Cead Mile Failte- A Hundred-Thousand Welcomes

"Leprechauns, castles, good luck and laughter.

Lullabies, dreams and love ever after.

A thousand welcomes when anyone comes...

That's the Irish for You!"

The last two and a half weeks in Ireland have been a whirlwind.  Here are the major points:

Finals---

Finals in Ireland are very different.  You have a week off for 'study week' (I went to Italy instead) where all of the Irish students try to cram in as much material as they can about the classes they took.  As I have mentioned before, Irish students don't go to all of their classes.  One girl I know has never (in her two years at university) gone to all of her classes in one week.  That is why they all need the study week in order to learn the material.  I had two essays and three written exams. Each essay was to be 8-10 pages long... which is difficult since I'm really not an essay writing person.  Special thanks to Erin for proofreading everything for me!

All three of my exams were in giant rooms of 400+ students from all different classes... in Salthill.  Salthill is up the road from Galway- about an hour long walk from my apartment.  We had to take the bus from school to one of them and a cab to the other because it was in the morning.

(The sunset I walked out to after my first final in Salthill was over)

My first exam was Entrepreneurship on Wednesday the 5th.  It was a two hour long test consisting of four questions.  You pick two and write short essays on them in the time given.  The test was a breeze (I hope!).  

For Econ, our professor gave us mock questions a few weeks before to practice with.  Lucky for us... the questions on the test were the exact same.

Marketing was my last final right after Econ on Monday the 10th.  It was the hardest one because the teacher picked very random topics from our book that we hardly discussed.  Regardless I think I was able to write something that made sense! (I only needed a 35% on the test to pass the class)

(Celebrating the end of finals!)

Beer Tent and Christmas Market--

After my first final, I went to the Christmas Market with Allie, Liz, Ashleen, Kevin, OB, and Giblin.  OB and Giblin are Allie and Liz's Irish roommates (O'Brian and Giblin are their last names).  We all went to the German beer tent that was set up and had ourselves a liter of Oktoberfest beer!  This was awesome because even though I didn't get to make it to the actual Oktoberfest, I was able to have my own little one without even leaving Galway!

(Me and Ashleen)

(Allie and me)

On Allie's last day, the two of us and Melon went to the Christmas Market one last time and went on the Carousel!  It was super fast though... we were all quite dizzy afterwards.

(Entrance to the Market)

(The Carousel)

Tig Neachtain--

The Saturday after Italy, Allie and I went into town to do some shopping.  We wandered around and stopped in front of the Tig Neachtain pub.  We had never been in and we were hoping to get a cup of tea somewhere where we could sit down.  Inside was picturesque.  It looked just like you would image an Irish pub to look like.  It had little walled-off stalls for people to sit in and an open area with a piano in the corner.  While we were drinking our tea and old man got up and went over to the piano.  He played Christmas carols and sang along to them.  I couldn't have imagined a better way to spend the afternoon than to be sitting there listening to him sing.

12 Pubs of Christmas--

It's a tradition all over Ireland that the students do a pub crawl after finals called the 12 Pubs of Christmas.  You start at College Bar on NUIG's campus and follow your planned route to make it to 12 pubs by the end of the night.  The rules are as follows:

Eating is Cheating
One drink per pub
Finish with a round of shots
If you can't hack the pace, get out of the race
Half an hour in each pub
Slow drinkers must be ridiculed
Don't be a wandering drunk- stick to the planned route
Always leave a man down (yes I typed that correctly)
Cocktail drinkers must be ridiculed
No matter how drunk you are do everything with a smile

The pubs we went to were:

College Bar
Sally Long's
Kelly's
Busker Brownes
Front Door
Spanish Arch
Pizza Pasta Shop (We were eating and cheating)
Quays
King's Head
Taafes
McSwiggans
Fibber Magees
Skeff

Now... I think it goes without saying... I definitely didn't have a drink at each pub.  Very few people ever make it to 12... and if they do... they typically don't remember it.

