and the goodbyes begin..

Seeing all my aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins on skype yesterday was the greatest!!!! You all look fabulous as usual! :)

Life has been craziness since tuesday! I started getting sad that I eventually have to go home and face reality so Melissa and I went for along walks around the city and reminisced! That night we started giving our farewells to our french roommates in our flat and had our farewell dinner with just the americans and our professors. We ate at a nice restaurant and went to this really neat apartment bar. Then we went to our favorite tuesday night club to see the frenchies.

Wednesday and thursday we finished up our final exams and presentations! One of my presentations was with Hadiren, Zoe and Thomas and we were selling hidden valley ranch dressing to our irish professor, it was great they loveeed it! haha classic. Then after school thursday we went to Trinity College to enjoy a pint in the sun! They have a great pub on campus and there were literally 2000 students just sitting out and hanging out with friends, weird. Good friday everything was closed but Melissa and I took the train to Dun Laoghaire to walk the peer and see the lighthouse. It was a really pretty yacht club and peer walk. We came back from the peer and had to start packing up our apartment... saddddddd dayyyyy. The french girls came home shocked because we took our maps off the kitchen walls and had our suitcases packed. Saturday we met our friend Sam and his mom and went to the farmers market and explored Dublin even more, it was a gorgeous day!! At night we got classy and drank wine, cheese, fresh olives and grapes in their luxury hotel, we felt great haha.. a step up from Griffith Hall id say. That night we went out and celebrated Sams last weekend in Dublin :(

Quite the experience at the Gaelic football matches Sunday!! Melissa and I thought the match started at 12:30 so we woke up early and headed to the stadium. After an hour of walking we found Croke Park and it was silent.. haha the match didn't start until 2! So we walked around a while and then finally went it. As the players started warming up on the field we realized this wasn't the traditional football (soccer) game we thought it would be.. they were throwing the ball, bouncing it, nearly tackling each other, and punting the ball through the rugby field goals or into the soccer net! It was a totally awesome sport. A mixture of rugby and soccer but with virtually no rules.


About halfway through the game more people started pouring into the stands and we realized it wasn't Cork vs Dublin on the field, rather Donegal and Louis haha.. the Dublin game was at 4pm! Soooo naturally we stayed and the fans packed into the stadium, in our section alone 12,000 in baby blue. Their chants were hilaroius "we love the boys in blue the mighty boys in blue, the mighty boys, boys in blueee" and they kept repeating it dragged out with their fabulous accents haha. very creative. Dublin was up by 8 and then let the lead slip away and lost by 1 in the very end. The fans literally just crowded the streets after but were totally calm, just walking in the middle of the road, no one comes to the games in cars.

The car rental fell through for today because ended up having hidden fees that we couldnt fork up, so we decided to take the train to the Dingle Peninsula tomorrow! We are renting bikes and doing the ring of Dingle (30 miles) by bike instead! We will be there for 3 days, then coming back and our french friends are throwing our last dinner party thursday night, celebrating our french friends birthday friday and our farewell dinner for the entire program friday night, most likely a crying day saturday, then taking melissa to the airport sunday and picking up jason!!

I'll try to keep you all posted, otherwise see you soon!!!!

xoxo mo

Life in Ireland

Okay so I haven't written on here in a month but here is what Ive been up to!

April 25th we had an international food night at school where the french, spanish, germans, and americans brought in food! It was a blast, drank, had a live band, and ate allllll different foods, some good and most bad haha. Ive mad such close friends with the french!!

April 26th Sam and I took the train to Malahide which is right on the coast. The tide was out so we walked along a really sandy beach the whole time and it was really peaceful. Ate the best ice cream ever, and found seashells on the seashore lol.

April 27th we took a Viking Splash tour around Dublin because Melissa had a friend visiting. It was just like the Wisconsin Ducks but better because we were 'vikings' and we yelled at all the tourists on the streets.. saw some great buildings and then got into the water on the canal and saw Bono from U2's office, apartment etc.














That next we did a lot more touristy things with Melissa and her friends, saw the Book of Kels, it was great! The library was amazinnnggggg... it is where the inspiration came from for Harry Potters library in the movies. 2 levels of ancient books and dome wooden ceilings. We went out with the french and irish friends as usual and on thursdayt the 31st we decided to go to Cork! We took a 5 hour bus ride to Cork which is the 2nd largest city in Ireland. When we arrived we got right back on another bus to go to the Blarney Castle! It was this really huge castle with caves underneath and its really well known for the Blarney Stone. The castle was surrounded by daffodils and little ponds and then we went up the castle to the top up these windy staircases. At the top is the Blarney Stone which you sit down and bend backwards to kiss, its tradition so that women may become eloquent.  Just that day alone (which was a slow day of tourism) over 500 people had kissed the stone, on a busy tourist season over 2000 kiss the stone in one day. Its a hot spot! After that we went back to Cork and meandered around the city. It really is just a miniature version of Dublin. The next morning we got on a bus and went to Kinsale which is a small fishing port town just outside the city. The houses were all up on a huge hill and the port had two really large reminents of stone forts that were built way back in the day. Althought it was very rainy and windy we walked around and went out to one of the forts. It was a really beautiful city and I've heard in the summer its very crowded with tourists and sea sports and such. After spending the night in Cork on the town, we headed back to Dublin to celebrate our french friend Zoe's birthday. Then on Saturday morning the 2nd we got on the bus and went to Belfast as a school trip!

