When in Cork . . .

Things I've Learned/That's All Folks!

2011-05-26T04:10:00.001+01:00

For the record I know this post is super late but I am going to blame it on my denial and reverse culture shock.

I can't believe I'm home. Seriously, I can't believe it. I've been home 4 days and I haven't made a dent in unpacking yet. My understanding that I'm officially home isn't really sinking in. I miss Cork so much! It's like a disease. I feel like everything reminds me of it. And I'm even trying to bring it home with me. Wearing all the clothes I bought over there, doing my usual "go into town and get coffee and read" routine, and even eating the same foods. This is like a disease.

But since I'm finally taking steps in accepting this change in my surroundings, I wanted to take the time to show my gratitude for the past 9 months of my life. Correction, some of the best 9 months of my life. I learned so much and, maybe I'll be the only person to notice, but I feel like I've changed a lot. Hopefully for the better. Here's some of what I've learned, at least a few of the points I can think of:

1. Learned how to braid my hair - Obviously this list is not in order of importance. But I taught myself how to braid my hair about a month ago and it has been an absolute godsend. Now I don't have to be the lame 21 year old girl who has to ask others to braid her hair for her because she never learned. Seriously, 7 years of camp and I never learned. But, in all honesty, this is one of my proudest accomplishments while abroad. Hair styling success.

2. Confidence - When I was at camp last summer, I had to take my cabin on an overnight campout. We were still on camp property, but it was our responsibility to make a fire, cook dinner, and spend the night in the woods. I was incredibly nervous about building a fire and cooking the food because I am definitely not Miss Nature Girl. When we got to the woods and I successfully ignited a fire with only a few matches, I have never been so proud! I leapt up and exclaimed to my girls "If I can provide you with food, then I can do anything!" I have very similar emotions about this year, more specifically about the first few weeks. These were certainly some of the hardest weeks I have ever had to get through. If someone going abroad next year asked me for advice about how to get through them, I honestly don't know if I would have any to offer, because there's probably nothing anyone could have said that would have made me feel better during those intense points of homesickness. It's just something you get through, which I did. And the fact that I moved beyond it and thrived in my environment lets me know I can overcome absolutely anything. My time abroad has made me absolutely believe that.

3. Traveling - This is a pretty obvious one, but true nonetheless. Before, I barely knew how to navigate my way around an airport. Now I can get through security flawlessly in one easy swoop every time! Even making the simplest travel plans like looking up bus times and taking a day trip was new to me at the beginning of the year when we went to Kinsale and Waterford. By the end of the year, I had no problem heading to the bus station by myself and going on a solo adventure.

4. Cook - I do use this term loosely because I don't really know if I did a lot of "cooking," but I did provide myself with 3 meals a day all year which is pretty impressive! In August, the simplest task of making pasta was an accomplishment. By May, I was thinking about how I could add in different cooked vegetables and sauces to make it a more complete dish. Even the smallest additions feel like big accomplishments!

5. I am one of the most blessed people ever - Enough said. Honestly. And I am pointing to each and every one of you that is reading this right now. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You have played an amazing part in my time abroad. Thank you for sharing in my experience, thank you for supporting me every step of the way, and thank you for commenting so I know I'm not writing into a cyber void!

I can't believe it's over. I don't think I'll ever stop saying that. I have been in Study Abroad mode ever since October 2009 when we attended our first Study Abroad information session. Ever since then it has been this huge decision weighing on me. Do I really want to "give up" a year from Holy Cross and go somewhere completely new? OH MY GOSH. I can't even imagine who I would if I hadn't gone. Cork is amazing, Cork is beautiful, and I simply can't wait to go back.

So, as I already said, thanks for being here! I know I will look back on this blog as far down the road as 10 years, and as close as September, and be eternally grateful for having these incredible memories to appreciate and cherish.

One last time . . . SLAN!!!!!!!!

SUMMER 2011!!!

2011-05-16T19:54:00.004+01:00

DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE

Well hello Summer 2011, nice to meet you (:

Independent Cultural Immersion Project - CHECK!

2011-05-14T00:58:00.002+01:00

ICIP - even while away from campus, Holy Cross found a way to give their Study Abroaders a graded assignment. The ICIP stands for Independent Cultural Immersion Project. Every student who goes abroad for the full academic year is required to complete this project which should focus on one aspect of their time away. You can really write about anything. For example, of the eight Holy Cross girls in Cork, one wrote about her participation in the Doctors Without Borders organization, another girl did a visual arts project, and another did her unique relationships with her Irish roommates. The ICIP is also supposed to be a little more creative than a simple paper. You can add any type of memorabilia you want to make it original and special. We have been meeting with Vicki about this little by little over the year, but we didn't really start practically discussing it until around mid-March. I thought about focusing on being in Slainte, and then I thought about discussing all of the different Irish festivals I have come across, but at the end of the day, the answer was quite simple: the Alumni Office.

I feel so blessed that I had the opportunity to work in the Alumni Office this year. Not only did I learn so much, meet great people, and have amazing experiences, but it was also a great topic for my project! I had sooo much to write about. From my work in the office, to the events I attended as a member of their office, to the amazing amount of self-confidence I have gained, my paper basically wrote itself. Vicki said the paper should generally be between 10-15 pages.....yeah, mine ended up being 20. And not to brag, but I'm pretty proud of it! Vicki really enjoyed my rough draft, so hopefully the finished project came out just as well. What was most surprising was that it was actually enjoyable to write. I thought I was going to be pulling teeth thinking about what I wanted to say, but it came so naturally and fluidly. I really loved putting it together and reflecting on such a large piece of my study abroad experience.

And it's finished! I handed it in this morning! The deadline isn't until the 27th but I'm so happy I finished it early. Now when I walk out of my Social Theory final exam on Monday, I will be totally done with my Junior year. Not a single thing left to worry about.....except for packing.

Slan!

What I'm Looking Forward To Most

2011-05-11T16:41:00.001+01:00

With America right around the corner, I've been thinking about all the things I have missed over the past 9 months that I can't wait to have back in my life again! Plus, not only have I been away this past year, but I have also spent the past two summers working at camp in Vermont, so I have missed the annual events held only in the summer time!

Dunkin' Donuts - I have already asked my Mom if we could make a very important pitstop on the way home from JFK to the shrine of iced coffees. You would think after visiting Italy and experiencing their delicious espressos that Dunkin' would be beneath me. Absolutely not! I want it now more than ever. And thankfully there is one right down the road from Holy Cross, too!

Starbucks - Interesting that two coffee places made my list. But Starbucks is home not only to coffee but the "venti passion iced tea lemonade sweetened" (try saying that 5 times fast). It's the perfect pink summer drink.