(Ashleen, me, and Melon at 12 pubs)

(Our bows)

Last Night--

My last night in Galway I spent with Melon.  Almost everyone else was gone so we went out for dinner downtown.  After much debate we decided to try The Quays.  We had never been there for food, but it was one of our favorite places at the beginning of the semester.  It felt right to finish where we started.  I ordered the Seafood Chowder and Fish and Chips.  I know---seafood overload.  But you have to do that when  you are in Ireland.  The have the best seafood ever!
After our dinner we walked over to the Tig Coili for dessert:  Irish coffees.  Boy did they make them strong!  Woo!  The bartender was quite generous with the whiskey.  While we were there I also looked for the dollar bill I had them put up.  However, because of the decorations we couldn't find it.  Hopefully it's hanging up there somewhere.

(My dollar bill at the Tig Coili)

Now--

I'm at Shannon Airport.  It seems like just yesterday I was getting off the plane to start my semester.  I can't believe how the time has gone by.  There has been so much excitement over the past few months, but I know that I am ready to go home.


It was a life-changing experience being abroad in another country.  For the first time I had to live on my own and cook for myself all the time.  Although being in Ireland made it tricky to adjust to, I got the hang of it, and with the help of Pintrest, Melon and I became exquisite chefs!  I will bring back my new-found cooking skills (and my ability to improvise when ingredients aren't available) to the States and use them at home and while at school next semester and for the rest of my life.

This has been a semester to remember.  I am so thankful to have had Melon as my roommate!  We were both on the same level of weirdness so we got along really well.  All of the people I met, American, Irish, German, Italian, Spanish, etc.  Everybody made this trip what it was:  a success.  I know that the memories I have made will live with me forever and I will never forget this semester.  I think the connections is what study abroad is all about.  You go to another country not just to go to school, but to learn from people you meet.  When you study abroad you are exposed to people from all different backgrounds.  Not only is that interesting for you because you get to learn about different cultures, but it also helps you gain knowledge and insight for the future when you are in the working world.

So to Galway- thank you for an amazing semester.  I will try to be a bit more relaxed about everything, I will look for the craic wherever I go, and I will call people I meet 'love.'

(Watching rainbows form)

(The Dingle Donkey with the puppy on its back!)

(I'll always be on Galway Time)

Cead Mille Failte- A Hundred-Thousand Welcomes

"May you always have
Walls for the winds,
A roof for the rain,
Tea beside the fire,
Laughter to cheer you,
Those you love near you,
And all your heart might desire!" 

"God then made man.
The Italian for their beauty.
The French for fine food.
The Swedes for intelligence.
The Jew for religion.
And on and on until he looked at what
he had created and said,
"This is all very fine but no one is having fun.
I guess I'll have to make me an Irishman.""

"May there always be work for your hands to do,
May your purse always hold a coin or two.
May the sun always shine warm on your windowpane,
May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain.
May the hand of a friend always be near you,
And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you!"

Italy Day Five- Rome and Home

On our last day in Italy (oh how sad!) the skies were gray when we woke up.  We packed up all of our belongings (most still wet from the day before) and headed out to do our last trek through the streets of Rome.  One last time, we walked by Vatican City, grabbing an espresso on our way.  We stopped in the little shops along the route to buy souvenirs that we had been putting off until now.

The first thing we had to do was to go to the Campo dei Fiori markets across the river.  Caroline loves the pasta mix there and wanted me to bring some back for her.  We found the market with no trouble at all and almost all of us bought some of the pasta mix to bring back.  Not a minute after I had purchased my mix it started pouring again.  The wind was horrible as well.  Overall- not good weather for seeing the Roman Forum and the Colosseum like we had planned for the day.  Nevertheless, we kept on going.

(Campo dei Fiori!)

(Braving the wind and rain!)

It seemed like forever before we finally made it close to the Roman Forum.  We ran into a little restaurant to grab a bite to eat and see if the rain would die down.  Unlike Ireland, however, rain typically doesn't come in short spurts in Italy.  It continued to rain as we made our way to the Roman Forum.  We found a great area that overlooked the whole Forum so we decided not to go inside the grounds to walk around.  I liked seeing it from above better anyway--- it allowed us to get the full picture and take it all in.

(Roman Forum in all its rainy glory!)

(Not a happy backpacker)

(More of the Forum)

From there we moved on to the Colosseum.  After taking an obnoxiously large number of pictures in front of the Colosseum we decided to head over and buy tickets.  There are so many steps in there!  Seriously, I don't know how they did it.  Granted, I was lugging around a backpack and everything I was wearing was soaked and weighing me down, but boy was it tiring!  We were all talking while walking around inside saying that it was incredibly surreal actually being at the Colosseum.  It is one of those things that you learn about all throughout your life... but then, once you are there, you can't believe it.  I tried to imagine what it looked like back when it was still in use, but it was hard to put together everything I knew.  What kind of people keep lions and other wild animals caged up to fight humans?  It just seems like a fairy tale of some sort.