Belfast is Northern Ireland that is part of the UK. There has been riots and battles going on there for hundreds of years between the catholics and protestants, trying to make Northern Ireland part of the Republic of Ireland. It was really amazing we got a tour of the city and they literally have a wall separating the city, one side all green, orange and white, on the other blue red and white. There were tons of murals on the walls painted by both sides that were either about peace or how the protestants will never conform and call themselves part of the Republic of Ireland. Crazzzyyyyyy.. Anywhoo, got a tour and it was a very very interesting experience. We also went to a little market walked around the city with my closest french friends! Did you know the Titanic was built in Belfast? They have the exact cranes still standing from when it was built. They pride themselves on that even though it was the 'unsinkable' ship.. haha


That night the bus left and took everyone back to Dublin but Melissa and I stayed so we could do another tour the next day of the Carrick-a-rede rope bridge, giants causeway, and derry. Melissa and I chilled that night at some pubs near Queens college, one in particular was Van Morrisons bar which was very cool. The next day we hopped on the Paddywagon tour bus and went further north!! The countryside was beautiful as usual and when we got to the rope bridge it reminded me a lot of the Cliffs of Moher. The earth just stopped and there were a bunch of cliffs, the rope bridge connected a mini island from the mainland, really short though.










Then we were off to Giants Causeway. These rocks at Giants causeway were cylindrical and totally amazing. They say volcanic eruptions from 10 million years ago made the rocks like that, but they also say the giant of Ireland and the giant of Scotland had a bridge built so they could fight eachother over a woman. The Scotish woman giant was in love with teh Irish Giant and the Scotish one wanted to fight him for her. The Scotish giant came to fight and the Irish one pretended he was the baby in the bed. The Scotish giant thought that must mean the Irish one is huge so he ran over the bridge and destroyed it so they would never have to fight eachother... just a story haha..

We then went to Derry which is known for the Bloody Sunday battle which was really the start of all the fighting in Northern Ireland. To preserve the city when the fighting was happening they built a huge wall around the city hence its nickname "the walled city."

April 8th had another school trip to hike in Glendalough. That has a bunch of trails in the Wiclow Mountains. We had two buses full of french and americans and we hiked all day in the mountains. It turned out to be a fantastic day outside so we lucked out! After we went to the highest pub in Ireland, Johnny Fox's which had a really antique feel to it.


That weekend was a blast as usual, I signed up for kareokee with a bunch of my friends at a gay bar called The George and I wanted to sing Bon Jovi living on a prayer.. two singers ahead of me and they closed kareokee at midnight. soooo bummed! I have to say though there were quite a number of interesting singers and dancers on stage! haha very entertaining. That sunday it was absolutely perfect day! It was probably 70 degrees outside and it was as if the city just stopped. No one was productive that day, everyone laid out in the parks and there was ice cream everywhere and cotton candy and live music in the squares, it was perfect!


Just this past weekend the 15th Melissa and I took the train to Powerscourt gardens which is 45 acres of gardens, flowers, beautiful trees and stuff. It was again a really nice day and we walked around for a few hours in the gardens, right next door was the hotel the Ritz Carlton! It was beautiful overlooking the mountains, we definitly walked inside and acted as if we were staying there so we could see how nice it was! haha always classy

April 18th I made dinner for my french friends Zoe, Thomas and Hadrien. I made lasagna (without an oven) haha it was a piece by piece lasagna slapped on a plate, delicious though! Thomas made brownies and he messed up the recipe and put too much flour in them.. needless to say when we threw them at the wall they stuck! hahaha so naturally we had a contest on how many we could fit in our mouths at one time.. I won!

This week I have exams, I CAN NOT BELIEVE ITS OVER ALREADY!!!! Saddest week ever. We had our CEA farewell dinner last night, followed by drinks and it was really fun to hang out with our professors and just chat. I seriously think the time has just flown by and can't believe I am leaving Ireland in just 12 days. I have had the best time ever but I just can't believe the time went by so fast! Totally mind blowing.

Anyways, this weekend will be fun, Saturday there is the UCD ball we might go to with our Irish friends. The Universities here have Balls where everyone gets really dressed up and there are bands and stuff.. the one at Trinity not too long ago seemed amazing. It was something out of a harry potter movie. This sunday we are also going to a gaelic football match against cork! Then monday melissa and I leave for our very last excursion in Ireland :(

We are renting a car Monday-Thursday and driving to the southwest coast to the Dingle Peninsula! Our professors are in love with it down there with plenty of beaches, slayhead, countryside, skellig islands and a lot of other places to see! When we get back we have our farewell party with all of the frenchies on that Friday the 29th and on Sunday the 1st Melissa departs to go back home and Jason joins me in Ireland!

