favorite shopping spot in London, Covent Gardens. We ended our day with the beautiful St. Paul's Cathedral. That night we decided to wander around Soho, an area of London known for its nightlife!
Our last day in London we spent at the Tower of London. This was the third time I had been to the Tower, but I did not mind at all because the tower is always amazing! Also since my favorite part of history is 16th century European history there isn't a better place to go in London to learn about life during that time period. That night we went out for Indian food and a show (going to the theater was the part of London that I was most excited for!) Allie and Sam went to see Over the Rainbow, a play about Judy Garland (or Julie Garland as Sam thought it was :) And Mitchell and I went to see Billy Elliot! The play was absolutely amazing! I didn't know a whole lot about the play going into it, but I was blown away. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the play it is about a little boy who wants to be a dancer and his father is not supportive of that dream at all. I was amazed by how talented the actor was who played Billy, it is amazing to think that someone so young can already be so talented!
We had another obnoxiously early flight from London to Amsterdam the next morning, but again it didn't really phase me a whole lot because I was so excited to go to Amsterdam. Obviously, my Dutch heritage made me extremely excited to go to the country that my ancestors came from! I absolutely loved Amsterdam! It was such a quaint city, although walking was a little dangerous. There is no differentiation between street, sidewalk, tram tracks...you would be walking along and all of the sudden a stream of bikers would be behind you all sounding their bells trying to get you to move out of the way! The first day in Amsterdam we went to the Anne Frank House and walked through the flower market! The flower market was absolutely amazing! Tulips are my favorite flower so to see a whole block of flowers along the canal was a dream! During our second day in Amsterdam we went to the Van Gogh Museum.. the line was so long that Allie and I went to get a baguette, cheese, and bologna and we had a picnic while standing in line! The museum itself was amazing and all of the paintings there were just beautiful! After the Museum Allie, Sam, and I went and found a cute little restaurant that served poffertjes!! I was sooo excited because poffertjes are my favorite Dutch food so to get to introduce them to it was wonderful! (btw...later that night we also went to mcdonald's because they had stroopwaffle mcfluries....best thing ever!!!) And in the early evening we took a canal tour!
So yes those are the major highlights of the first five days of our Euro-trip! Seeing as how the trip was so long I figured I would break it up into different blog posts! No worries, I will not wait an obnoxious amount of time to write about the next part of the trip!
Cheers!
Our first stop was a three day trip to London. We left incredibly early on the 16th, but despite that we were all excited when we landed in London. Luckily we were there a week before the Royal Wedding so we didn't have to deal with a madhouse of tourists. The first day we toured both Westminster Abbey and Parliament. Both buildings are were so impressive and it was so neat to learn more about British history! Something out of the ordinary that happened the first day that as we were walking to Parliament we ran into a protest. I have never seen a protest before so I was very intimidating. We couldn't quite figure out what the protest was about but there were hundreds of people marching down the street with signs that said "No Justice, No Peace" There were also people driving in cars and people playing music...it was quite the event! British police officers were there however they did not seem particularly worried about the situation. One officer was even smoking a pipe while walking along the protest!
Day two of our trip we spent the morning walking in the beautiful Hyde Park. It was an absolutely beautiful day and the park was enormous! After our walk through the park we went by Buckinham Palace in hopes of seeing the changing of the guard, but of course with our luck it just so happened on that day they weren't doing the changing of the guard. So even though we didn't get to see the changing of the guard, it is always impressive to see the the building. In the afternoon, Allie and I managed to talk to the boys into going shopping at my favorite shopping spot in London, Covent Gardens. We ended our day with the beautiful St. Paul's Cathedral. That night we decided to wander around Soho, an area of London known for its nightlife!
Our last day in London we spent at the Tower of London. This was the third time I had been to the Tower, but I did not mind at all because the tower is always amazing! Also since my favorite part of history is 16th century European history there isn't a better place to go in London to learn about life during that time period. That night we went out for Indian food and a show (going to the theater was the part of London that I was most excited for!) Allie and Sam went to see Over the Rainbow, a play about Judy Garland (or Julie Garland as Sam thought it was :) And Mitchell and I went to see Billy Elliot! The play was absolutely amazing! I didn't know a whole lot about the play going into it, but I was blown away. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the play it is about a little boy who wants to be a dancer and his father is not supportive of that dream at all. I was amazed by how talented the actor was who played Billy, it is amazing to think that someone so young can already be so talented!