Byram Library Book Fair - This book fair is held every June and I've missed it for the past 2 years, so I'm very excited! And it's just a short jog from my house which is perfect. Usually I end up buying a ton of books for super cheap, but then how many of these actually get read? And then, ironically, I end up donating back the same ones next year. But this year will be different (so I say)! I want to read a bunch this summer so this book fair is at the top of my list.

Greenwich Avenue sidewalk sale - This is what I've really missed the past few summers. Greenwich Avenue is about a 9 block street in the main part of Greenwich. You can do all of your shopping here and then some. Dresses, shoes, pharmacies, lunch, movie theatre. During the summer it's always super crowded, especially on this special weekend in July. All of the stores bring out racks and racks of their pieces and sell them on the sidewalk, usually for pretty reduced prices. Such a treat! Like the book fair, I end up coming home with a few too many impulse purchases, but sometimes you get lucky and find something special.

St. Roch's Bazaar - I actually was able to go to our church's bazaar last August, but it was the day before I left for Ireland. Needless to say, I was barely seeing straight and couldn't really enjoy the festivities. Pizza frites, good music, and carnival games. Sounds like the perfect way to end the summer before I head back to school!

Countdown: 10 days

Slan!

This is a joke, right?

2011-05-01T11:46:00.001+01:00

May 1 . . . . are you kidding me?! MAY?! When did that happen?! My family was just here visiting in March, and yet that was somehow already 6 or 7 weeks ago. Unbelievable!

I know I'm backtracking a little, but I completely forgot to talk about Easter! I hope everyone had a great Easter holiday last weekend! Mine was actually quite lovely! Kristin, Tracie, Anne, and I planned ahead to have brunch in Tracie and Anne's apartment Easter morning before going to church. Anne made the most amazing challah bread french toast, and I made scrambled eggs. So delicious! Following church, the day was filled with a little bit of studying for my Science test, but I made sure to pick up a chocolate bunny the day before to enjoy on my study breaks! Around 7pm, the four of us went into town for dinner. Anne's parents were so generous and offered to treat us to an Easter dinner, so we decided to try a new restaurant, the Cornstore. Such a good choice!

Easter was everything it should be - good food and good company! I absolutely love Thanksgiving and Easter at home because I get to see extended family, and those were the two big holidays I missed out on while being abroad this year. So I'm glad we did something special for each to still make them memorable.

Slan!

Finished (Almost)!!

2011-04-27T22:27:00.005+01:00

I am so close to being done with all my school work it's not even funny. I can literally see the finish line and I am one test and one paper away from crossing it. Today, I took my Science and Society final exam. While Science is certainly not my best subject (AP Environmental Science - worst mistake of my life), it was a lecture-based class so I got through my Holy Cross science requirement without any type of lab work, which is all I wanted!

Now I get a mini-summer vacation for 2 weeks until I start studying for my Social Theory exam, which is not until May 16. For now, though, I plan to not think about it at all and do absolutely ZERO work for the time being. What am I going to do instead? Good question. Lots of reading, some day trips, and enjoying Cork while it's still mine. I really wanted to fit in a weekend trip to Edinburgh, but at this point it doesn't look like it's going to happen. I was a little disappointed, but I think it will be nice to reconnect with Cork a little bit. After my big Italy trip, I feel like I haven't just enjoyed Cork in a while, so I am definitely looking forward to totally chilling out in the wonderful weather and celebrating the fact that it's almost summa' time!

Slan!

P.S. I have a major b'day shoutout to the best Godmother in the world!

LA-BREITHE MHAITH AGAT (Happy Birthday in Irish!) MARY FRAN! HAVE A GREAT DAY!

Amalfi Coast!

2011-04-19T10:06:00.001+01:00

I'm in love. L-O-V-E. Love. In love with Amalfi Coast. In love with Euroadventures. In love with the best weekend ever.

Let me elaborate. Tracie, Kristin, and I booked our big Italian trip a few weeks ago, and booked the Amalfi Coast portion of the trip through a student tour company called Euroadventures. We couldn't really find many reviews online and didn't know much about the company, so we sort of blindly booked it because we really wanted to go to this part of Italy.

We arrived at the Rome train station Thursday night. That's where they picked us up to drive down to the coast. Started out slightly skeptical. The bus was about an hour late so all of us were unsure of what we had gotten into. By the next day, however, everything had turned around.

Meet our leaders. Cooper - 26 year old from Wyoming, right out of college. Typical. And then there was Father Bruno. Yes, by Father I mean he is a priest. We all thought he was just joking around, but he was totally serious. He's a 67 year old ordained priest who has had quite the life. Has hiked Mt. Kilimanjaro 8 times, runs 5 miles every morning. And he uses the funniest American terms, like "bones" for "dollars" and he says "rock n' roll" about every other sentence. Cooper also compared him to Yoda. So yeah, he was basically the man!

Friday morning we took the train first to Pompeii and then kept going to Naples. I really didn't know too much about Pompeii beforehand, but after learning about it I was blown away. The city essentially stopped existing for about 1800 years until it was discovered. So interesting. Father Bruno showed us a lot of the artifacts and the plaster moldings of the people who had died there. So Bruno was not only outrageously cool, but really smart too. He had worked at a Florence University for 25 years.

We then headed to Lantigua Pizzeria, the oldest pizzeria in the world where Julia Roberts went in the movie "Eat, Pray, Love." 150 years after opening, it's still good! So along with knowing my gelato, I have also come to know my pizza.

Saturday - the day of all days. I'm being really dramatic about this but it was actually the definition of a perfect day. We took the boat to the island of Capri (accent is on the "a" . . . Bruno was very clear about that). It had been chilly on Monday, so we were all very unsure about the weather, but when we landed on Capri the sun was shining overhead. After filling our stomachs and grabbing some water, we started our hike. I'm so happy I brought good clothes and sneakers with me because a bunch of girls did the hike in flip flops or flats, and one girl did the hike in a dress! I was very glad I was prepared. The hike was amazing. After stopping about a quarter of the way up at a small vista, there was no turning back. After that preview of what was to come, you had to keep going.

It wasn't super difficult. I say that now, but in the moment it felt pretty strenuous. A bunch of pretty steep parts. Plus, I am definitely not a hiker. I don't enjoy it, I rarely do it. It's not how I would choose to spend quality time with friends. But out of a group of approximately 25-30 hikers, I was probably 5th or 6th to reach the top, and that was incredibly gratifying for me. And I wanted to keep going! And the views - WOW! The first vista was nothing compared to what we were witnessing now. The bluest water, cloudless skies, houses scattered beneath us. Absolutely paradise. The soreness I felt yesterday and today is totally worth it. Are you catching on why this was an amazing day? And it's not even half over yet.