We are staying in Ireland for 2 days and then leaving May 3rd to do our backpacking excursion in Italy and Croatia! We are flying to Nice, France, taking the train to Cinque Terre for 3 nights, Rome for 2 nights but 3 days, Naples for 3 nights, then to Bari to catch our ferry to Dubrovnik Croatia for 3 nights, then Split for my 21st birthday woot woot! Then to the prettiest site of all, Plitvice Lakes! There are over 90 waterfalls in just that one national park, its amazing look it up on google! Then after one night there we go to Zagreb to catch our plane for the 18th of May back to the states! It will be an amazing last trip but sooooo sad I am not going back to Ireland afterwards. I will arrive May 18th in the Chicago airport at 8pm.

See you all soon!!!!

love you, Mo

Sevilla, Barcelona, Venice, London

Well I know I haven't written in quite some time so here are a few updates:

I'M TOTALLY IN LOVE WITH IRELAND.

Every time I leave this country and come back, I appreciate the culture, people, and landscape more and more...the weather could be better though :) I have been up to nothing but shananagans since I last wrote after my Florence trip!!! Melissa and I do anything whenever wherever when we feel like it and have met some great Irish and French friends and have been having a blast. 

Midterms were a jooookkeee, 5 questions, choose 3 to answer.. HA. So less stressful than the states. Lets see here, in February Melissa and I had a little kitchen mishap, guess you could realllllly call me a bad cook now. Started a small kitchen fire, quite the scare! whoopsys.. learned my lesson. 

We stayed in Dublin for 3 weekends, going to some local pubs, hiking, and just sight seeing. Melissa, Becca, and I took the train to Rathdrum to try to get to Glendalough to hike, got there and the sign said 17 kilometers to Glendalough.. so we decided to walk! Thought maybe we could get a ride with someone, nope nope its illegal to hitchhike in Ireland apparently! Naturally it decided to rain and after walked two and a half hours we reached a sign that said Glendalough, 8 kilometers! Our train was leaving in 3 hours so we had to turn back to catch it! So we walked roughly 12 miles down a country road with tons of sheep, mountains in the distance, and huge trees.. not too bad of a saturday afternoon! 

So midterms were a joke, as I said, but we were thrilled to start our vacation!! My plane left early Saturday morning on March 5th and I was off to Sevilla! Kaitlan and Tori (friends from high school that are studying in Sevilla) met me at the bus stop and we browsed around the streets (ORANGE TREES LINE THE STREETS! Soo cool) and went to these gardens. They were soooo beautiful! Huge bushes, water fountains, orange and lemon trees. The temperature was great too, probably around 63 and sunny. We caught lunch at a little cafe and then parted our ways. Met up in the park later that day where Trevor (friend from college studying in Spain) met us and we walked around the park then got dinner in a little lit up alley with music and heat lamps outside. We ate tapas.. YUM. That night we went out with Kaitlan and her friends from Spain and that was a good time too. 

Sunday morning Trevor and I met up and we walked around the city taking pictures, being tourists. Met up with Tori and went to some small shops and saw the inside of the huge gothic cathedral in the heart of the city. We grabbed lunch and drank yummy spanish drinks! That night I was on the roof of the terrace at my hostel writing, when I noticed a man cooking in this huge saucer pan. He was making paella and had a huge dish of sangria and it was actually for all of the hostel residents! On the terrace I met some Australians (two of whom are actually studying in Dublin as well!) and Californians and we all went to see a flaminco show! It was really intense! It was two men, one playing the guitar and the other clapping and singing, with one woman clapping and dancing. The rhythm was great and they were all extremely talented, I had no idea flaminco dancing was so passionate!

The next day I was off to catch a plane and join my roommate Melissa in Barcelona. Our hostel was right on Las Ramblas which was very convenient and right away we wanted to explore the city. Its a HUGE city. Sooo many palm trees (which are my absolute favorite) and a beach of course that was gorgeous as well. We found a bike rental place, super super cheap and we rode along the coast line through the zoo park, and all along the beach. Finally we ate a great american meal and the hard rock cafe and headed back to the hostel! The hostel was great and the room view overlooked Plaza Reil which was full of palm trees. There we met a group of Argentinians and went out for a bit with them, came back to the hostel and went to a night club. Can't believe it but in Barcelona people don't go out until 2:30am! Crazy. 

Tuesday I was determined to see the olympic stadium in Barcelona so Melissa and I took the train to the Plaza de Espanya and saw the Montjuic which is a huge museum, we walked around it and got lost in some amazing gardens overlooking the entire city! We found olympic stadium at the top of the hill near the ocean and took tons of pictures. Naturally Melissa and I walked EVERYWHERE and by this time we had huge blisters on our feet, worst pain ever. After frolicking around all day we made it back to the hostel for some free dinner and met some great IRISH people! What a small world, it was a group of about 11 of them just sitting in the reception hall eating and singing their lungs off! Sooo funny. We decided to go out to the Opium club with them. Its this real classy lounge literally on the beach. Melissa and I sat on the terrace there watching the huge waves and just couldn't believe we were there! Met some great people from Holland and chatted outside all night. Finally made it back to the hostel ridiculously late at night. Total success!