We had another obnoxiously early flight from London to Amsterdam the next morning, but again it didn't really phase me a whole lot because I was so excited to go to Amsterdam. Obviously, my Dutch heritage made me extremely excited to go to the country that my ancestors came from! I absolutely loved Amsterdam! It was such a quaint city, although walking was a little dangerous. There is no differentiation between street, sidewalk, tram tracks...you would be walking along and all of the sudden a stream of bikers would be behind you all sounding their bells trying to get you to move out of the way! The first day in Amsterdam we went to the Anne Frank House and walked through the flower market! The flower market was absolutely amazing! Tulips are my favorite flower so to see a whole block of flowers along the canal was a dream! During our second day in Amsterdam we went to the Van Gogh Museum.. the line was so long that Allie and I went to get a baguette, cheese, and bologna and we had a picnic while standing in line! The museum itself was amazing and all of the paintings there were just beautiful! After the Museum Allie, Sam, and I went and found a cute little restaurant that served poffertjes!! I was sooo excited because poffertjes are my favorite Dutch food so to get to introduce them to it was wonderful! (btw...later that night we also went to mcdonald's because they had stroopwaffle mcfluries....best thing ever!!!) And in the early evening we took a canal tour!
So yes those are the major highlights of the first five days of our Euro-trip! Seeing as how the trip was so long I figured I would break it up into different blog posts! No worries, I will not wait an obnoxious amount of time to write about the next part of the trip!
Cheers!
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Northern Ireland: Too amazing to be real life...therefore it must have been Middle Earth!
So February 25-27th IES took us on a trip to Northern Ireland which was honestly probably one of the best trips I have ever taken! We took a train from Dublin to Belfast and ate lunch at the Crown Pub (one of our favorite spots from the Tolkien and Lewis trip last January :) And then went on the Black Cab tour which is a take you on a tour of Belfast and the cab drivers tell you a bit of history from the Troubles era in Northern Ireland. It was absolutely amazing to see the murals that were painted on the sides of buildings, restaurants, houses, they were literally everywhere! We also got to sign the infamous Peace Wall that divides the city between the Protestant and Catholic areas. I knew that the Peace Wall existed but I had no idea that it was still be added to even in the year 2011. It is a little hard to believe that tensions can still be that high but it is neat to now have made a mark on such a historic landmark. After the tour we took a bus to the town of Portsmuth which is a small town near the water. It was absolutely beautiful there! During our free time we loved walking along the pier and frolicking on the rocks! My roommate and I also had a great view of the waterfront out our hotel window.
The next day we went to the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge which is essentially this wooden bridge that you can walk across that connects to islands. It is amazing...definitely an adrenaline rush because it was extremely windy and while you knew you were perfectly safe there was that little bit of danger that made it exciting! Also the bridge was in an absolutely beautiful area and we were able to explore and hike a bit while we were there. We also took a tour of the Bushmill's Distillery while we were there. It was really interesting to learn the process of how Whiskey was made and even got to have a free sample at the end :D We then spent the rest of the afternoon in Giants Causeway which was just as beautiful as I had remembered! I had been there last year on the Tolkien and Lewis trip but that place still amazes me. Definitely a world wonder!