When we got back to the main part of Capri, Bruno led hike #2 down to see the Blue Grotto. Unfortunately, it was closed because the waters were a little rough, so we couldn't go in by boat, but it was still amazing to see from shore. Right near the Blue Grotto was a spot perfect for cliff jumping. I will first say I did NOT go cliff jumping. I may have considered it, had it been a little warmer, but I remained on land the whole time. And also just to be clear, they weren't huge cliffs up super high. They were probably about 20 feet up from the water. Even though there were some pretty big waves, we did have a handful of daredevils who did do some jumping.

We took a bus part of the way, but walking back into town from the Blue Grotto? One thousand Venetian Steps! You almost had to jog down the steps because there was such an impact on your knees with every step you walked down. We finally made it onto solid ground back in Sorrento with only about an hour to head back to our rooms, grab a sweatshirt, and make our way back down to the beach. Bruno surprised us that evening and announced he wanted to throw us a little picnic. He was buying all the fixings for Caprese sandwiches, and all we had to do was show up and BYOB (bring your own beverage).

Small world incident #2. I thought the one in Rome was enough! But no, this blew my mind. Once we headed down to the beach and started preparing the food, I started talking to one of the guys in the group. His name is Dan, he just graduated from Georgetown. Sounds pretty normal. I guess I must have said something about Connecticut or Greenwich because it comes out that he went to Brunswick, Greenwich Academy's brother school! WHOA NOW. This was a shock. Greenwich is so small I never meet people from my town when I'm traveling. I couldn't believe it! And I think we had been there at the same time and I never even knew him. BLEW MY MIND.

Highlight of - the trip? abroad? - NO, MY LIFE. After the picnic, Tracie, Kristin, new friend Erik, and I didn't feel like going back to our rooms yet so we decided to meet some other people in the group for some drinks at the English Inn, a pub in town. They weren't there yet, so we saw a piece of open curb across the street and decided to sit down and wait for them. We started talking about randoms stuff - home, where we've been traveling, basic convos. Probably after 20 minutes, this group of guys walks by and starts flicking change in our direction. Excuse me?! They thought we were homeless! It happened two or three times. So yeah . . . made about 30 cents from strangers. Go me! This is a memory I hope to not soon forget.

Sunday. Our last day in Amalfi, and basically of this amazing Italian adventure. We met Bruno in town for a "Digital Safari" and he showed us some of the sights in Sorrento, like churches, frescoes, views of the water. I have been absolutely craving seafood basically for the whole time I had been in Italy so at this point I am not leaving the country until I eat some fish. Tracie, Kristin, and I found the most delicious, mouth-watering seafood ever and I could not have been more satisfied. I had pasta with clams, mussels, shrimp, and cherry tomatoes. I was in heaven, and was very pleased I could end my travels on a very high note.

I had the most unbelievable time in Amalfi. Like I said, we were a little unsure about what we were getting ourselves into, but everything worked out so well. The group, the weather, the guides. I miss it so much! And thus ends the unforgettable tales about my time in Italy. Thankfully, this is not my last trip of the year. I am going to Oxford to visit my friend Matt next week, and I am hoping to get to Scotland in early May. But it is the last time I am traveling with Kristin and Tracie. End of an era, absolutely! It's been real. And some of the best 11 days ever.
Slan!

Welcome to Roma!

2011-04-19T09:46:00.003+01:00

Outside the Pantheon

On to Day 6! This is already the longest I've been out of Ireland and I've still got days to go.

I couldn't wait to get to Rome. My family has been raving about it since they were there a few weeks ago, and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about! But I definitely get it now. Rome is beautiful! We got to spend basically three full days in Rome - Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. There's so much to say about Rome it seems like an impossible task to blog about it all. But I will do my best!

First stop was the Trevi Fountain. It really was exactly as I imagined it to be: grand, beautiful, and such a symbol of Rome. I definitely should have expected crowds, but the Fountain was totally surrounded! We saw tour groups all throughout Rome for the full 3 days. We decided it would be best to come back at a less hectic time, though I was unsure if the Fountain would ever not be hectic.

The Pantheon was one of my favorite spots in Rome. "Amazing" doesn't even begin to cover it. This structure was built around the 1st century. How is that possible?! And so cool that there is no covering on the top of the dome. Tuesday was also filled with gelato (obviously), markets (obviously again), and pizza.

Wednesday was basically spent entirely at the Vatican. What a divine coincidence that we just happened to go to the Vatican on the one day of the week that the Pope greets and speaks to the people. Kristin and I actually saw the Pope! It was even more than that. He didn't just wave to the crowd from a window. He actually rode through the crowd in - for lack of a better term - a glorified golf cart. Such an amazing start to the day I didn't see happening.

Going to the Vatican is definitely a full day affair. We started at the Vatican museums, then moved to St. Peter's Basilica. Add in an hour or two waiting in lines and you'll be there a while. I overheard a tour guide telling his group that if they spent one minute at each piece of art in the museum, they would be in there for 14 years! I think it's significantly bigger than even the Louvre in Paris. They did have some amazing pieces of art. My favorite rooms were the tapestry room, the map room, and all of the amazing designs on the ceilings. The Sistine Chapel was definitely much different than I expected. I guess I didn't really know what to expect, but it was a lot darker and more intimate. Michaelangelo's ceiling fresco of the Genesis stories was especially beautiful. It baffles me they had the tools necessary to do that 500ish years ago. And St. Peter's Basilica . . . Wow! Amazing on an entirely different level. Big, exquisite, and a work of art.

Thursday was a very important day in every Holy Cross student's semester: enrollment. This is when every student Senior gets to sit at their computer at 7 AM and enroll in their classes for the following semester. It can definitely be a little stressful, and dealing with it while in Rome made it no different. It was kind of funny, though. I was standing in the Campo di Fiori market eating fruit, talking to Mom on the phone because she was doing it for me. Not the conversation I expected to have while in Rome! I rarely have problems getting the classes I want; usually I go 4 for 4. So, of course, this is the one time I don't get two of the courses I wanted, a history and an english. The history class is the Irish American Experience. How perfect would that be?! So perfect! I'm still hoping a seat will open up.

Tracie flew in to Rome that morning because we were spending the weekend together, so after that complicated experience we headed to Ancient Rome for the afternoon to see the Roman Forum and the Colosseum. The cool thing about Rome is that even though its a pretty big city, you can basically walk everywhere. We ended up joining a tour group in the Roman Forum and the Colosseum which I think was a good idea because we got to learn a lot more about them and understand their significance, instead of just seeing them. Similar to the Pantheon, the Colosseum is such an extraordinary structure that was built really before any type of advanced technology. The Romans certainly kept themselves busy with these projects!