Wednesday we woke up and invited a girl from Brazil in our room to rent bikes and tour the city a bit more. We made it to Sagrada Familia, that huge gothic cathedral that has been under construction for years and years! It was really a site to see. Then we rode our bikes up to the top of the city to Park Guell. We were literally the only ones with bikes up there, because it was the most excruciating cycle up the huge hills! The park was so breathtaking though! It overlooked the entire city and the ocean. Anna, Melissa and I of course had a photo shoot and took tons and tons of pictures. We walked around the entire park that was full of great views, ceramic artwork and Gaudi homes. After that we headed back to the hostel and on the way we saw Casa Mila, Casa Batllo and other famous buildings designed by Gaudi! It was really a perfect day. It was sunny and the bikes were so much fun! That night we went to Razmatazz (the biggest nightclub in europe?) with the Irish lads and had such a blast! We were singing in the hostel, then in the taxi, it was like one huge kareokee night! So fun. The club is 5 or so levels of different types of music on each level. Very interesting, the people on stage were in egyptian outfits? It was a hoot.

The next day our plane was supposed to leave but good ol' ryanair cancelled it! After arguing in the airport we were homeless and money-less. We went back to the city, got groceries and had a picnic on the beach. We killed time by reading and writing postcards, laying on the beach, and attempting to sleep! Finally we gave up and by 2am we decided to go to the airport. We slept there and caught the plane to Venice early in the morning!! 

Venezia!!! Sooooo beautiful! We arrived in the early afternoon and got a bus to the island! It was just as I had imagined it! Canals and bridges, little buildings, festive worn colors, and a great atmosphere! We wandered the city until night and took the vaporetto (water bus) back to our hostel. It was a great hostel, room overlooked the canal and main city of Venice! Although it was a chill night, we were in awe of our recent travels and that we were in such a unique place.

The next day we saw Plaza S. Marco and found a park. Wandered around, ate fabbbulous gellato and finally found a cute place to eat. I got gnocci bolognese, FANTASTIC! yumm I cant complain about Italian food, they are masters at making pizza which just happens to be my favorite food!! We then found a new hostel that actually used to be a church which was on the main island of Venice and had BEAUTIFUL views of canals and great houses. That night we went out and bought a bottle of wine and sat on a peer overlooking a canal, decided to get pizza and met some great germans! We ended up exploring Venice with them that night and had a blast! We learned a little german too! Lass mal gehen (lets go), es it cult (it is cold), licheln (smile), and ich liebe dich (i love you)! It was a hoot.

The next day we were awoken by what seemed to be the partridge family! Bunch of kids playing the piano and singing at 7:30am! It was quite interesting. Melissa and I wanted to leave Venice and maybe see some mountains on the mainland but quickly realized we were short on money so decided to travel around Venice a bit more! We people watched a lot and got attacked by an absurd herd of pigeons! Finally decided we were desperately missing Ireland and grabbed a beer at an "authentic" irish pub. We felt a bit more at home but all the news on the tv was in Italian and we were missing on what was going on with Japan, although the pictures did help describe the scene a bit. Sooooo sad. That night we grabbed some pizza (naturally) haha and frolicked around the rainy streets of Venice one last time! It was finally Monday and our plain was leaving later in the afternoon so we decided to take a water bus to the island of Burano, full of vibrant colors and home to lace making! The buildings were hysterical!! Each home was a different florescent color, one after the other. Totally fascinating! By the end of the day we were completely ready to get home to Ireland, but whooops, we are bad planners and have a huuugee layover in London-Stansted airport. Sat, slept, and played cribbage in the airport for 14 HOURS until we finalllly made it back to Dublin. 

Got to Dublin just in time for St. Patricks Day!!!! The streets were decorated with balloons and flags and Melissa Bohl mi hermana was coming just the next day. I have to tell you, it was more exciting getting to Ireland after that long long trip rather than my very first time in Ireland. I know my friends, know where I'm living, and had so much to look forward to that I am just totally in love with this country! 

Met up with Melissa, Steph, Joe, and Rob at the Jameson Distillery on Wednesday and got a tour! The tour was pretty lame but the Jameson at the end was quite tasty. Melissa got to taste test 4 whiskeys, Jameson was by far the best. Then we went to a few pubs in the area and I took them to the oldest pub in Ireland called the Brazen Head. We got some authentic Irish grub and traveled onward to a pub for some live music in Temple Bar area. 

The next day was St. Patricks Dayy!!!!!!!! Got up and got super festive in some Irish clothes, Melissa and them all came over to our apartment and we prepared ourselves for the parade! The streets were filled with Irish pride and flags. The parade ran from O'Connell Street to Christ's Church and was just lined with people. I thought the parade was a bit overrated but it was still interesting. Some cool floats and singers, face masks, a bit more carnival like than I had anticipated. After a few naps we were ready to see the damage in the streets. Everywhere was full of people and the pubs were overflowing! We couldn't even fit in anywhere. Soooo ridiculous. We finally found a pub near their hotel and some of my Irish friends joined us for a Guinness. It was overall a pretty fun St. Pattys day!! Very very americanized, and not what I had expected but never the less, I love Ireland :)

Friday we headed to Glendalough to do some hiking before Melissa and Rob split to travel the Island. We hiked up a hill which overlooked the valley, sooo pretty and another beautiful day! The winding roads in the mountains on the way there were a bit like a roller coaster! Along the mountain edge and all, I was kind of nervous with a new Ireland driver at the wheel! The views were amazing and we made it to the Wicklow National Park that had a great lake and small walking trail. It was so great to see Mel! Her and Rob will have a greeattt time seeing Ireland as Steph had and as I have.