On Sunday we went to Dunluce Castle which was also amazing! To be able to walk around remains of a Castle that has been there for hundreds of years is always a neat experience. From there we went to Glenariff National Park which is honestly one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Being in Ireland I have seen the rolling green hills and the beautiful seasides but this park was more like a forest. We went on the Waterfall Walk which was essentially a path that followed a river and there were absolutely amazingly beautiful waterfalls as we walked. I cannot stress enough how beautiful this place was! It also helped that it was a beautiful day and the sun was shining (a rarity for Ireland) so it is one of my favorite places I have ever been! We ended the walk at this cute restaurant that served us thanksgiving dinner style in which they came around and gave us meat and potatoes, veggies, and desert. It was the absolute perfect way to end an amazing trip! I honestly didn't want to take the bus back to Dublin I wish that I could have stayed there with my best friends from IES :D
The next day we went to the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge which is essentially this wooden bridge that you can walk across that connects to islands. It is amazing...definitely an adrenaline rush because it was extremely windy and while you knew you were perfectly safe there was that little bit of danger that made it exciting! Also the bridge was in an absolutely beautiful area and we were able to explore and hike a bit while we were there. We also took a tour of the Bushmill's Distillery while we were there. It was really interesting to learn the process of how Whiskey was made and even got to have a free sample at the end :D We then spent the rest of the afternoon in Giants Causeway which was just as beautiful as I had remembered! I had been there last year on the Tolkien and Lewis trip but that place still amazes me. Definitely a world wonder!
On Sunday we went to Dunluce Castle which was also amazing! To be able to walk around remains of a Castle that has been there for hundreds of years is always a neat experience. From there we went to Glenariff National Park which is honestly one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Being in Ireland I have seen the rolling green hills and the beautiful seasides but this park was more like a forest. We went on the Waterfall Walk which was essentially a path that followed a river and there were absolutely amazingly beautiful waterfalls as we walked. I cannot stress enough how beautiful this place was! It also helped that it was a beautiful day and the sun was shining (a rarity for Ireland) so it is one of my favorite places I have ever been! We ended the walk at this cute restaurant that served us thanksgiving dinner style in which they came around and gave us meat and potatoes, veggies, and desert. It was the absolute perfect way to end an amazing trip! I honestly didn't want to take the bus back to Dublin I wish that I could have stayed there with my best friends from IES :D
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Dun Laoghaire, Howth, and Everything in Between!
So I realize that it has been a really long time since since my last post...that is my bad technology and I don't always get along and I couldn't figure out why my blog account wasn't letting me sign in! But no worries it is all sorted now!
I suppose the most exciting things that I have done since the last post is taken a couple day trips to Dun Laoghaire and Howth. The trip to Dun Laogahaire was on the 29th and I was really excited, because after all it is where P.S. I love you takes place! There was a large group of about 10 of us and we took the Dart to Dun Laogahaire in the early afternoon. The town itself was very cute and we stopped in a nice cafe for lunch. After roaming around downtown for a bit we spent the rest of our day walking along the pier! It was so beautiful. We were able to walk along the rocks and get right up next to the Irish Sea and it was such an incredible experience! I just kept thinking over and over again..."i am definitely not in Iowa anymore" And walking along the pier at sunset was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen! As we neared the end of the pier there was even a jolly old man playing the ukulele :) It was absolutely wonderful! (*Fun fact: That night the group of us went out to a pub called O'Neills where there was live music playing and after the band was done they had me and three of my friends come up to the stage and learn how to Irish dance! It was good craic indeed!)
The next weekend I went with a few friends to a little fishing town called Howth. Honestly, I think I liked Howth even better than Dun Laoghaire! It was sooo adorable! There was this cute market that had all sorts of food, fruit, craft goods, and the best cupcakes I have ever eaten in my entire life. Honestly, they were more like works of art than food. It was fabulous! Probably the coolest thing about Howth is as you walk up to the water seals come and meet you! They just swim right by the edge! It is the coolest thing ever! My friends all thought that I was a crazy person because I was so excited about the seals but I have never gotten to be that close to them before! We named two of them Scuttle and Seamus. Scuttle was my favorite because we were standing off to the side because there were a lot of people watching the seals, but Scuttle came right over to us! And Seamus loved to get his picture taken! He would always be looking away but as soon as I put up my camera he would look my way! It was just so incredibly neat! And again, we walked along the pier and it was so beautiful, this whole country is beautiful!