Around 7:00pm we met up with Tracie's friend from Holy Cross, Dan, who is studying in Rome and had dinner together. The cool part about study abroad (one of the many cool parts) is I have definitely gotten to know a lot of people from Holy Cross I never would have met had I stayed in Worcester this year. So now I still have all my friends from the past two years, along with a bunch of new ones! It's a nice feeling to have this common bond with a bunch of other Juniors who also spent time abroad, whether you're super close with them or not.

Who loves small world surprises? I do! And I haven't really had any this year so this was especially cool. The four of us were walking out of Piazza Navona when a school group rounded the corner and I saw a girl from my town! She had been a Freshman when I was a Senior, so I haven't seen her in a really long time. She told me she was on a school trip to Italy with her English class for a week. Crazy, huh?! Very.

For all intents and purposes, this is the end of the Rome portion of the trip. It was an amazing three days. Rome is a city so many people know and desire to visit, so I feel very privileged I had the opportunity to do so and see places that are such staples in world history. Now comes the best part! Amalfi Coast!

Slan!

Florence!

2011-04-19T09:37:00.001+01:00

We checked into our Florence hotel around 5:30 pm Sunday evening, unsure of how we wanted to spend the evening. We definitely didn't need food, and most museums/places we wanted to see were closed for the day. I had read in my "Let's Go Europe" guide book about the Piazza Michaelangelo and its amazing views of the entire city, especially when the sun is setting. I'd also been told by former Study Abroad goers that it's a place you have to get to, so we decided to check it out. The many, many steps up to Piazza Michaelangelo were so worth it, and my year abroad feels that much more complete having been there. We ended our night drinking cappuccinos at a cafe overlooking the city, excited for the next day!

Surprise, surprise! Monday was hot again. But after plenty of cold and cloudy days this year, some heat was a nice change of pace. We checked out Florence's market (another surprise, another market!) and I had a delicious spinach and mozzarella sandwich for breakfast. We learned Florence kind of shuts down on Mondays. A bunch of museums were closed, like the Ufizzi and Accademia, which was a shame because we really wanted to see the David statue and Da Vinci's sketches. This was disappointing, so we re-worked our schedule a little bit and saw a few other cool things we hadn't planned on seeing, like the Badia, a 12th century monastery. We also went to Santa di Croce, where Galileo, Machiavelli, and Michaelangelo were buried, which I thought was especially cool and beautiful. We also went into the Duomo, a huge, central meeting place in Florence with an incredible dome.

Highlight #1 of Florence: GROM. It changed the way I thought about gelato. That's a little dramatic, but Kristin and I agree it really was the best gelato we had the whole trip. Caramel and chocolate - absolutely perfect.

Highlight #2: Everyday at 5:40, up at the church in Piazza Michaelangelo, the monks start chanting. It's an incredible thing to hear. They are not doing it for tourists or because people are watching. They are solely focused on their relationship with God. Witnessing that was very special.

We had the most amazing dinner Monday night at a restaurant suggested by Mattea and Emily. Their Italian knowledge was very helpful! The restaurant was called Quattro Leoni, and it was a meal I will not soon forget. White lasagna with artichokes. YUM! Afterwards, we went to a restaurant we had passed on our way to Piazza Michaelangelo for dessert.

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped in Piazza Republicana where we heard a beautiful violin and bass playing together. A lit up carousel was in the background, a man walked around selling roses, and a street artist was creating art in front of us. A bunch of Italian teenagers, probably 16 or 17, enjoyed all of this activity, dancing around with one another and laughing out loud, loving life. So cool, right?! My friends and I didn't hang out in piazzas when we were 16 listening to street music. Italy seemed very cool at that moment. But I was also very grateful I got to experience that moment, too!

Florence was a very quick trip. We woke up early Tuesday morning and headed straight to Rome. I hope to return to Florence one day, just not on a Monday when places are closed!

Slan!

Ciao! Bonjourno! Ti Amo!

2011-04-19T09:31:00.002+01:00

It's hard to know how to begin describing such an amazing 11 days, so I will start with the obvious - it was unreal! And I mean that literally. 90% of the time the weather was perfect and it felt like paradise. Especially when we were in Venice and the Amalfi Coast, right on the water. I can't believe I was just in Italy for almost 2 weeks! 11 nights to be exact. What a whirlwind. It's funny because going back to Cork, back to "reality," is only my reality for another 30ish days. So it's not even my real reality. OK, that's confusing. Back to Italy. First stop, Venice!

Definitely a poor choice wearing leggings and a sweatshirt to Venice. It was HOT! Like summer hot. How I've missed you, Mr. Sun. Kristin and I checked into our hotel and immediately changed into one of the many summer dresses we had packed. It is so much easier packing for warm weather. Shorts and flip flops are so much lighter than boots and bulky jackets. And how did we get to our hotel, you ask? A water bus! Literally, a bus on the water. There are absolutely no cars in Venice. I saw one big parking lot near the bus and train stations, but since Venice is completely surrounded by water it's just all boats and walking. Everyone has a boat. The garbage boat, the police boat. So funny!

Kristin and I were both so taken with Venice's beauty we spent most of our first day (Thursday, April 7) walking by the water and simply enjoying the beautiful weather. Venice is a very unique kind of city. Most of the side streets are incredibly narrow like alleys where barely two people could walk next to each other at a time. We were told that you can't really get to know Venice without getting lost hundreds of times, which is true, but thanks to nice Venetians and signs everywhere we didn't have too much of a problem. Thursday was also when we got our first gelato! I had strawberry and vanilla. After 11 days I have become quite the gelato connoisseur and have decided tiramisu is my absolute favorite. Thursday was also very memorable because of two other purchases. Right when we walked out of our hotel that morning, we spotted the cutest suitcases. We both fell in love and just had to have them! We got the guy down to a pretty good deal (40 euro for two) and walked away the proud owners of some great luggage. They were very useful over the last 11 days and I hope to use them for many more trips to come. And I'll always be able to say "Oh, you like my suitcase? It's from Venice." I also found a great pair of red sunglasses, exact replicas of my favorite sunglasses I lost last summer. It must be fate I found another pair just in time for summer 2011.

Day 2, Friday, brought us to Verona, and it was even hotter than the day before. Verona has two main piazzas: Piazza Bra and Piazza Erbe. Piazza Erbe is home to Verona's very extensive market, with stalls selling everything from scarves to Macedonian fruit cups, and I bought a couple of each. Europe definitely does like its open-air markets. I feel like there's at least one in every city we visit. I'd love to hunt around this summer and see if Greenwich has any markets I can explore.

Coolest part of Verona? Casa di Julietta - Juliet's house! Right off Piazza Erbe sits Juliet Capulet's house, an icon of star-crossed lovers everywhere. I admit it, such a tourist trap. Juliet isn't even a real, historical figure! But as you enter the courtyard, both walls on either side are completely covered with couples' initials, reflecting on the renowned love story Romeo and Juliet. Kristin and I left our mark too! We wrote HC 2012 inside a big heart. How cheesy are we?

