London, England

Choosing to go to London right before Christmas was a wonderful decision! The Christmas lights around the city were phenomenal!

Diego and I arrived a day later than the rest of the group (good students not missing class on Friday) early on Saturday morning. We went to Buckingham Palace and saw the changing of the guards... which was really cool. They all came in on horses and there were people everywhere. The British guards wore those typical large fuzzy hats and marched when they weren't standing completely still. It was at Buckingham Palace where we met up with everyone else. From there we walked around the city seeing the Parliament, River Thames, London Bridge, London Castle, Cathedral (can't remember the name), London Eye, etc. That nightlife in London is amazing. Saturday night we went to Piccadily Circus, which is a street and has a huge carnival in the middle of it. We walked around the streets watching various street performers and looking at all the shops and lights. We also went to Oxford Street (similar entertainment) and Trafalgar Square.

We traveled around the city via the underground railway. We got a two day pass for only 10 pounds and used it a lot.

On Sunday we woke up and had the best breakfast we have ever had at a hostel. Then we went to Camden Market, which is like a huge flea market with thousands of people and lots of good/cheap clothes, bags, miscellaneous items, etc. Then we went to Covent Garden Market which is very similar to Camden Market. That night Diego and I weren't taking the bus back to Luton (1 1/2 hours away from London) until 3 am. So we wandered around the streets of London until we found a good pub and spent the remainder of the evening there. Then we went to the airport and flew home having slept only on the bus. When I got home I went straight to bed. And now I'm up and packing for Spain TOMORROW. I just realized that in three days I'll have been in three different countries! Wow!

Buckingham Palace










The Capitol... I think



and people protesting...





The Parliament




London Eye





London Castle and the ice skating rink!




London Bridge - and no Mom, it did not fall down :)






Piccadilly Circus - the biggest snow globe I've ever seen!





Camden Town (Camden Market)



Cathedral (amazing inside!)

I don't really have any significant news other than trying to get a ton of work done before I leave for holidays and of course a few pubs here and there ;)

I sent my secret santa gifts back home earlier this week. I did this extremely early with fear that the poor family member I had would be left presentless on Christmas. It will be weird not being there for Christmas, but I think I'll get over it when I'm sitting on the beach in the Canary Islands :)

This Saturday I'll be flying to London for the weekend. I'll get back on Monday and then fly to Gran Canaria on Tuesday to begin my three week adventure in Spain. I can't believe how fast time is flying by!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year I am spending my very first Thanksgiving away from home. I am a bit jealous of how much fun my family is going to be having and all the good food I'll be missing! I decided to have a traditional Irish Thanksgiving/Thursday night = a night spent at the pubs.



I am thankful for so much. Moving to Ireland was a dream of mine and at times I still can't believe that I am really here! I am so lucky to have the opportunity to do such an amazing thing. At times I actually forget I am in another country. Then I sit back and think to myself, "Omg, I am really here."

I am also very thankful my wonderful family, who support me with every decision I make. They are so enthusiastic and supportive of everything I do and I can't thank them enough for that. Having a great support system makes life so much easier!

It was only yesterday that I checked my mail to receive a package from my parents, a letter from my sister and a card from some family friends. They don't give me the chance to ever get homesick because they are constantly spoiling me with all kinds of stuff!

Finally, I feel I am truly blessed with all my experiences I've had while overseas. I have met some amazing people and made friends that I know I will have for the rest of my life. I was able to adapt to the culture quickly and I feel so at home here.

This Thanksgiving gives me a lot to be thankful for, Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Powerscourt & Maulin WIND!

My first attempt at a video, hoping this works! (watch the girl in the black clothes and white beanie in the middle of the screen, she falls. Also turn up your volume to hear the effects of that wind!)

Hiking Powerscourt & Maulin

Hmmm... how to explain this hike?! It was amazing, hilarious and horrible all at once! The weather was really bad. We hiked for about 3 hours, once again climbing steep hills and rocks. It rained a good portion of the hike, but that wasn't too bad. I battled the strongest wind that I have ever experienced in my life. When we got to the top of the mountain the wind was unreal. People were falling everywhere. No joke, the wind literally blew people over, myself included (only once). It was so cold, wet and windy that all we could do was laugh. We were miserable and at the top of the mountain, hours away from where we started. The plan all along was to eat lunch up there, so we ate according to the plan. But bread slices, crackers and random food was flying everywhere. It was like a mini-hurricane up there. We thought it would be interesting to jump in the wind, so we did and landed a good 5 feet further. We felt like we were flying, it was pretty cool. The beginning of the steep hike back was horrible or hilarious, depending on how you want to look at it :) EVERY, and I mean EVERY couple of minutes someone fell. It was so slippery and I think every person fell at least once. All you can do is laugh at the entire experience because I have never seen so many people fall in such a short amount of time. When I wasn't laying on the ground, I was able to enjoy the beautiful scenery and capture some pictures:







I think our facial expressions here can tell you a bit about the wind we were experiencing!



Look closely, there's a rainbow!






My first attempt at a video, hoping this works! (watch the girl in the black clothes and white beanie in the middle of the screen, she falls. Also turn up your volume to hear the effects of that wind!)

Stressful Week

Countless hours and three papers later... I am finally done with this stressful week! Now I have a little bit of time to update you on the past week or so.

Last Saturday I watched the Ireland vs. France football match at a pub. The city centre was PACKED, as everyone was going to watch this match. France won 1-0 :( I found myself surprisingly into the match the entire time, must have been the atmosphere! Afterwards we went to an amazing pub with a great band. Definitely somewhere I'll be taking my sister, Charly, when she comes in May!