That night was the Superbowl and I went to our usual pub to watch football, The Portebello, with a bunch of friends! It was so neat because my IES friends were there and my friends from Trinity so it was just a huge party! The place was packed and the pub even served hot dogs in honor of the event! Unfortunately we were not able to see the commercials and we had to watch the stupid British ones, but the whole event was fantastic! We had a blast singing and dancing to the Black-Eyed Peas halftime show and the place was pretty even between Packer and Steelers fans. The game didn't get done till like 3 a.m. but I was impressed by the number of people who stayed for the whole thing!
Last weekend was super fun! I stayed in Dublin and Saturday night, had a dinner party with a few of my friends from the IES program. As I am sure you all know, I am not a very good cook...however one of my jobs is making pie! Once my friends found out about they I was nominated to make the dessert. I was originally going to make apple pie but we had the hardest time finding a round pie tin! It was madness but I managed to find a square one so I just tweaked the plan a bit and made apple crisp instead! (I even made my own Dutch topping!) I was a little nervous about how it would turn out because I guestimated on a lot of the proportions for the ingredients! But when it was all done and we had it for dessert every said they loved it! (hopefully they weren't doing it just to appease me!) And I have gotten requests to make it again! So yes, it felt just like the good old pie days back home :D
So yes....that is pretty much what I have been up to in the past few weeks! Classes at Trinity are going well, and I am definitely not as overwhelmed as I was before now that I am getting into the swing of things! I have had a few presentations for a couple classes that have all gone really well! The teacher even came up to my group after our Social Theory presentation and told us how good we did! So yeah...everything is grand :)
Cheers!
I suppose the most exciting things that I have done since the last post is taken a couple day trips to Dun Laoghaire and Howth. The trip to Dun Laogahaire was on the 29th and I was really excited, because after all it is where P.S. I love you takes place! There was a large group of about 10 of us and we took the Dart to Dun Laogahaire in the early afternoon. The town itself was very cute and we stopped in a nice cafe for lunch. After roaming around downtown for a bit we spent the rest of our day walking along the pier! It was so beautiful. We were able to walk along the rocks and get right up next to the Irish Sea and it was such an incredible experience! I just kept thinking over and over again..."i am definitely not in Iowa anymore" And walking along the pier at sunset was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen! As we neared the end of the pier there was even a jolly old man playing the ukulele :) It was absolutely wonderful! (*Fun fact: That night the group of us went out to a pub called O'Neills where there was live music playing and after the band was done they had me and three of my friends come up to the stage and learn how to Irish dance! It was good craic indeed!)
The next weekend I went with a few friends to a little fishing town called Howth. Honestly, I think I liked Howth even better than Dun Laoghaire! It was sooo adorable! There was this cute market that had all sorts of food, fruit, craft goods, and the best cupcakes I have ever eaten in my entire life. Honestly, they were more like works of art than food. It was fabulous! Probably the coolest thing about Howth is as you walk up to the water seals come and meet you! They just swim right by the edge! It is the coolest thing ever! My friends all thought that I was a crazy person because I was so excited about the seals but I have never gotten to be that close to them before! We named two of them Scuttle and Seamus. Scuttle was my favorite because we were standing off to the side because there were a lot of people watching the seals, but Scuttle came right over to us! And Seamus loved to get his picture taken! He would always be looking away but as soon as I put up my camera he would look my way! It was just so incredibly neat! And again, we walked along the pier and it was so beautiful, this whole country is beautiful!
That night was the Superbowl and I went to our usual pub to watch football, The Portebello, with a bunch of friends! It was so neat because my IES friends were there and my friends from Trinity so it was just a huge party! The place was packed and the pub even served hot dogs in honor of the event! Unfortunately we were not able to see the commercials and we had to watch the stupid British ones, but the whole event was fantastic! We had a blast singing and dancing to the Black-Eyed Peas halftime show and the place was pretty even between Packer and Steelers fans. The game didn't get done till like 3 a.m. but I was impressed by the number of people who stayed for the whole thing!