The second best part of Verona actually didn't even happen until we were on the train back to Venice. I checked my e-mail on my phone (I say with complete seriousness that I owe my life to my Blackberry) and I found out I am a finalist to be a Senior Admissions Interviewer! I am so excited! Remember when I said I had to prioritize my activities and only apply for what I'm really passionate about? Well, this is something I definitely want to do, and I think I'd be pretty good at it. We had already eaten dinner, so we went to one of the beautiful restaurants right on the canal and had a glass of wine to celebrate.

We shared our third and final day in Venice with our Holy Cross friends, Mattea and Emily, studying in Bologna. They had already been to Venice a bunch of times so we took a water bus (so cool!) to a nearby Venetian island, Burano. Burano reminded me a lot of Kinsale - cute, quaint, and tons of color. Every house was painted bright pinks, greens, and oranges. Of course, we took a break for some gelato.

On our way back to the main land, we made plans to make a pit stop in Bologna the next day on our way down to Florence. Mattea promised us the best food in Italy. Big talk, right?! But let me tell you, she came through! Kristin and I woke up Sunday morning and walked to the train station. Bear in mind we were rolling matching suitcases (we were using our brand new ones!) down the narrow streets of Venice, and I'm pretty sure we got a couple of interesting looks from the locals.

Mattea and Emily took us to a very authentic Italian restaurant called Tambourini, and we had the most amazing assortment of meats, breads, and cheeses. Don't ask me exactly what I ate, because frankly I'm not entirely sure. All I can be certain of is that it was all delicious! So delicious and even more filling we didn't even think about having dinner.

Slan!

God is looking down . . . and laughing

2011-04-03T14:59:00.001+01:00

Just got caught in my second rain storm in two days. Instead of being annoyingly soaked, I couldn't help but laugh because I had been asking for rain for a while, and I guess God decided to give it to me. You know when you just want a big thunder storm? But when I prayed for rain, I should have specified I wanted to be inside and dry, when it happened. Not in the middle of my run!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! I've written 2 out of 3 papers so far, and if I can finish my 3,000 word (yikes) Jazz paper by Wednesday afternoon, I will really have something to celebrate in Italy.

Slan!

Ireland Forever!

2011-04-01T15:19:00.001+01:00

I've made a decision . . . I'm not coming home! I'm going to stay in Ireland and work on a farm with lots of sheep and marry an Irishman!

APRIL FOOLS! Good joke? No? Have fun pulling a few pranks of your own!

Senior year, where did you come from?

2011-03-31T21:05:00.001+01:00

It seems that over the past few weeks I have been doing more work for Senior year than for my current classes! I have been bombarded with applications for organizations and positions for next year, which brings up the very important question "How exactly do I want to spend my Senior year?"

I've been having discussions with friends and family about this exact question over the past few weeks, and I have come to one very important conclusion. Actually, I came to this conclusion back in December (and actually wrote a post about it), but it's becoming increasingly clear: I do not do well with down time! I do enjoy it, and I've had my fair share of it this year, but I always feel like a slacker and that there is something else I could/should be doing. I feel like I have gotten relatively involved this year, with Slainte and the Alumni office, but honestly it's nothing compared to my extracurricular schedule at Holy Cross. That's partly why this year has been so great.

Transitioning back into Senior year (final year at Holy Cross - gag me), I feel like I'm already setting myself up for total and complete exhaustion. I made a list of all the things I had wanted to participate in and at one point it was about 8 items long! Retreats, Student Government, Fall Orientation Leader, Senior Admissions Interviewer, and the list continues. And I haven't even included my four demanding classes! Whoa girl, pump the brakes! I partly felt that I was overcompensating for not being at Holy Cross this year by wanting to do a 1,000,001 things next year. Filling out these applications, I almost felt like a Senior in high school again filling out college applications, trying to be involved in everything thinking that would make me the best. But if Holy Cross has taught me anything the past two years, it's that being passionately involved in a few groups is way better than overloading yourself.

So I've applied for the activities I want to add to my Senior year calendar. We'll see what happens.

Another solid life lesson learned abroad . . . . why am I not surprised?

Has the anticipation been killing you?!

2011-03-31T11:59:00.005+01:00

Sorry for the "slight" delay. I can say things have been busy, which is true, but I feel like once I start getting slightly behind on blogging it's hard to get back up to date. But I'm here and I have some lovely photos to share from when my family came to visit two weeks ago! Saying it was a great time is truly an understatement. It was so cool having them on "my turf," especially once we got to Cork. I was able to show off my apartment, the UCC campus, the English Market, and generally just everything I have gotten to know in the city over the past 7 months (7 MONTHS - unbelievable!)

I met them in Galway the day after St. Patrick's Day (which I will just say was madness, and leave it at that). We spent the night there before heading down the western coast to the Cliffs of Moher. Third visit to the Cliffs for me and they have never been so beautiful! We also drove through the Burren, which is this amazing landscape region of rock right on the water. And, if any authority asks, I did not "borrow" a rock from the Burren as a memento!

We stayed in Killarney on Saturday night. This is definitely a town I would love to go back to. We didn't get to spend as much time exploring the town as I think we all would have enjoyed, and I keep hearing from people back home that it's really fun to rent bikes and ride around the town and National Park. Maybe between Italy and heading home I can squeeze in a visit! (:

Sunday was an unforgettable day of sights. Sights I will probably never have the privilege of seeing again, and I am so happy I got to experience it with my family. We drove down to Dingle, which is probably my favorite place in the entire country. If you guys remember, I went to Dingle over Halloween weekend and absolutely loved it, so I'm glad my family also got to see it. After some shopping and fish and chips, we drove around the entire Dingle Peninsula, which is the coastline literally right on the water. You look down, there's the ocean! It's crazy to think the next sign of land once you set sail from Dingle is North America! I really can't describe the sights we saw. All I can say is I'm certainly glad my Dad wasn't driving because all of our eyes were glued to the scenery, and that probably would not have ended up so good!

We made it to Cork on Sunday night, ready to explore the city on Monday. Our first stop was tea and scones with Maeve and Caroline (from the Alumni Office) on Monday morning. My Mom, Dad, and Grandma met me outside of my apartment Monday morning and we headed to the Staff Common Room so they could meet the two women I have been mentioning all year. My family definitely agreed it was nice being able to put faces to the names, and all of the amazing things I say about them are true. They are two of the nicest women and I am so lucky they have played a part in my abroad experience.

Also on Monday we took drives to Cobh and Middleton. Cobh has a ton of Irish heritage history because this was the town many Irish immigrants set sail from when going to America. And Middleton is home to the famous Jameson Distillery. We all took the tour, though no one was as daring as me to take part in the whiskey taste-testing like I did in Dublin back in November!

