Hanging out in Galway!

Hey Everyone!  I spent last weekend in Galway, and I am spending this one here as well!  It's been good to get caught up on many assignments and projects I've put on the back burner.  I'm also starting to prepare for finals, so that is good as well.  I've spent a good deal of time with my amazing friends the past two weeks...it's been brilliant!


Two Thursdays ago, Jess, Katie, Michelle and I went out with Jess's Irish friends Ciara and Laura.  It's always a good time!  We went to Jess's apartment before, and I tried Jameson for the first time.  Jameson is Irish Whiskey, and it is actually rather nice.  We mixed it with red lemonade, and it tasted like licorice.  As always, we had a great time!  I also got a Berry Bulmers, which was quite fruity and delicious :)

Last weekend was pretty fun.  Friday we spent a lot of time shopping in the afternoon.  I had a lot of my Christmas shopping done beforehand, but I finished it all on Friday!  Don't ask what I got you, because it's a surprise :)  We also got pizza at our favorite pizza joint, Napoli's.  It's so delicous, and cheap!  But yes, Friday was full of shopping and going in and out of all the touristy shops. Saturday was a productive schoolwork day--probably the most productive I've been since I came to Ireland.  I cranked out my global econ essay as well as a few marketing assignments.  Afterwards we celebrated by going out to the Front Door and then dancing at Cuba.  It was a fun night, but a not so pleasent morning.

I laid in bed for a while on Sunday, but managed to get up around noon.  Jess, Katie, and I went into town again for some more shopping--but this time for clothes.  I got a cute pair of boots for 10 euros and a belt.  We got pizza from Napolis again--it's just so delicous :)  Afterwards I did a bit more schoolwork and went to bed relatively early.


On Monday we prepared and grocery shopped for our Thanksgiving dinner, which took place on Wednesday.  Jess's friend Laura is Irish and has a car here, so she drove us.  We got everything except for the turkeys, because we couldn't find one anywhere!  Luckily, Katie and I stopped at another grocery store Tuesday and they had just gotten some in.  So we carried two 13 pound turkeys back to Dunaras in the pouring rain--very fun times!  We had to thaw them out quickly since we only had 24 hours until dinner! 

On Tuesday Apartment 29 had a sundae party as we watched Eat, Pray, Love.  Of course, it was absolutely fantastic :)  I enjoyed the ice cream and the movie very much so!


Wednesday was the big day--Thanksgiving!  There were 17 of us all eating dinner in Jess's apartment, which isn't very big.  We started cooking around 2:30 and had to de-giblet the turkey, which was quite foul.  We had to break the neck and pull it out, along with the giblets--the lungs exploded in my hands--fabulous times.  Anyways, we marinated it, and put it in the oven for some roasting!  We also had mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, mixed vegetables, corn, apple salad, and then our roommate Jessica made apple crisp for dessert.  It was quite the feast, and everything turned out perfectly!  Our turkey did kerplop, but the other one stood strong.  I'm so happy everything turned out fabulously and that everyone had a great time! I'm thankful for all of the great friends I've made here and shared memories with!

Today Jess, Katie, and I went into town and grabbed some pizza, of course.  We also explored the Christmas Markets which resembles Germany's.  There are many countries represented with booths ranging from food, jewelry, clothes, ornaments, and anything you can imagine!  I'm quite pumped to go back on Sunday to buy some treats :)  There's also a booth of stroopwafels...it makes me so happy :)  There's also a large beer hall that resembles Oktoberfest, which will be quite fun as well!

I'm here in Galway this weekend, and I plan to finish up my last two econometrics assignments.  Next weekend we're heading off to Rome to visit Liz, our friend from Duquesne.  I'm also meeting up with my friend from elementary school, Andrew, who is also studying in Rome.  I haven't seen him since like 8th grade, so it'll be nice to see him! 

Our final exam also came out. I have my two hardest finals (managerial econ & econometrics) on Wednesday December 8th.  Global Econ is Monday Dec 13, Imagining Modern Ireland is Tuesday Dec 14, and Marketing is Friday Dec 17th.  I'm trying to plan a trip to Norway/Sweden sometime around December 9-11/12th.  If I go I'll have to go alone, so I'm a bit scared--but I think it'll be fine...I'll just have to do some intense planning.

P.S. I may start using "ye" in my vocabulary instead of "you all"...please don't judge me.

That's basically all that's been going on!  Hope everyone is well!

LoveLove,
Christy

Belfast, Giant's Causeway, and Derry

Hello everyone!  Hopefully people read this... but regardless, it's a good recap for myself.  I plan on printing out this blog and turning it into a little souvenier book to recap my trip :) Cheesy, I know...but I think it's a good idea :)


Anywayssss. I've been attempting to buckle down and do schoolwork moreso than the previously--trying to keep myself busy and actually not wait to the last minute to start studying.  What can I say, I'm a nerd haha.  On Thursday night I did go out with the girls and the Italian Community to a pub in Galway.  We weren't really feeling that scene, so headed to the front door, where I wasn't really feeling that scene...so I left early and went to bed.  Did I mention that I love sleep? Well, I do.