Last weekend was super fun! I stayed in Dublin and Saturday night, had a dinner party with a few of my friends from the IES program. As I am sure you all know, I am not a very good cook...however one of my jobs is making pie! Once my friends found out about they I was nominated to make the dessert. I was originally going to make apple pie but we had the hardest time finding a round pie tin! It was madness but I managed to find a square one so I just tweaked the plan a bit and made apple crisp instead! (I even made my own Dutch topping!) I was a little nervous about how it would turn out because I guestimated on a lot of the proportions for the ingredients! But when it was all done and we had it for dessert every said they loved it! (hopefully they weren't doing it just to appease me!) And I have gotten requests to make it again! So yes, it felt just like the good old pie days back home :D
So yes....that is pretty much what I have been up to in the past few weeks! Classes at Trinity are going well, and I am definitely not as overwhelmed as I was before now that I am getting into the swing of things! I have had a few presentations for a couple classes that have all gone really well! The teacher even came up to my group after our Social Theory presentation and told us how good we did! So yeah...everything is grand :)
Cheers!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
First Week of Classes
So last week was the first week of classes here at Trinity. The whole registration process was a little frustrating because you needed to go to each department that you wanted to take courses in and ask them what classes are offered and the times of those classes, then when you figure out which courses you want to take you have to go back to each department and talk to the department head and get them to sign your registration form so that you are able to take those courses. But despite the long and complicated processes, I am genuinely excited about the courses that I am taking. I am taking two history courses one on Ireland in the Wider World which covers the 17th and 18th centuries and then another on the 1916 Rising; and then I am taking two sociology courses one on globalization and development and the other on social theory. Courses here are quite different than at Luther. For three of my classes we have big lectures once or twice a week and then a tutorial once a week which is smaller groups, and then my 1916 Rising course is more what I am used to it is a smaller upper-level history class that is sort of a mixture of lecture and class discussion. But there is also a lot more reading for these courses...for example for my lecture tomorrow the suggested reading has 7 books on it....7 i am not quite sure how they expect us to read 7 books for one lecture, but i suppose that is why it is SUGGESTED reading! So I am attempting to not procrastinate and stay on top of my reading (i know me not procrastinating...weird!)
But more importantly this past weekend Dani came to visit! She got in Saturday afternoon and we went to the National Museum of Ireland and then bummed around Grafton Street before we found dinner at a great restaurant! (good food and 5 dollar cocktails! for dublin that is pretty darn good :) And then we hung out at a pub with some of my Trinity friends. Then on Sunday we attended a service at Christ Church Cathedral which was absolutely amazing! The Cathedral was beautiful and to attend a service there was a really cool experience! We then got some gelato before she had to catch her plane for Rome! It was so good to see her and to have her here, because as much as I love it here and all of the friends that I have made I do miss my friends back home! Yes I believe that is all for now! Cheers!
But more importantly this past weekend Dani came to visit! She got in Saturday afternoon and we went to the National Museum of Ireland and then bummed around Grafton Street before we found dinner at a great restaurant! (good food and 5 dollar cocktails! for dublin that is pretty darn good :) And then we hung out at a pub with some of my Trinity friends. Then on Sunday we attended a service at Christ Church Cathedral which was absolutely amazing! The Cathedral was beautiful and to attend a service there was a really cool experience! We then got some gelato before she had to catch her plane for Rome! It was so good to see her and to have her here, because as much as I love it here and all of the friends that I have made I do miss my friends back home! Yes I believe that is all for now! Cheers!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
First Two Days of Trinity Orientation!
So it has been kind of a whirlwind couple of days! For those of you who i haven't told my whole flat seemed to get the plague on Sunday (and by plague i mean some sort of weird 24 hour stomach flu) so needless to say Sunday I stayed in and felt terrible all day! I was super worried because I had to start orientation the next day and it would be horrible to miss it! Luckily I only had to miss the Trinity welcome dinner Sunday night and by Monday I was good to go! During the first day of orientation was all so surreal; as we were given a campus tour I couldn't believe that I was actually going to school there. I also officially got registered as a student and I got my student ID card meaning that I can use the library and the gym and get student discounts at various places around the city...so that is pretty rockin'! Monday night we also went on a literary pub crawl of Dublin which was also super fun! We were guided by actors who would perform scenes at each pub and also explain the literary or historical significance of each pub on the trip! The actors were super funny and the history was extremely interesting (of course!) We even got to go to a put that Michael Collins frequented which was also amazing! Just to be in a place where someone who had such a grand effect on an entire countries history used to come regularly was an honor.