Monday night was the perfect last night. We went to a pub in the city for dinner called Clancy's and all got very typical Irish dinners (haha Timmy got pizza). Then we walked to An Spailpin Fainac for a traditional music session. Everything about the night was perfect: the atmosphere at dinner, the pub for music, and the fact that I did a Baby Guinness with Joey and my Mom!

I had the BEST time with my Mom, Dad, Joey, Timmy, and my Grandma. By the end, I was sad they had to leave, but I realized it is about 8 weeks until I get home! Now it's only 7 weeks! Thats' nothing! I spent more time than that at camp last summer, so I certainly know how fast a mere 7 weeks can go. And I'm spending a week and a half of that time in Italy. Reality check: this year is almost over.

But not yet! I've still got plenty more to do and plenty more to share with you - and promptly, I promise!

Enjoy the photos! I still have so much more to talk about, and now that I'm in the blogging zone don't be surprised if there's another post (or two) uploaded later today.

Slan!

St. Patty's Cork Style

2011-03-17T10:14:00.001+00:00

No school on St. Patrick's Day . . . . Ireland just went up like 100 cool points.

Off to celebrate!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

Keeping It Classy For The 21st

2011-03-15T22:17:00.005+00:00

So my birthday week has come and gone, and it was certainly one for the books! We definitely celebrated right, making it a memorable 21st. The celebrations started on Tuesday night so you can only imagine how tired we all were come Saturday, my actual birthday! Highlights:

1. First trip to Havanas Club on Tuesday
2. Clubs and Societies Ball on Thursday
3. Ringing in the 12th with the HC crew studying in Bologna
4. Classiest birthday night I could have imagined on Saturday!

After spending Saturday afternoon with Kristin vigorously planning our April excursion to Italy (along with a lovely surprise catch up session with my lovely friend Ellie), a group of us headed into the city for dinner at Amicus, a restaurant right by Tesco. We've been pretty good about not eating out/ordering in too much so when we do we tend to do it right! I was wearing a lovely dress I bought at Dunnes (see above), my new black tights, and black Steve Madden pumps. Cork has definitely made me think a lot more about what I wear, and how I wear it. It's definitely not about necessarily wearing more makeup or less clothing that makes the outfit, but just the right pieces that compliment you. I am very happy with the newest additions to my closet and jewelry box!

As you can see in my photo, I ordered my first legal drink as a fully-fledged adult. In honor of my amazing internship this summer, I chose a Cosmopolitan. Very sweet, very pink, very Sex and the City! The meal only got better when our waiter brought out a special birthday cupcake with a candle on the top!

We left Amicus and headed to Soho, a very chic restaurant/bar for desert and drinks. It was so perfect! It was 21+ on Saturday so I got to use my ID! The bouncer was very nice and seeing that it was my birthday, let those of us who were still underage in too. We spent the rest of the night in a very cute booth with a great view of Grand Parade below us talking about everything - being abroad, going home, past memories, new ones we want to make in the next 10 weeks. And after witnessing the coolest cocktails being brought over to the table next to us, we decided we are going to start St. Patrick's Day with lunch and cocktails at Soho. They have outside seating too so with our luck, the weather will be nice enough to enjoy the city festivities over good food and drinks!

My 21st was everything I could have wanted. A little (maybe a lot . . .) of craziness, dancing with friends, an elegant night, and a beautiful bouquet of flowers sent from the best family in the world! I can't believe I already have two more amazing events to look forward to in the very, very near future - St. Patty's on Thursday and the family on Friday!

Remember, just because you're not on the Emerald Isle doesn't mean you can't break out the green.

Live it up!

Slan!

Back to the Movies!

2011-03-14T00:06:00.000+00:00

Here are photos from the Clubs and Societies Ball this past Thursday. It was very reminiscent of the formal we had in high school, held at a swanky hotel about 15 minutes outside of the city and everyone got all dressed up! Truly one of the social events of the season. The theme was Back to the Movies which will be clear to you from the many movie posters displayed all throughout the ballroom and that we decided to pose with.

Countdown!

2011-03-11T11:02:00.000+00:00

Turning 21: 1 day - actually about 13 hours but who's counting? I am!

St. Patrick's Day: 6 days

Doyle invasion: 7 days

End of classes: 14 days

(:

Ring of Kerry Heritage Weekend

2011-03-08T17:13:00.009+00:00

Now that you're all caught up on my present, I need to backtrack a little bit to this past weekend, when I went on the Ring of Kerry Heritage Trip. Our HC cultural advisor, Vicki, e-mailed us a few weeks ago telling us that Holy Cross was paying for us to go on a trip to the Ring of Kerry offered by UCC. The trip included transportation, accommodations, touring of the beautiful Ring of Kerry, and a bunch of fun cultural activities. Sign me up! It was perfect timing. I knew I would be away the previous 2 weekends in Dublin and Salzburg/Munich, and this would be a great pre-birthday weekend trip. Plus, it was free!

We left Friday afternoon on a coach bus and headed West. The group was all American students except for one Erasmus student from the Netherlands. The two other main schools on the trip, besides Holy Cross, were Loyola Maryland and Quinnipiac. We were about an hour into the trip when the bus decided to break down. We had to sit on the side of the road for about an hour while our bus driver tried to fix it, and then wait for another bus to come pick us up. Kristin and I joked that since our trip the weekend before had been so perfect, something had to go wrong to make up for it!

We got to our hotel and after having the most amazing dinner - seriously, they were shoveling delicious food into our stomachs all weekend long - we listened to a very interesting guest speaker, a man who grew up in South Kerry. I couldn't believe how different life was in South Kerry just 60 years ago compared to life today. He said they had no electricity in his house! I couldn't imagine growing up without something that seems so necessary, like electricity. He also said there were far fewer people living in South Kerry than other parts of Ireland and he went to school in a 2-room school house with very few children. 60 years doesn't seem that far ago, yet it was like a different world.

Good thing we listened to the speaker because it gave us time to digest our huge dinner. Right after that we learned some very cool Irish dances known as set dances. Our guide for the weekend, Marian, said many of these dances are still very popular at large family events like weddings.

Saturday morning was packed with seeing the sights. We went to the Valentia Islands first. Unfortunately, the fog was a little heavy in the morning, and I must say my pictures certainly do not do the views justice. It was absolutely beautiful. It wasn't just the views that made it so amazing. There was the perfect spring breeze, the waves were lapping underneath us, and I was with a great group of students enjoying it for the first time. It was more the whole experience that made it so perfect. I had to keep repeating to myself "Ireland....you're in IRELAND!" Yep, 7 months into Study Abroad and I still need to remind myself sometimes.