The longest weekend everrrr!!!! (not that I'm complaining) Today we went with our Irish friends back to County Wicklow to see the Sally Gap (where the movie P.S. I love you was filmed). It was another beautiful area! Steep slopes but then country side with wild horses, sheep and little rivers running through the valley. It was such an Irish countryside I couldn't believe it was only a short drive from Dublin. I'm totally in love with the design of the tiny roads and the rock walls and shrubs around it! We had a great time just driving and singing in the car with our Irish lads that we had actually met in Barcelona! They say that when you are Irish you run into Irish people everywhere, they are unnescapable! I don't mind it at all!! :) 

Well, I STILL don't have school until wednesday so there are more adventures to come for me this week! Miss you all, hope all is well! 

love you tons,

Monica :)

Florence and Pisa

Soo.. it was a rainy Friday afternoon when Monica was home alone because Melissa was in Belfast.. when she decided she wanted to explore somewhere new. 12 hours later, she was on a plane to Pisa, Italy!!!

Buongiorno!!! I just got back from the most beautiful and romantic place I have ever been in my life! Firenze! Absolutely amazing!

I left my building at 6am to try to make my way to the airport for my 9am flight. Of course even getting to the airport was an experience! Realized the bus I was planning on taking didn't leave until 7am which was too late so I started walking to the airport! I decided I would walk as far as I could and take a taxi at 6:45 to get to the airport so it wouldn't be so expensive.. well I had left the city and finally asked a garbage man how far the airport was still and he said 10 miles.. then out of the corner of my eye the air coach bus passed me and pulled over! It was a sign! I sprinted to it and it was just 6 euro to the airport for a 10 minute ride, perfect! I felt just like a Bohl when I realized I was ridiculously early and the first at the gate, haha Well, the plane flew over the Wicklow and Dublin mountains, then the Alps of Switzerland and I was already having a great time.

Ponte Vecchio

When the plane landed in Pisa I got on a bus  to take me to Florence. I quickly realized people were speaking chinese next to me, french in front, and italian behind me. The bus started and the song "Heaven is a place on earth" came on the radio..I was so happy to hear the states are always with me :)


When I got to Florence I didn't get too lost finding my hostel and I just backpacked through the city. I got my hostel out of the book my wonderful sisters bought me, "The Best of Europe" by Rick Steves. It was a great hostel and I dropped my stuff off and went out exploring for the rest of the day! The design and architecture of the buildings was absolutely amazing. The streets were so narrow and the buildings were tall and fun colors all with colored shutters and intricate railing designs on the balconies. I wandered aimlessly for a while but found the Ulfizzi and Piazza Signoria Neptune Fountain. There were so many shops in the street and wow were they good at selling, in two seconds I was handing the people money and had bought something! It was ridiculous, no worries, I stayed away from them after that. Then I ended up at Piazza Stazione where there were drummers and flag people performing in the square. It was hilarious to watch because the crowds were so intrigued and the flag people took it so seriously as they leaped around and threw flags into the air! When the crowds cleared I saw tents and quickly realized I had entered CHOCOLATE HEAVEN!!!! Yes, it was a chocolate fair. Chocolate liquor, truffles, crepes, strawberries, fruit, chocolate statues, chocolate EVERYTHING! Yeah I was in heaven. Of course everyone spoke italian and I had no idea what was going on but I taste tested some stuff, yum yum yum.

Gellato!!

After that I went to look for the "Piano Jazz Bar" Julie had told me about on the river banks near the Ponte Vecchio.. I went for a hike, and got sucked into Indian dancing around this musician while singing and dancing to Indian Christian eclectic sort of music it was hilarious. Finally realized the restaurant Julie was talking about was called something different but I went in and it was like 6:30pm and the place was empty!! I got a table for one at the window seat overlooking Ponte Vecchio and I ordered a glass of wine and Gnocchi! Yumm.. It was very a quaint place and I loved it. The waiter treated me very well and gave me extra wine and bread, I think he felt bad I was alone lol! After I went back to the hostel for a bit, took an hour nap and decided to walk around again at night. I got some AMAZING gellato and sat on the bridge just chillin and watching the crowds. It was really peaceful!

The next day I noticed a new girl was in the hostel and I introduced myself. Turns out she had been traveling by herself all through Spain, France, and now Italy and she is from Chile! I invited her to come tour some museums with me and suddenly I had a friend! We walked through Uffizi, went in Cathedral di Santa Maria, Piazza Signoria, Neptune Fountain, toured Accademia Gallery (where Michelangelos' original David is), we went in Santa Croce, Bargello, Maria Novella, Orsam Michele, and walked through Mercato Centrale! We even walked through a peaceful protest in the Piazza della Repubblica against the Prime Minister of Italy, Berlusconi. It was really interesting to see how many Italians were peaceful protesting and what they had to say about the situation.