The next couple days consisited of work, work, work...

Volleyball practice

Work, work, work... with a small break at our neighbor's apartment to watch the final football match between Ireland vs. France to see who would make it to the World Cup Finals. France prevailed once again (on a handball btw!), leaving all the lads upset - not the happiest atmosphere!

More work...

Went to play some basketball to blow off some steam. What a wonderful break!

One much-needed night spent laughing for hours with my roommates.

AND NOW IT IS MY WEEKEND!!

Plans for this upcoming week:

1. Going to the cinema to see the new Twilight movie
2. Hiking Powerscourt and Maulin
3. Ice skating
4. Going to a comedy show that is hosted by DCU (Next week is comedy week and there are famous comedians performing every day)
5. Spending Thanksgiving at a pub
6. And more work (definitely ready to be done with this semester!)

Poland - Lodz & Warsaw

Visiting Poland was a huge learning experience and definitely one of the biggest challenges I've had while in Europe. We knew we were going to have some difficulties when we arrived in the Lodz airport to signs posted only in Polish. It only got worse when we went to the tourist information point in the airport to find that they didn't speak English either. Somehow we managed to play charades to figure out how to get where we were going. We decided to take a taxi since Poland is sooo much cheaper that Ireland. 1 euro = 4 zloty. We took a taxi that would have normally been 20 euros for only 5. We had to show our taxi driver where we were going on the map, but had difficulty because the map was in English. Luckily we ended up finding our hostel within a reasonable amount of time. The hostel employees were amazing, and the only people in the three days we came across that spoke English.

The first day we walked around Lodz and saw the city. It got completely dark at 16:30, but we were still able to see a lot. We splurged on a big and fancy Polish dinner that only ended up costing us 5 euros each. We all ordered different things and split them amongst the three of us. Then we wandered around the city some more and got dessert at a cute little cafe (definitely taking advantage of the currency).

We had intentions of going to Aushwitz to see the concentration camps, but were unable to get any information about it. It understandably seems to be a topic that Polish people do not want to talk about. The few people we asked were reluctant to give us any information, usually brushing it off or changing the subject. Because of this and our short time frame, we decided to spend our second day in Warsaw, the capital. We lucked out because it just happened to be the day of Independence for Poland. This meant that all stores were closed and there were special events going on all day. There was military/equipment everywhere, parades, concerts, etc. The streets were packed and we found a ton of stuff to see and do. Unfortunately we couldn't understand a word anyone was saying, but it was still cool to wander around.

We spent our third and final day back in Lodz and went to the Jewish Cemetary. It is hard to explain that experience, but it is definitely moving. There were thousands of graves and to know that these people were tortured and killed with such hatred was horrible.

After leaving the cemetary we saw more of Lodz before heading back to the airport. It was interesting because it's not your typical European city. It definitely isn't touristy, so you get to really see what it is like. It was an eventful trip, but it definitely feels good to be back home. You wouldn't believe it, but I'm now appreciating the Dublin weather. Poland, specifically our day spent in Warsaw, was FREEZING!! The constant rain didn't help the situation either.

Warsaw:








Belen & I



Some of the Polish military that we found everywhere. They were shooting off canons every hour or so.





Old Town:






Indira & I



Belen, Indira, and I. Going in a small group of three definitely had its perks!



Lodz:







Manufactora - the nicer part of Lodz, that actually isn't anything like the city itself.






The Jewish Cemetary:











The Getto. This was in the very beginning of the Hitler era when thousands of Jews were taken from their homes and crammed into small rooms. They were only given 300 calories a day, had no bathrooms, were not allowed to shower, etc. Within two months half of them had died. This part of the cemetary is filled with thousands of graves that have no names. The first getto was in Lodz because it was a smaller town.

Galway/Cliffs of Moher/The Burren

To start off our reading week, Caroline and I went to Galway for the weekend. Traveling from coast to coast only took three hours via the citylink bus. We stayed at a hostel that was in the middle of the city centre, so we were able to walk everywhere. We spent our first day in Galway wandering around the city visiting various places. One wonderful thing about this city is the people. My entire experience in Ireland thus far has been a great one. People are so friendly and helpful no matter where I go, but in Galway they went out of their way to make sure we were enjoying ourselves. I've never experienced such hospitality from EVERYONE we came across.

The second day we took a bus tour to the Cliffs of Moher and The Burren. The two hour bus ride was amazing, as we took many opportunities to stop and walk around. The Cliffs themselves were absolutely stunning - now I know why they were close to being named one of the seven wonders of the world!

After spending all day on the bus and in County Clare, we headed back to Galway. Caroline took a bus back to Dublin while I stayed an extra night and met up with my friend Ruairi, who lives in Galway. What better way to experience the Galway nightlife than having an Irish lad taking me to all the best pubs?! It was a lot of fun!

Day 1:









Lovely Galway Bay!





The Cathedral



In the Cathedral you can write the name of a deceased person on a piece of paper, hang it on the tree, and the church will pray for that person (Mom I put Elizabeth on the tree! :)



Our first night we went to a few different pubs all with traditional Irish bands. My favorite place had a band of about 12 people or so all playing different instruments. At one point a man sang solo and towards the chorus of the song, EVERYONE (minus the two foreigners) in the pub sang along, it was a good craic!



Day 2:

Lovely weather following us once again! (the day before it was so windy at the cliffs people couldn't walk to a certain spot because the wind might blow them off)







The Cliffs of Moher












Black Head







Dunguaire Castle