(In front of the Colosseum)

(Yay Colosseum!)

(Umbrellas up, ladies!)

(Cross for all of the Christians Martyrs)

We spent a long time inside the Colosseum just wandering around before finally heading out to our last cafe.  I ordered my last cappuccino in Italy and savored every sip.  Then, we headed to the metro to go back to the train station to catch our bus to the airport.

(My cappuccino with a heart in it!)

It was a once in a lifetime opportunity to be able to backpack around Italy.  I'm so glad Caroline told me I had to get there and I couldn't have picked a better group of people to travel with.

Thank you, Italy, for an amazing experience that will stay with me for the rest of my life!

"These things, I warmly wish for you-
Someone to love, some work to do,
A bit of o' sun, a bit o' cheer.
And a guardian angel always near."

Italy Day Four- Siena and Rome

Day four in Italy brought rain... and lots of it.  The day started out nice enough.  We woke up to breakfast being served in the common area of the B&B.  There were eggs, toast, sausage, tea, and so much more.  I tried Italian coffee, too.  Now, it may just be me not liking coffee, but I really thought it was quite gross.

(Ceiling of the B&B)

The only thing on our itinerary for the day was to go to the Duomo down the street.  It was a beautiful old church.  We got inside just as it was starting to rain, too, so that was quite convenient!  The church has beautiful designs throughout it.  I loved the mosaics of Romulus and Remus on the floor.  That specific design is seen all over Siena (they have statues depicting the tale at the entrances to the city).  I kept up my tradition, and lit a candle inside this church as well.  Where I lit the candle, there were a few women praying together.  One of them smiled at me and welcomed me in when I stepped up to the doorway.  Later, Allie told me that the same woman came up to her as she (the woman) finished her rosary and motioned that she prayed for Allie.  I thought that was really nice and definitely something that Allie will remember about Siena.

(V's up in Siena)

(In front of the Duomo)

(Romulus and Remus)

(Ceiling of the Duomo)

Back outside, we went for a walk around town stopping in all of the shops.  The rain halted for a little while and we were able to see the few of Siena from one of the school yards and look down the alleys of the town.  Other than that, we seemed to dodge from one store to the next to avoid being caught in the rain for too long.  Allie made friends (yes this is a common theme) with a woman who owned an antique jewelry store by the Campo.  She had to have gone back at least three times!

(In the streets of Siena)

(A shop in Siena)

(View from the school)

We waited out the rain for awhile in a cafe where we had cappuccinos to warm us up.  We were drenched all the way through our clothes.  My purse stained my sweater and my jeans (thankfully it came out at the laundromat!) because the dye seeped onto them.

(Cappuccino)

It would be our luck that there was thunder and lightning while we were there!  It was crazy!  Although it didn't last long, it startled us because we never have thunderstorms in Ireland.  The only time we had one all semester, everyone was very confused that that could happen.

Luckily, Fabrizio had let us keep our bags in the B&B until we had to leave for our train that afternoon.  We stopped back to pick everything up later in the afternoon.  It was such a relief to sit down and be dry for a little bit before heading back out into the rain.  The trek back to the train station wasn't as long as the night before, but it certainly was wet.  Torrential downpours filled our walk down the winding streets of Siena outside the city walls.

(Outside entrance to Casa di Antonella)

(Inside door to Casa di Antonella)

Our connecting train from Siena to Rome was delayed by an hour... which meant that we got into Rome around 9:30pm and to the hostel around 10pm.  We immediately set out to get dinner around the corner.  Thankfully Italians like to eat late because we were very hungry from our travels and needed one last Italian dinner!  Afterwards, we topped off the night with a last trip to Old Bridge Gelato and walked to the edge of Vatican City for a few minutes before the guards began to look at us for leaning on the gates...whoops.

It was nice to have one last night by the Vatican under clear skies before our second day of rain on our last day.

To be continued...

"May good luck be your friend
In whatever you do.
And may trouble be always
A stranger to you."