David

My favorite place was definitely the Accademia Gallery, Michelangelos' David was mindblowing! He was HUGE and if he blinked I wouldn't even be surprised because he looked that insanely real. As Alejandra and I were walking by all of the statues I was wondering what the yellow stuff on them was. She told me a really cool fact that its wax on the statues to keep them together.. and that the word "sincere" come from the latin and spanish word "sin cera" which mean without wax, not fake. So when people say you are sincere, it means your not fake, your pure. I thought that was cool! lol Easily amused.

Anywhoo, I definitely experienced Italian pizza, and pasta and was fairly impressed with each. I must say though, Chicago probably has WAY better pizza than Italy. More toppings and more flavor.

My last day in Florence was by far the most beautiful. It was around 53 degrees and sunny, a perfect day to get lost in the Boboli Gardens. I went by myself and got lost in these amazing gardens that overlooked the entire city. The trees were all curved in on the paths and when you emerged at the top of the hill it overlooked the entire city, mountains in the distance, and all the red roofs and cathedrals were breathtaking! I was in those gardens for 3 hours just exploring and taking pictures of course. It was a perfect way to end the trip!

I got on the bus and headed back to Pisa where I hiked into the city and found my hostel. I knew that my plane left at 7am the next day but I had to see the leaning tower of Pisa once in my life. So I definitely headed out in the city to find it and got lost for 2 hours. Don't worry mom!! Everyone was super nice, no one spoke english but I bought a map and found my way! The tower was SOO much smaller than I had anticipated but it was definitely on a tilt! By this time it was 8:30ish at night so it was pretty dark but I still had a good view. It was pretty and worth seeing but definitely overrated.

After a flight delay due to intense fog I made it back to the rainy Dublin city and the adventure continues! I can't believe I spent my valentines day weekend in the most romantic place in the world alone, but I must say it was completely worth it.

Tomorrow my program is taking us paint balling in the Wicklow Mountains and I'm totally excited. It will definitely be a brawl.. france vs america! Can't wait, other than that Melissa and I have a ton of homework but we will probably do a day trip to Sligo in northwestern Ireland.

Love you all!!!

Galway, Aran Islands, Cliffs of Moher

After this weekend I can check more off of my "must see" list! There were 14 of us that took a bus to Galway City this weekend and it was a blast! The weather was aweful on friday when we left, the bus was swaying back and forth because the wind was so horrible. We got to Galway and walked around the streets and went to little shops, got some grub and then got ready to go out for a night on the town. We went out to a couple local pubs then to the big named ones. It was a pretty chill scene but never the less, a blast. Then we woke up on saturday morning and took a bus to Connemare where our ferry was leaving for the Aran Islands!

The seas were really rough and I was so sea sick that I stood outside on the upper deck while it was raining to the islands, but it was totally worth it the view was beautiful. Got to the islands and there was a tour guide there to pick us up and drive us around the island pointing out really beautiful areas. The scenery was gorgeous! 3000 miles of hand built rock walls were lined everywhere and built 400 years ago. The walls divided each of the farmers lands but they were all relatively small sections so there were sooooooooo many rock walls!! The entire island's ground is limestone and the farmers had to make their own grass by planting seaweed and sand! We finally got to a little town with a cute cafe (most amazing homemade scone I've ever had in my life :)) then we hiked up to the Fort of Dun Aengus which is located at the edge of a cliff and there were more rock walls everywhere and cows and lots and lots of limestone! Keep in mind, this entire time it was raining so we had umbrellas but the mist off the ocean added to the scenery and there were plenty of puddles to jump in.

When we got back to Galway later that day Melissa, Colin and I went to the Bugaloo Burger Bar and got a HUGE burger! So fantastic! The Irish beef is a bit different than ours but still really good. Then we went out to a couple pubs again but tonight was more of a dancing night! Enjoyed some great Irish music, there was a band there with a famous Irish singer and they sang such fun songs! There was a big dance floor too so we were swing dancing for sure.

Sunday we woke up and got on the bus for the Cliffs of Moher! It was raining still (the fourth day in a row) but when we finally got to the cliffs the rain stopped and the fog just cleared so we could see everything perfectly! Pictures really don't do justice for how huge these cliffs are. It's amazing the earth can just end like that, a 700 foot drop off. Well, I definitely took enough pictures of that because it has always been my dream to see them. 

Got back from the amazing weekend just in time to see the Packers win the superbowl! SO AWESOME! To my surprise the bars were packed here! During the national anthem everyone started singing the Irish anthem and then for 10 minutes chanted USA USA... I don't understand these people lol. Needless to say it was a perfect end to a perfect weekend! GO PACKERS!!

Love you all!!!!!

January 28th-30th

Hello family!!