Day two orientation was also extremely interesting. We spend the morning listening to lectures from various professors about Irish history, architecture, and literature. It was all really fascinating and I learned a lot which I take to be a good sign that I am going to be learning a lot this semester :) We also took a walk across the city to the GAA stadium where we took a tour. The GAA is the Gaelic Athletic Association which is the home of Ireland's two most popular sports....not rugby and soccer as I had guessed but rather Gaelic Football and Hurling. We watched a video about the two sports and needless to say I was only slightly less than when I started! Perhaps when someone actually explains the rules to me and I watch a game it will make more sense! hehe! But the stadium itself was super cool! It is the fourth largest stadium in Western Europe and holds over 80,000 people! In the GAA athletes play for their county team which creates enormous county pride. However, what is most amazing is that all of the players are volunteers. They all have day jobs and have practice early in the morning or in the evenings and on weekends. It is amazing to me that our most popular American Athletes get paid millions of dollars to play sports while these people do it for free! Just for the love of the game! That is so astounding to me. As there are all of these rumors of lockouts for the NFL and the NBA are going around I can't help but wonder what our sports would be like if our players weren't paid! I mean to be perfectly honest that would probably mean that we wouldn't have national sports teams anymore but you never know! So yeah just some food for thought!
Cheers!
Day two orientation was also extremely interesting. We spend the morning listening to lectures from various professors about Irish history, architecture, and literature. It was all really fascinating and I learned a lot which I take to be a good sign that I am going to be learning a lot this semester :) We also took a walk across the city to the GAA stadium where we took a tour. The GAA is the Gaelic Athletic Association which is the home of Ireland's two most popular sports....not rugby and soccer as I had guessed but rather Gaelic Football and Hurling. We watched a video about the two sports and needless to say I was only slightly less than when I started! Perhaps when someone actually explains the rules to me and I watch a game it will make more sense! hehe! But the stadium itself was super cool! It is the fourth largest stadium in Western Europe and holds over 80,000 people! In the GAA athletes play for their county team which creates enormous county pride. However, what is most amazing is that all of the players are volunteers. They all have day jobs and have practice early in the morning or in the evenings and on weekends. It is amazing to me that our most popular American Athletes get paid millions of dollars to play sports while these people do it for free! Just for the love of the game! That is so astounding to me. As there are all of these rumors of lockouts for the NFL and the NBA are going around I can't help but wonder what our sports would be like if our players weren't paid! I mean to be perfectly honest that would probably mean that we wouldn't have national sports teams anymore but you never know! So yeah just some food for thought!
Cheers!
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Dublin Bus Tour and Kilmainham Jail
Today was the first day that we got to tour around the entire city of Dublin. It was really neat because the bus went all around the city and you could get off at any stop and wander around and then hop back on the bus when you wanted to go somewhere else. The first time through we stayed on the bus for the whole tour so we could familiarize ourselves with the city. It was an open top bus so naturally we wanted to sit on the top level, however it was absolutely freezing! My roommates and a few friends got the front of the bus so we were at least shielded a bit from the wind and slowly but surely people started moving down to the lower level of the bus. The eight or so of us who made it all the way through were very proud of ourselves that we braved the cold. However as soon as we got off the bus we stopped in the first pub we saw for an Irish Coffee to warm up. About six of us decided to take the bus to Kilmainham Jail for a tour of the historic site. I watched the movie Michael Collins before I came to Dublin and it was extremely interesting to see the place that the leaders of the Easter Rising were held. Our tour guide told us of a very sad story about a woman named Anne Devlin that really has stuck with me. Anne was the secretary of Robert Emmet, leader of the 1798. She was caught and imprisoned by the British army who used every form of psychological and emotional torture they could on her in order to force her to give up the names of the other leaders of the rebellion (because physical torture was illegal to use against women). They imprisoned over twenty members of her family, kept her in solitary in a room that was so small she couldn't walk without a bed where there was literally inches of urine and feces leaking through from the sewer. She was offered bribes, was threatened, and her young brother died while in prison and she still refused to give up any information that she knew. I found this to be an incredible story that someone could be so strong despite all that she went through. I kept thinking that there was no way that I could do what she did. The guide mentioned that if she would have given up the information that she knew that the entire group of people who funded the rebellion would have been executed which would have drastically changed the course of Irish history. It seems so sad that one woman could make such a great impact on an entire countries history and yet still not receive the recognition of remembrance that she deserves. It makes me wonder how many others of these heroes there are not only in Irish history but in world history that go unnoticed or unrecognized. Sorry if that was too much history that you didn't care about but it was something that I found extremely interesting and wanted to share! Until next time!