Italy Day Three- Pisa and Siena

Another day in Italy- how wonderful is that!?  We woke up bright and early in Firenze so we could climb the Duomo before Denis had to catch his train back to Rome to fly back to Spain.  Upon arriving at the Duomo, we found that the front doors were locked.  We walked around the building and saw guards standing outside the church, but as we walked over to ask if we could climb the Duomo, they promptly went inside, closing the door behind them.  Instead, we decided to climb up the bell tower of the church.  We waited outside for about a half hour for it to open up (obviously you don't have to get up as early as you do for the Vatican Museum).  We were the first group inside.  Thankfully, the man told us we could not bring our bags up and let us leave them with him.  It was an incredible climb- over 400 steps to the top.  We stopped to take pictures on each level (and to catch our breath), but made it up in less than fifteen minutes.  The view from the top was beautiful.  It was a clear morning in Firenze and you could see all of the markets opening up below us.  Our view also allowed us to see the Duomo at eye level.  Somehow people were up there!  I wonder how they managed that!

(View up the bell tower)

(View of the Duomo from the bell tower)

(I was at the top!)

(Making my mark!)

After the Duomo, we walked to the train station to say goodbye to Denis.  Not two seconds after he left us we headed straight to the leather markets!  I bought myself red leather gloves from a man who tried to sell me a matching jacket, too.  I politely declined before sprinting off to find everyone else.  We didn't have much time at the market before our train to Pisa, so we didn't get to see as much as we wanted to.

The train to Pisa was fairly quick.  We arrived around 11:30 am and started off in the direction we thought the leaning tower was in.  Along the way, we stopped for the best slice of pizza we had on the trip.  The man was really friendly and he had a student discount so we got giant pieces of pizza for 1.50euro!  Not too shabby!

As we rounded the corner of the street, the Leaning Tower loomed in the distance.  We spent awhile taking pictures holding up and pushing down the tower.  An old man helped us to position ourselves and figure out the best angle to take the pictures!  They turned out really well!  All around the tower were stalls of souvenirs, so naturally we had to look around them.  They weren't anything to write home about, unfortunately.

(Holding up the tower!)

All of that walking and we just had to get... what else... gelato!  Even after that, we had a long time before our train to Siena, so we waited at a cafe by the train station and drank our first cappuccinos!  They were so yummy!  Caroline said I should savor it because they just aren't the same in the States... I hope that isn't true!

(First cappuccino!)

Our train to Siena... was... interesting.  We had a connecting train in Empoli.  There, Allie met an Italian boy who was on our train and, lucky for us, spoke English.  About 20 minutes into our ride, the train stopped dead in the tracks.  This boy translated for us every time someone spoke over the intercom.  Apparently there were "technical difficulties."  Anyway, it took 40 minutes to fix whatever was wrong and we were finally on our way and not stranded in the middle of nowhere Italy.

Getting from Siena's train station into the town was a challenge we were not prepared for.  The map that we bought was not very accurate.  Somehow, we managed to recognize street names (even though they were connected to roads they shouldn't have been connected to) and got to our bed and breakfast after an hour or so of walking around in the dark.  Casa di Antonella was a very cute B&B.  Fabrizio, the manager was very nice.  He showed us to our rooms (that had frescoes painted on the ceilings!) and told us that breakfast would be served the next morning.

Soon after arriving we headed out to find a restaurant.  Right down the road was a restaurant that we couldn't pass up.  I don't think any of us had ever eaten food so fast.  The bread and appetizers were gone within minutes and nobody talked while eating the entrees.  Everyone was simply too hungry from our travels to think of much else.  When we were all satisfied the owner came by and asked if we would like any dessert.  We said we would pass, but he brought us free limoncello anyway!  How lucky are we?!  First, free tiramisu and then free limoncello.  Italy treated us well!

(Stuffed shells)

(Limoncello)

We walked over to the Piazza del Campo after dinner and sat down for a little while before we called it a night and headed back to our B&B.

(Piazza at night!)

"May joy and peace surround you,
Contentment latch your door,
And happiness be with you now,
And bless you evermore."