This past weekend was a total hit! As you probably have seen on facebook, I have added tons of pictures from hiking in Killarney. Let me just say, pictures don't do it justice. To kick off the weekend Melissa and I went to the wrong terminal for our train, and power walked to the other side of Dublin to catch a different one! We were wearing only the most subtle gear while crossing some of the top shopping streets! haha. A green jacket, hiking shoes, big backpacks; it was priceless. Then when we met Matt in Naas, hopped in the car and were on our way to Killarney. We got there around 9 at night and I was in charge of finding the Hostel we were staying at, Neptunes. I called the manager probably 4 times asking for directions because we were lost! He said, "Good lord child how did you get yourself to Ireland!?" haha The next day we miraculously found the mountain the guy at the front desk suggested for us to hike at and park the car, Mangerton Mountain. It was perfect! A little bit of a thigh burner but nothing we couldn't handle. There were two false peaks though, we thought we had made it to the top but just over the ridge there was ANOTHER peak and ANOTHER lol. To our surprise though there was an amazing lake in between the highest ridges and frost on the tips of the mountain. When we finally got to the top we were frolicking around like we had conquered the world. IT WAS GORGEOUS! You could see the highest peak in Ireland, and all the rest of the mountain range, the large lakes at the bottom, to infinity and beyond!! 

Later that night we went out and went to a little pub called Murphy's. I tried the Irish stew.. it was literally Mary's little lamb, cut up in a bowl with chunky brown sauce on top. Fabulous.. NOT! The lamb was very rough and the sauce was very bland. Worth a try though! After that we went to a couple pubs with live music and met some great lads who wrote down other places in Ireland to definitely see! 

The next day we drove to find the Gap of Dunloe. Miraculously we found it and WOW.. it was a tiny road no wider than a single bed, and it went up and down and over hills through this gap in the mountain ranges. There were rivers and lakes in between and it was another sunny day. We were so lucky. This road lasted for almost two and a half hours!!! The air was so crisp I can't even describe it. The freshest air I've ever breathed in. 

After that we drove back to Dublin and even on the way home I was astonished by the roads. They were really small but also framed by tall brush or stone walls on each side. It was as if I were in a movie this weekend. I'd have to say it was better than I had anticipated. The newspaper article from the New York Times travel section from October Julie saved for me was what triggered my desire to go to McGillycuddy Reeks. It wasn't listed in Rick Steve's "Ireland" book but I got some friends together and it was the best unplanned adventure thus far. As seen in the article, I hiked a mountain even bigger than the one listed, found the Gap of Dunloe that the author couldn't find, danced to three Irish singers, walked the streets of Killarney pictured, and even ate the Irish Stew. 

This next weekend the entire CEA group has a planned excursion to Galway, the Aran Islands, and the Cliffs of Moher (the background of my blog)!!! Should be amazing, I'll keep you posted!

xoxo

Jan. 22nd-24th

So even though it has only been a couple days since I last updated you, I have gone on so many adventures!! This weekend was perfect. Friday we had our orientation party, lots and lots of frenchies.. Saturday eight of us toured the Guinness Factory! I think it was 8 levels, went through what goes into making the beer, then how they make it, then at the top was the Gravity Bar which was all glass and had an amazing view of the city and a free Guinness to drink! Yum. Then we went out for some live music at  pub called Old Storehouse. Two great singers and guitarists! But Sunday and Monday were the best excursions so far!!!

Howth

Sunday Mel and I woke up and decided we wanted to go somewhere so we hopped on the Dart (a train) for just 4 euro and went to Howth which is a town on the fishing harbor on the coast of the Irish Sea! It was BEAUTIFUL. A perfect little town with farmers markets and an awesome path that went around all of the cliffs for a hike of 3 1/2 hours. Then we sat down for a freshly caught fish dinner on the peer called the Oar House. Really really good fish fry and chips! We came back just in time for the packer game at this awesome sports bar called the Wool Shed which was packed with packers and bears fans so that was a blast, especially when we won!! GO PACK!! The one time I'm not in the states we get to the superbowl!! Sunday was pretty much perfect, but we were exhausted because we didn't get back until 2am.. that's a 14 hour excursion!

Howth

Mondays and Tuesday's I don't have class, (crazy right)... So I woke up and decided I wanted to go somewhere so I took the Dart south and went to Bray. Its just on the coast where the Wicklow Mts are. I got off the train around 1 and had noooo idea where I was going or what to do but I followed the coast line to this trail up to the mountains. I followed a cliff hike that was about 5.5 km long literally along a cliff and it was amazing. A perfect excursion by myself away from the city! The trail went from Bray to Greystones which lasted for about three hours. I think I could get used to day trips during the week :)

My excursion to Bray

Much Love :)

Week One

Bonjour Family!! Haha, as I quickly learned here, the program CEA is not really a variety of international students, more so french students and a small mix of Americans... it has its good sides and bad. Unfortunately I will not be studying with Irish students, I do have Irish professors though. Also, to my disappointment, Ireland is NOT full of redheads, NOR leprechauns.. sad day, Mel and I will go on a hunt for them when we leave the city. 

A little update on what I've been up to lately:  

Went for a couple runs away from the city this week over the canal and went west. I was wearing shorts because its nearly 45 degrees and I thought it seemed logical with a long sleeve. Everyone stared at me like I was completely crazy!! Anyways, I passed a cute park in the middle of a busy streets and it had old rock waterfall and benches, I'm definitely going back there. I hooked a right then and ran down a culdesac, found an amazingly large castle! It looked newer though with an older smaller section, could have been a church or something too. Then I continued left and went around the block and found a huge park! There was the greyhound races track (I think that’s what it was) and tennis courts and the professional soccer team practicing!! Magically I found my way home after 40 minutes of exploring. I’d say that’s a great start to a day.