Cheers!
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
First Day in Dublin
So today was the first day that I was in Dublin, and thanks to jetlag it has been kind of a blur. I was able to meet my lovely housemates Karen, Linda, and Jill and they are all awesome people and I know that we will get along well :) We had some fun bonding time getting a few groceries and the much needed coffee drink before unpacking. After unpacking we were all so beat that we could fight off sleeping for at least a little before dinner! We made a quick but lovely pasta dinner before walking to the IES headquarters where we will be starting our orientation tomorrow. We then met up with other IES students at a pub and it was fun meeting people from all around the country in a true Irish setting (and by all around the country I mean the East Coast because nearly everyone seems to be from New York, New Jersey, Virginia, etc.) My roommate Karen and I attempted to walk by ourselves back to our flat which turned out to be quite the adventure. You could say that we were lost but I prefer to think that we were exploring the city :) It actually turned out to be super fun because the weather was beautiful and we were able to see more of the city of Dublin. Now I am back in the flat and probably heading to bed soon because because we have a full day of orientation tomorrow! (btw if I haven't mentioned already our flat is absolutely lovely! Our RA told us that a few months back Cranmer Place was the most expensive real estate in the UK! It is very nice and quaint and we have a living room, study, kitchen full of cooking supplies, three bedrooms and three bathrooms. It really is more than I could hope for!) But that is all for now! Until next time :D
Cheers!
Cheers!
Blog Entry 1: 1/4/11
Today is the day! I have literally been thinking about this day since I was in high school. While I have been to Europe on two separate occasions in the past I have never gotten the chance to live in another country for six months. However, as I was sitting in the Des Moines airport this morning my nervousness definitely outweighed my excitement. There were several things that were on my mind. First and foremost was the death of the Luther senior, Nabby who was a great person and a great friend. While the shock having someone pass away who was not only a friend but someone who was so close to my own age was overwhelming at first, sitting here in the Newark airport, I have come to realize that life is much too short and much too precious and I am very grateful for this opportunity that I have been given to study for a semester in Dublin. I am thrilled for the opportunity to submerse myself in another culture and to meet new people. In fact, I have just had a lovely conversation with a woman from Australia. She was so nice and sweet and we had a good conversation about traveling, which is something that I really needed because as I have traveled from Des Moines to Chicago and now I am in Newark I am learning that traveling by yourself is definitely not as much fun as traveling with family and friends. While traveling alone is a little lonely I am also very proud of myself because I have been able to successfully navigate through three different airports (which as many of you know I was incredibly nervous about flying by myself.) As I am sure I have rambled to many of you the main reason why I am studying abroad is to gain some independence and real-life experience so that when I graduate in a year and a half (yikes!) I will have some life perspective and attempt to decrease the feeling of being a deer-in-the-headlights (which who are we kidding might happen anyway). But this experience of flying by myself and navigating airports alone is already the experience that I was hoping for. I am slowly but surely realizing that I can do this. I can leave all of my support systems and live somewhere new and foreign for almost six months. I am not going to lie, I am still a little terrified but contrary to this morning there is definitely more excitement than panic! So I believe that’s all for now! I have not decided how often I will blog…it probably depends on how often exciting things happen, but I will definitely keep you all updated because not only is this my way of letting people know what is going on in my life, it is also going to double as my own personal journal for my stay in Dublin!
Cheers!
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