Italy Day Two- Firenze

Day two in Italy started out in Roma.  We got up early to head over to the Vatican Museum so we could see the Sistine Chapel before we caught our 11:15 train to Firenze.  Little did we realize that you have to get up REALLY REALLY early in order to not have much of a wait.  We ended up in a line that took us about an hour or so to get through that wrapped around the walls of Vatican City.  The whole time we were in line people kept trying to come up to us an tell us that we were "too beautiful to stand in line" and that they would "take us to the agency" where we could get private tours for 20euro a person.  We declined their offers over and over again and even resulted to the ever charming "WE LOVE LINES" that Erin blurted out.  As we rounded the last stretch of the line, I heard my name being called.  Coming down the street were Chyna, Chelsea, and Janelle!   They were my hostel-mates when I was in Paris with Sam, Melon, and Ashleen.  It was so cool to run into them in Italy.  I knew they were going to be there at the same time as me, but I never thought we would actually see each other.  Just the week before when we were in Dublin we ran into them as we walked out of our hostel.

Inside the Vatican Museum half of the group went to check out bags while the others started towards the stairs to buy tickets.  We were stopped when we reached the stairs by a security guard.  He told us to wait for our friends because today was the last Sunday of the month so the museum was free!  It was our lucky day!  Saving 15euro!  Because we didn't have a lot of time, we went through the museum relatively fast so that we could see the Sistine Chapel.  I was in awe when I walked into the chapel.  You could spend a whole day just looking at the paintings in there.  We tried to pick out all of the murals we knew that were scenes from the Bible.  I'm so glad we took the time to go to the museum.  Hopefully one day I will be back again and be able to spend an entire day there.

(One of the beautiful ceilings in the Vatican Museum)

Upon arriving in Firenze, the group of us went straight to the Duomo.  The dome itself was not open to climb since it was a Sunday, but we were able to walk around the church and light candles for our friends and family back home.  Outside, there was a marathon being run by Italians from all over the country.  The race went right around the Duomo so we were able to catch some of the action and applaud the runners!

(Inside the Duomo)

(Lighting candles)

(Outside the doors)

(Full view)

(The girls at the Duomo)

After getting a gelato next to the Duomo we went to find our hostel- The Plus Florence.  This was a really cool hostel!  Not as amazing as the Generator in Dublin, but nevertheless, fabulous.  We had our own room with a private bathroom and a door out onto the balcony.

We settled in before moving along to do some more site seeing.  Our first stop was to see The David.  I'm not sure if it was completely worth 11euro to see The David... but I guess it was one of those things that you just have to do while you are in Italy.  It was fascinating to see and I loved reading about the history of the sculpture.  The museum also had a lot of other 'possible' works by Michelangelo.  It's incredible to think that he carved all of these statues by hand and had them turn out so precise.

(The girls at the pink David outside the museum)

The six of us wandered through town as it got dark outside looking at all of the lights on the streets.   They start Christmas early in Europe since they don't have Thanksgiving.  Everything was so pretty and lit up!  We headed towards the Ponte Vecchio, checking restaurant menus along the way.  As soon as we saw Mama Anna's we knew we had to go.  It was a cute little restaurant on the other side of the Ponte Vecchio along the main road.  We sat outside by the heaters and were waited on by a little old woman.  Our dinners were, yet again, very delicious.  I had a seafood pasta that had everything from clams, to mussels, to shrimp, and even baby octopus in it.  YES.  I ate baby octopus.  It tastes a lot like squid... but a bit squishier.  I refused to eat the little legs because they had the little suction-cuppy things still attached and it looked weird.  At the end of the meal, Mama Anna came out and said hello to us.  She was such a nice lady and had her chef's hat resting lopsided on her head.  We told her we loved her dinner and thanked her over and over again.

(Street art in Firenze)

(Me and Allie in the streets of Firenze)

(Seafood Pasta at Mama Anna's)

(Denis loves food)

(Signing the Ponte Vecchio)

Our walk continued up to the Piazzale Michelangelo (with a quick stop to sign our names on the Ponte Vecchio).  It was quite a hike to get up there, but well-worth it.  The view of the city was spectacular.  Everything was lit up below us and glowing in the clear night.  We took pictures with the Bronze David statue where Denis was the David and Allie and I were the statues on either side of him.  They came out beautifully (see below)!

(The group minus Allie)

(Surfer Duding on the top of the Piazzale Michelangelo)

(Posing at the David)

The night ended with a giant cannoli from a shop along the main street before heading back to our hostel and passing out quickly.

(Old bills from around the world)

(Best cannoli ever)

More to come!

"May the good saints protect you,
And bless you today.
And may troubles ignore you,
Each step of the way."