Saturday afternoon we had time to rest and explore the small town we were staying in. There was a Minors (high school) Gaelic football game at 4pm so we wandered down to some of the shops and then planned to go cheer on the local St. Mary's team afterwards. Seriously, this country is tiny. Kristin, Tracie, and I were in a book shop and who walks in? My roommates, Sara and Odelit! Unbelievable. Seriously, I was so taken aback and confused. Was I in Cork or Kerry?! I hadn't mentioned to them I was going on this trip and they had spontaneously decided to check out the Ring of Kerry the same weekend. So random! This is a small world after all.

Saturday night's guest speaker was the referee at the Gaelic Football game that afternoon. He came to explain the game, its rules, and the significance the sport has in Ireland. He also gave some of us a chance to try it out, so of course I tried it out. I've got a big bruise on my left knee to prove my dedication to the game. Also on Saturday night we competed in a table quiz, similar to the one Slainte put on a few weeks ago.

Before we headed home Sunday afternoon, we took a beautiful walk to two nearby forts Marian thinks were constructed at least 1000 years ago. So cool! We all thought it would be so cool to be a little kid living nearby and get to play in these huge forts, like one big jungle gym. We also stopped by a beautiful waterfall in the Killarney Wildlife Park where I took this picture to the right.

Best part of the weekend? The walk over to the forts Sunday morning. We got so, so lucky with the weather all weekend and it was a long, perfect walk through the town and the countryside. We also made a pitstop on our way to the forts and got to pet some little lambs! When I say little, I really mean little. Like 2 days old little! They were so cute!

This weekend, we will take a break from the traveling to celebrate the big 2-1! Plus, prepare for St. Patty's and the fam coming in 2 weeks. I love this month!

Slan!

Pancake Tuesday = Major Success

2011-03-08T16:28:00.000+00:00

Couple of major surprises this morning that put this day over the top. I woke up and went into the kitchen to make a typical bowl of Cheerios when my roommate, Lucy, asked if I wanted to help her make pancakes in honor of the Irish tradition of Pancake Tuesday. This is their take on Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. We mixed the batter and started pouring it into the skillet, and although at first I was pretty - actually, very - skeptical, they turned out to be delicious! A much more exciting breakfast than my Cheerios would have been. On top of that, I walked into my Spanish class this afternoon to find a note on the board saying class had been cancelled. Major score! My classes rarely get cancelled here so that was a nice surprise. I ran into a few classmates on my way back to my room and shared the good news with them, and they were also happy to hear this unexpected news. Now that today's class was cancelled, I only have 5 more Spanish classes, and 2 of them are for an oral and class test. So really only 3 more - crazy!

Yesterday was a total work day. I wrote 2 papers, one for my Irish Traditional Music class, and the other for my Anglo-Irish Literature class. Both were pretty painless. For my Anglo-Irish class, I went to see 3 short plays by Samuel Beckett a few weeks ago and I had to write a review of them. I admit it, I am a total dork when it comes to Beckett. I read his play "Waiting for Godot" my Senior year of high school and was totally obsessed with it. Ask my younger brother; he just read it in the same class and I comment about it constantly. I don't know what it is about his work that intrigues me. It's so abstract and tragic which doesn't sound like my type of read at all. Hello, I also enjoy Gossip Girl! But whatever it is, I love it, so writing a review of his work was an enjoyable piece of cake, all the while jamming out to the songs performed on American Idol last week. I've become a fan this season.

Speaking of Pancake Tuesday and Ash Wednesday, I am still mulling over what I want to give up for Lent. I don't really have any super bad habits, like drinking a lot of soda or eating a lot of chocolate, that I can sacrifice. So I am also thinking of things I can take on instead of giving up, like being more considerate of others. I'll have to keep thinking. Any suggestions?

Slan!

Natural Beauty At Its Finest

2011-03-07T11:23:00.000+00:00

Prepare to be amazed!!

Mozart, Maria, and Munich!

2011-03-06T20:04:00.004+00:00

From kindergarten through 12th grade, whenever I came home from school after taking a test, my parents would always ask how it went. Whenever I said, "It was so easy!" they would always say, "It wasn't easy, you were just well prepared."

I never believed those wise words would apply to my weekend away in Salzburg and Munich, and yet they most definitely did. Everything went perfectly! Honestly, it was the smoothest four days of traveling I have ever experienced. Every plane and train was right on schedule, the tours were amazingly colorful and informative, and the hostels were absolutely perfect. My traveling companions Kristin and Anne and I went through the whole weekend raving about how perfectly everything was going. It wasn't until I landed back in Cork that it dawned on me. After planning weekends like this one for the past few months, I have gone through my fair share of mishaps. 150 euro cab ride to Shannon airport, waking up late and rushing to the Paris airport, train rides through Brussels in the middle of the night. My friends and I are certainly no strangers to dealing with adverse circumstances. Throughout this trip, I realized that it wasn't that we were getting lucky with how everything was going. Rather, things were going smoothly and everything was so enjoyable because we did a good job planning it! Practice certainly makes perfect in the planning department, and I'm sure we will only get better at it from here!

Onto the trip itself. Salzburg was absolutely beautiful! I will let my photos speak for themselves. The mountains, the shops, the bridges all added to its charm. It was clear to us right away we had planned our trip during their off season, because the streets were definitely emptier than we expected. Our tour guide the next day told us Salzburg is bustling with people during the summer months because of their music festival, but winter is much quieter.

Friday afternoon we explored the city a little, hiked up to the fortress on the top of the hill, and booked tickets for Saturday's big event - the Original Sound of Music Tour! We woke up Saturday morning, had a lovely breakfast at our beautiful hotel (I can't say enough good things about this weekend!) and headed to the tour. Our tour guide was an absolute riot. You could tell a lot of what she was saying was scripted, but that didn't stop us from laughing! We hit tons of the sites where they filmed the movie, such as:

- Mirabell Palace and Gardens (final scene of "Do-Re-Mi")

- The house where they filmed many of the exterior scenes of the von Trapp family villa

- The gazebo for "16 Going On 17" and "Something Good"

- The path Maria skips down singing "I Have Confidence"

- The church where Maria and Captain von Trapp were married

- We also drove by Nomberg Abbey, where Maria was a nun and the real Maria and Captain got married

Of course, as we drove to each site the Sound of Music soundtrack played on the bus! It was such a great morning. The church where they filmed the wedding is in a town called Mondsee outside of Salzburg where we had an afternoon treat - Apple Strudel. So good! I think I had three strudels in 4 days. Excessive? Never.