Friday was a chill day that we spent shopping down in Galway.  I bought electric blue high heels for 2 euro..which is about $3, so sweet deal!  I also got some black skinny jeans and a few little trinkets...and some pizza. 


Saturday morning Jess and I left early to catch the bus at school heading towards Belfast.  We went with the International Students' Society, so there were about 100 of us.  The bus ride was rather long, and we got into Belfast around 1:30 where we immediately hopped on to a tour bus.  It was a rather rainy day, and the bus was moving very fast and didn't stop at important sites, so most of my pictures are hazy blurs.


But the tour started off through city center where we passed the opera, city hall, town hall and then moved towards the Titanic Quarter.  Titanic was built in Belfast, and we saw the pumping station and where Andrews actually designed the ship.  There is also a Titanic museum that is currently being built.  We continued riding on the bus until we ran into Parliament and then passed St. George's Market.


For those of you who do not know, Belfast is a city with many tensions.  There was constant war between political parties, which stemmed into relgions, and it lasted for 30 years.  The city is seperated with Protestants living on one side, and Catholics the other.  There are gates that prohibit traffic from freely flowing, and they are closed at night.  Along the gates stem "peace walls" which completely seperate the two sides.  There are also murals all over the city that are political and international.  The political murals represent the 30 years war and the attrocities that occurred.  Many of the political murals are being painted over and transformed into international murals as Belfast moves forward.  The 30 years war ended nearly 10 years ago, but you can feel the tension throughout the city.  The city is also full of barbed wire to this day.

After the tour ended, we checked into our hostel and hit the streets to explore.  However we were hungry, and decided to grab some dinner at a little restaurant in Victoria Square, which is a 4 story outdoor mall.  We got done at like 6:15, and everything was closed.  Legit, everything.  The streets were empty with the exception of some drunks.  It was also pretty sketchy and not well lit, with lots of creepy allies.  We decided to stroll around a bit, take some pictures, and see if there was anything going on.

The picture above is a picture of the dome of Victoria Square.  You can go up the glass dome that overlooks the city for some spectacular views--but it was closed by the time we got up there.  We went back to the hostel to see what everyone else was doing, but everything was closed, so no one was really up to anything.  I ended up passing out super early.  We got up early in the morning in attempts to find some breakfast, but everything was closed, so we didn't have many options.  I did spy a cool cathedral and some neat murals though.

I also got a better view of Belfast's "Leaning Tower of Pisa" which is a clock built for Prince Albert that's built at an 8 degree angle.

We then hopped on the bus and headed towards the Giant's Causeway which is in Northern Ireland along the Atlantic.  The Causeway is significant because it has thousands of rock pillars that are hexigonal in shape.  These are natural, and were formed by volcano.  Others believe that it was formed by the giant, Finn McCool.  It's also interesting, because there is evidence that this part of Ireland used to be a desert climate because the rocks are "peeling like onions", which is what happens in the desert when the expand/contrast due to temperature changes.

Below are miscellaneous pictures that I took from the Causeway.  We also climbed up that big cliff--yes, I'm becoming a pretty pro mountain climber these days--well at least when I don't have asthma attacks :)

After the Causeway we headed to Derry for lunch.  The Irish call it Derry, and the British call it Londonderry, since it's in Northern Ireland, which is a territory of the United Kingdom.  It was pretty neat.  We went to the Free Derry section of town, just outside the city walls.  This is where Bloody Sunday took place and 14 innocent Catholic protesters were killed by the British.  There are also a few political murals here representing that day and the struggles that followed.

We grabbed some lunch and then walked around the mall as it was freezing outside.  And can you guess who was even at the mall with little children sitting on his lap?! Yes, that's right--Santa Claus.  It's wayyyy too early for that!  Christmas is everywhere and there's Christmas music playing in the stores already.  It's quite bizarre and makes me eager to celebrate the holidays at home--which could be a good or bad thing, I suppose.

Anyways, Belfast and Derry were a great time, and a great experience.  They were a bit sketchy, but with all that history, it's only normal.

I'm in Galway for the next two weekends which will be quite bizarre since I haven't actually stayed in Galway for an entire weekend since the first weekend we got to Ireland.  Hopefully I get lots of work done :)

Hope everyone is well!

Peace & Love

Christy

Paris, Brussels, & Amsterdam

Hello! The previous week wasn't too exciting...actually pretty crappy to be honest...but the weekend definitely turned around :)  Katie and I had a three day whirlwind adventure to Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam...and it was quite the trip!


Katie and I left Galway at 1:45 am Thursday to take a bus to the Dublin Airport, where our flight to Paris was departing at 6:15 am.  We then took a bus to central Paris, and got in around 10 am.  We didn't know where we were, so we decided to stroll along, eventually ending up at the Arc de Triomphe.