There is a cute park called St. Stephens Greens in the heart of Dublin,  its just like a mini central park. Walked around and there are bridges and ponds and swans, and awesome trees with really creepy statures. The police men on the dot at 5 would chase everyone around in the park and tell them to leave and force them out the entrances, cant work an extra second sheesh. It was fun to walk around by myself and listen to music and just feel more part of the city, knowing where I'm going and not getting out a map, only used it twice this week! Plus, the weather has been really amazing, it only rained the first day we were in Ireland and that was just a mist, its always been between 40 and 50 partly cloudy. 

We went out to a club with the french students the other night, it was so fun. Its amazing how hard it is to break a language barrier!! French is so hard to learn, every syllable counts. We tried to teach all 16 of them how to play circle of death (a fun drinking game with cards) and honestly it was hilarious, they had no idea what they were doing but I learned some french! The club had the entire roof designated for smokers with a garden and a rock waterfall. I don't get it, they say no smoking in public places but condone it by sprucing up the outdoor smoke areas!? (Don't worry, I do not participate!)

We took a bus tour of the city yesterday and it was amazing. The tour guides name was Dorothy and she had a fabulous accent. The tour took us places we had seen, but others we couldn't walk to such as Phoenix Park. As you could see in my facebook pictures, the park has literally 1,000 deer that roam around and you can get right up close to them without them budging! Also the U.S. Ambassador of Ireland's mansion was in the park, the President of Ireland's mansion was in the park, along with other beautiful monuments. The Dublin Zoo is also in the park, apparently they are known for their breeding of giraffes!?!? crazy. Its known as the largest park in Europe and it is right by the Guinness factory. Did you know the Guinness factory brews 4 million pints of beer a day? And distributes it to 70 different countries! There factory is 33 hectors large and has its own rail system inside!

Anywhoo, I'm learning more and more about Dublin but honestly, I'm ready for some rolling hills, mountains, hole in the wall pubs, etc. .. The first weekend of February we are going to Galway and the Aran Islands for some fun! Out there is also the Cliffs of Moher (the background picture of this blog)!!! Tomorrow some girls and I are touring the Dublin Castle and our welcoming party at a club with all 150 students for CEA is that night, Saturday is a tour of the Guinness Factory, and Sunday Mel and I are going to a mass at St. Patricks Cathedral then going to a pub for the Packer game!! GO PACK GO!!! Monday and Tuesday I may either head out to Wicklow County and see the mountains up close or take the train to some small surrounding cities.. No worries Mom, I'll leave a note  :)

Love you all!

First weekend in Dublin!

So we got here at about 12 noon on Friday and were instantly confused as to how to get around this city!! At first I wasn't too impressed with Dublin not gonna lie, but after the past 2 days I'm definitely in love! The streets have so many forks in the road and are curvy and in a 6 mile stretch of a road the name changes 5 times! So confusing.

 

 Friday we (when I say we, I mean Melissa, Sam and I) slept and then we went out to some pubs but decided to walk to the local ones first. We went in and there were some awesome authentic pubs. Had my first Guinness! Then we got on a bus for just 2 euro and it took us to Temple Bar area, touristy side but amazing live music and fun!!!!!! Took a detour on the way home and got lost for 2 hours, but it was quite the experience!


Saturday we got a tour of the main downtown drag and the CEA program took us out to lunch, there are about 15 people in the program this semester. It was good food small portion three course meals, then we went to the coolest shops and this place called Pennys!!! its amazzzinnggg.. everything is less than 25 euro and they have such cute stuff.

That night hopped on a bus and went back to temple bar area to this bar called the Quays!! (pronounced the keys) It was honestly one of the funnest nights I've had going out in my life! Met soo many people from different parts of the world, actually a lot of Americans too. LOVE THE ACCENT! Mel and I tried to find a pub with the packer game but by this time it was 2am here, places were closing so we got home and we didn't get to watch! :( heard they won tho!

Today I'm gonna go for a run its pretty nice out here, around 9 degree Celsius everyday..misty rains but you get used to it fast. Mel and I went grocery shopping, quite the experience, but I might starve here its so expensive! eek. The rooms are funky, everything has a door to get into it that closes and locks behind you. The bathrooms are hilllariouussss... we call it the "shitshower" because the toilet is literally in the shower area, there is one drain on the floor so it floods into the hallway every shower. The bathroom is no bigger than an airport bathroom.. haha. The campus has a main gate that is locked after 12 midnight and you have to give a fingerprint to get in! Very safe, no worries Mom!! Our view is amazing, out of the living room you see the Wicklow Mts and the canal that splits the North and South sides of the city, this morning there were white swans in it, so pretty.  So far in our apartment its just Mel and I.. we were randomly roomed together! cool beans.. 2 french girls move in today so we will see how that goes!


Keep ya posted :)