The weather was absolutely perfect throughout our entire trip, but Saturday afternoon we got some real, no-joke sunshine! I could actually take my jacket off! I tried not to comment on the beautiful weather because I was afraid the sun would hear me and disappear again. True highlight of Study Abroad '10-'11? Sitting in the square by the beautiful Salzburg Cathedral and statue of Mozart, sunshine reigning down on us, eating gigantic chocolate covered pretzels, and listening to a street guitarist play. It is moments like these when I think about what I would be doing at that exact moment had I not gone abroad. Saturday afternoon? Probably sitting at a table in Dinand Library, tackling the million and one items on my to do list. Salzburg Square or the library? That's a tough one.

Sunday night after dinner, we found a little piece of home while abroad - an Irish pub! It was so cool walking into the pub and feeling a little bit of pride. The bartender was from Dublin and I think he definitely appreciated that some true Irish lassies were there!

Sunday we packed up, said Auf Wiedersehen to Salzburg, and took the train to Munich. The train ride was so pretty! And, luckily, that's the only time it decided to rain all weekend. We passed the snow-covered Alps and many small towns along the way. Thanks to Kristin's great planning, our German hostel was literally right across the street from the Munich train station, so barely any effort or confusion was necessary in finding it. We realized there were at least 3 or 4 substantial, time-consuming things we wanted to do while in Munich, though with only about 36 hours to do them, we needed to prioritize. We decided to explore the city that afternoon, and then the next day we'd take a Third Reich tour in the morning, and then a free (our favorite word!) walking tour of the city in the afternoon. Unfortunately, this meant we would not be able to visit the Neuschwanstein Castle (King Ludwig III's castle that inspired the castle at the Magic Kingdom) or Dachau Concentration Camp, but Kristin, Anne, and I decided we would have been a lot more disappointed if we didn't get to see as much of actual Munich as possible. Excuses #1 and #2 to come back!

I have never considered myself a history buff, but I was incredibly excited about taking the Third Reich tour Monday morning. We met our guide at the Munich train station and headed off from there. I must interject here with an important point - MUNICH HAS STARBUCKS! As a truly authentic European city, Cork doesn't have Starbucks and I have surely been missing out on my routine Skinny Grande Chai Tea Lattes. Not only do they taste delicious, but they are warm and definitely get me going in the morning! Kristin and I certainly had our share of Starbucks this weekend. So good!

Our tour guide, originally from Providence, RI, has been living in Munich for about 7 years and was able to give us a very thorough history lesson on Munich and the role it played during World War II. We saw buildings such as:

- The Hofbrauhaus, a very famous beer hall where Hitler delivered his first speech. Only in Germany would beer and national history coincide

- The street where the Beer Hall Putsch occurred

- The old Nazi headquarters (now a university music building)

- Hitler's office

I was honestly mystified throughout the entire tour. I think one of the most amazing parts was understanding that all of this history did not take place entirely that long ago. Munich was essentially leveled 70 years ago, and now it has been built back up to a beautiful European city. It blows my mind that while it is all historical, it is still quite recent in the minds of so many Germans and it is a piece of their history which they are continually coming to terms with.

We took another tour right after this one ended. One lesson I learned while in Munich was to not steer away from tours simply because it's the 'touristy' thing to do. My wonderful experience in Munich was what it was because of both of the tours we took. Had we aimlessly walked around the city ourselves, taking photos and looking into different shops, I would not have this great appreciation and love of Munich that I now do.

Because this particular tour company does free tours, the tour guides only work on tips, so they have a lot of incentive to be fun, entertaining, and give a great tour. Our tour guide, Sonya, did just that! We walked through so much of the city; we heard entertaining tales about the devil's footprint in a church, peeing in beer halls, and stealing May Poles, as well as somber pieces of Munich history. It was clear that Germany's history is important to Sonya. Her parents were born in Norway and Germany in the 1940s, so World War II directly impacted her family in big ways, which is one of the main reasons she gives these tours. There was some repeated information from our morning tour, and it was really interesting seeing where their facts differed and hearing it from very different perspectives.

Monday night in Munich was quite the event! We ate dinner at a cute cafe in Marienplatz, and then headed to Hofbrauhaus for drinks and lively entertainment. The beer hall was hopping! The oomph band hadn't even started yet and the place was packed, but luckily we found a table. For anyone who hasn't been to Munich, there is no such thing as a "small" beer. It's a "one size fits all" deal, and that one size is a liter! These mugs are huge! It's quite the experience drinking one of these. But as they say, When in Rome (or Cork, or Munich)! The music was exceptional, too. We had great seats and enjoyed very authentic German music.

If you can't tell, I LOVED LAST WEEKEND! Every moment, every single moment, was absolutely perfect. And I can't believe it not only didn't rain, but it was actually sunny at one point! It got pretty cold in Munich on Monday, but luckily I was prepared with my hefty black jacket (thanks Mom!) that can handle harsh temperatures, so I was able to enjoy the whole day of touring.

Expect another post tomorrow about these past few days that I spent at the Ring of Kerry on a heritage trip. We just never stop, do we?!

Slan!

Salzburg/Munich!

2011-03-06T18:59:00.001+00:00

Nothing Beats a Classic

2011-02-25T00:25:00.000+00:00

Something for you all to enjoy as I am visiting Salzburg and Munich this weekend! I'm so excited. I researched a bunch of sites and they all look/sound amazing, so I can't even imagine what they will be like in person. Don't worry, I finally remembered to pack my camera!

Have a great weekend! I'll describe everything in detail when I get back on Tuesday.

Slan!

May 16!

2011-02-23T21:17:00.001+00:00

May 25 and May 27. The significance of these dates? My younger brother's high school graduation and my older brother's Holy Cross graduation. Two big family events taking place within two days of each other at the end of the school year. Ever since I decided to go abroad to Cork, I knew the official end of the program was on May 27 because that was when the last exams were given on campus. So I always knew there was a slight chance I wouldn't be able to attend my brothers' graduations if I went to Cork, but regardless, I signed up for UCC, booked my flight home in May a few days before the ceremonies, and prayed (literally prayed) that my exam dates would all work out for the best and I would make it home on time.

After weeks and weeks of checking the student server for the exam dates to be posted, I finally found out today when my exams are. Actually, it is only one exam, for my Social Theory class. Most of my classes have a bunch of papers to write for the end of the semester so I lucked out with only having to sit for one exam. To be honest, this wasn't luck, but careful strategy. It really is so important to me that I be with my family for these graduations, so I would rather have a bunch of papers to write throughout the semester than a lot of exams in May and not make it home on time.

My Social Theory exam is on May 16! All of my other assessments are due earlier, so this will be the last thing I will have to do before Summer 2011. Then I will have 5 full days to pack, relax, and enjoy the beauty of Spring in Cork.

I am SO SO SO happy this all worked out perfectly. Graduations here I come!

And yay! I've finally kicked the cold. Got healthy just in time for Salzburg and Munich on Friday. If anyone has suggestions of must-see places, I am certainly open to suggestions.

Slan!