We decided it'd be a good idea to catch a hop on hop off bus, since we only had a day in Paris, so we stalked one down and caught it at the Arc.  The first thing the bus took us to was the Eiffel Tower, which was just as beautiful as it was when I visited a few years back.  As you all know, the terror threat level is quite high at the moment, so the Tower is pretty well guarded.  There was plenty armed men with rifles walking around...which was a bit scary.

Continuing on our adventure, we stayed on the bus until the Louvre.  We passed many city parks, monuments, a "royal" hosptial, Place de la Concorde, and I even saw a glimpse of "The Thinker", which was pretty neat.  We hopped off at the Louvre and explored the surroundings.  We didn't go into the Louvre, which was fine by me since I've already been, and Mona Lisa is actually pretty small.

The next stop was the Cathedral of Notre Dame, which was luckily, free to get into.  The outside is muchhhh more extravagant than the inside, which is pretty hollow.  Nonetheless, still gorgeous.  We explored the little shops surrounding the cathedral and grabbed some lunch before heading back to the bus.

We drove through the city, passing the Opera until we reached our bus stop to change busses.  We hopped on the bus heading to Montmartre, which is where our hostel was located.  We passed Paris's Red Light District, including Moulin Rouge--which is where the first can-can was done (and striptease, while doing it!)  We then hopped off, and headed up the steps leading to the Sacre Coeur, which was quite stunning.  I don't remember going up to see it the last time I was in Paris...so I'm definitely glad I saw it this time :)

Our hostel was located right behind the Sacre Couer, so we headed there to check in.  We walked around Montmartre a little, and then went to bed super early since we had been on the move since 1:45 am Thursday!


We woke up early Saturday morning and took a taxi to the bus station where we caught a bus heading for Brussels, Belgium.  It was about a four hour bus ride since there was some unexpected heavy traffic.  We got into the city near Midi, and wandered around until we found the center of town, where we hopped on another bus tour (they've become our favorite!). 


One of the first sites we saw was the Sablon Church, which was gothically beautiful...hehe, my sad attempts at a joke. 

We passed some law courts that would have been nice to look at if there wasn't so much rennovations being done.  However, the panaromic views at this location were breathtaking!  Next we ended up at the Europoean Union district, since Brussels is the capitol of Europe.  The buildings were very modern, since the European Union was recently formed.

Our next stop was Atomium, which was built for the World Fair. It's a very very very large metal atom.  In this park you can also find Mini-Europe, which is like a little amusement park.

On the way back to the city center we passed the Royal Palace of the King of Belgium, along with his royal greenhouses.  We hopped off the bus downtown to wander around.  We ran into the Waffle Factory, and of course Katie and I got a tasty Belgian Waffle with chocolate and ice cream--sooooooo delicious!  We did a bit of shopping and bought some chocolates.  We then stumbled upon the town square, which is one of the most beautiful squares in Europe--and indeed it was!

We then found Manneken Pis, which is a statue of a naked boy peeing.  I have no idea why, or what legends are exactly behind this, but it looks like a little boy jacking off, and thousands of people flood to see this.  It's so so so strange.  But anyways, we headed to see it and fought off the crowds of people.

We continued shopping and strolling along, passing many large chocolate figures of Manneken Pis.  There was also a street performing band which were quite jolly playing next to the smelly escargot man. We also stumbled into a tempting little market in which I could potentially do quite some damage to my wallet.  However, I refrained, even though it was quite difficult.  We headed to our hotel for an early nights rest, since our train to Amsterdam left at 7:15 am Sunday.


We got into Amsterdam around 10:15, and immediately headed to the center of town, again not knowing exactly where we were headed.  Of course, we head straight into the Red Light District where there were plenty of prostitutes out at 11 am.  They weren't even mildly attractive, and rather disgusting actually.

Nonetheless we continued exploring until we reached the Dam, which is the city square.  We found a map and headed towards the Anne Frank house.  We wanted to go in, but the line was seriously astronomical, and wound around the block.  With only five hours in the city, we had no time to waste. 

We then headed the opposite direction towards the Van Gogh Museum, where again the line was ridiculous.  However, the I AmSterdam sign was here, so of course I had to take a picture with it :)

We strolled through town and stumbled upon a little flower market, which sold pretty tulips :)

Of course Amsterdam is known for legalized marijuana, and there are "coffee shops" all around.  The Bull Dog is the original coffee shop, and there are a few of them spread throughout the city.  You can legit go in, buy the weed, smoke it, and enjoy.  Brownies too :)  Unfortunately, I did not partake since we only had 4ish hours in the city...but I shall next time :)

Amsterdam is also known for its canals, of course, and it was very hard picking only a few cute pictures of them.  But there they are :)

It was a fabulous weekend, that's for sure, and a busy one at that!  I have already been to Paris, and it was nice seeing it a second time around.  Brussels was also quite beautiful, but Amsterdam was by far my favorite--not because of the weed or sex, but just because of the lovely canals and changing trees.

Hope all is well at home!

Love <3333

Christy