26 October 2009

galway: neon green hills, local music, and torrential rainstorms

i just got back from quite an exhausting weekend in galway on the west coast of ireland. i will spare you some of the dramatic details, but if you want to know more just ask mom because she knows it all ha. in any case, i made my way across the country by train with seven other students from my halls. i absolutely love traveling by train, especially through irish countryside as you pass by thatched roofed houses scattered among the endless hills that seem to look almost neon green. we made it to galway mid afternoon on saturday and explored the town on the harbor after one of many many hot chocolates at a local pub. we found that the historical sites of the town lacked a little umph as the 'town castle' was now an AIB bank branch, and the spanish arch was just a stone arch about eight feet tall. however, galway is pretty much how you picture a quaint irish town to be with a beautiful harbor filled with what they call the 'galway hookers' (the traditional sailing boat, also the name of their beer). as we were exploring the harbor we got caught in the most intense wind and rain storm I have ever been in! the hurricane-like winds almost blew us away (as seen below by my friend kate and her now demolished umbrella). we were so drenched and windblown that the only thing we could do was laugh our way all the way back to the pub to dry off, and maybe have another hot chocolate =) we stayed inside the rest of the afternoon and evening playing cards, writing postcards and making frozen pizzas to avoid the rainstorm outside. not to mention massive amounts of kit kats on sale that became a significant staple throughout our trip (wow... chocolate became its own food group in galway, huh?!). we ventured off that evening to meet up with basically the other half of our hall at an apartment they had rented that evening. it was pretty fun, although it felt basically like we were back home: same characters, just a different setting.the next day was our bus tour to the cliffs of moher and other sites around county galway and county clare. the tour was awful actually: our tour guide could not have been more uninteresting, monotone, and annoying. we stopped at very touristy sites that were hardly worth stopping at. some of the stops were actually quite cool, but we would only get to run off the bus for five minutes to take photos.
but once we made it to the cliffs, the long bus ride and the obnoxious tour guide was definitely worth it. have you ever been somewhere so remarkable that it made you feel so infinite and yet so small at the same time?! these cliffs are what people come to the west coast of ireland for, and for good reason. the sheer cliffs are absolutely terrifying especially when you are past the 'no trespassing sign' that everyone seems to ignore. but of course my camera battery runs out right as we are exploring the cliffs. luckily i managed to take a photo before it died. though i don't have visual evidence of the cliffs themselves, i assure you any photos that are taken at the cliffs of moher hardly do them any justice at all.that night after an incredibly long and exhausting day, most of the group headed back home which left julia and me still in galway. my friend jake came up from a small town south of galway and we spent the evening at the crane bar. we went to the top floor of this pub to find a local band playing for the small crowd upstairs while random locals would go up to the band and sing beautiful irish songs. it was the perfect way to spend our last night in galway. the next morning, julia left for the aran islands off the coast of ireland... and then there was one. luckily jake had come up for the night and we spent the morning eating delicious breakfast crepes, walking along the oceans edge, and visiting the massive galway cathedral. the four hour bus ride home was hardly a burden as i was just thrilled to be on my way back home. what an eventful weekend to say the least, but all in all i definitely enjoyed my time on the west coast and i am so looking forward to showing my family around when they come to visit! until next time...

21 October 2009

copenhagen: living in a fairy tale

from the moment brittany picked me up from the copenhagen airport with a danish in hand welcoming me to denmark's capital city, i felt like i was walking around in a storybook. it was the perfect time to escape the wet weekend in dublin and spend it roaming around a new city and exploring all that it has to offer with one of my best friends. the city itself is perhaps the most sophisticated I have been to ! from the people to the fashion to the architecture, copenhagen screams elegance and style.
but more than that, i felt as though a story began to unfold with every visitor that chose to explore its cobblestone streets and famous ny haven harbor. for me, copenhagen was the setting of the perfect fairy tale; even as we were exploring the streets there were violinists and carolers serenading us as we passed by. there was something about the beautiful people, the polished architecture and the charming shops and cafes that made the city almost surreal.
first day was spent roaming the city like tourists... although, besides the language barrier, brittany might as well have been a local ! it was so great to have her guiding me around the harbor, the shopping streets and all of the places that she loves to go.
we spent the evening catching up, eating too much nutella and gummy bears, watching jim and pam's wedding on the office (cried throughout the whole thing..) and just enjoyed being in the company of a best friend. oh and lots and lots of laughs... obviously =)
the next day was packed with sightseeing, adorable cafes, and of course an evening at the happiest place in copenhagen: tivoli ! in the morning, we visited king's garden and the round tower which gave us a perfect view of the entire city of copenhagen.
after a boat tour of the harbor, we stumbled upon a medieval market in which these men welcomed us back to the 14th century ! They offered us fertility baskets and love potions... it definitely made for some good laughs ha.
we had a delicious lunch at perfectly hip kind of underground cafe and then shopped through the afternoon. we went to la glace, the sweetest and most delicate bakery with the best hot chocolate money can buy (well... we did spend about 12 dollars each for a cup...). The whole time i was telling brittany how much my mom would have loved it here at la glace. everyplace we walked, every cafe we entered solidified how perfectly adorable life in a fairy tale really was.
we spent the evening at tivoli, basically the danish version of disneyland but even cuter ! there were billions of pumpkins everywhere for halloween.. it was like living in tim burtons halloween town from the nightmare before christmas ! so perfect... the whole time i couldn't help but think how much pat (and any other disney lover) needed to come and visit tivoli.. it is too adorable to miss in one's lifetime.
oh ! and they were giving away free samples of this 'cider' that we wanted to try.. after tasting it, brittany and i both cringed.. she responded, 'why does this cider taste like medicine?!?' we found it it was globb (sp?!) basically free samples of alcohol and the amusement park.. no wonder they were only offering it to the adults ! hmmmm the europeans...
in the morning, we went to the laundromat cafe and had the second best breakfast of my entire life (behind firesign of course.. right dad?!) and walked around the local park before i had to leave back to dublin.
the parks that are scattered throughout copenhagen were absolutely perfect: the reds and oranges and yellows of the falling leaves are what make autumn the most beautiful season of the year.
i must say i absolutely loved copenhagen: i loved the size of the city and that it was not overwhelming or overpopulated, i loved the wonderful shops and cafes, i LOVED the danishes (best things i have ever had...) i loved how the little babies and children would be dressed in puffy onesies that looked like marshmallows, i loved how everyone spoke incredible english but only after they greeted you in danish, i loved how i got to go to elisa's homeland (oh how i miss the darner family.. this photo was taken in honor of you! basically because she was blond and christmas-y ha) i loved how perfect and efficient everything in the city was, and i loved how fashionable everyone dressed. but more than anything, i LOVED spending the weekend with brittany.. it was just amazing ! so i was sad to leave the wonderful storybook land that was copenhagen and, of course, to leave brittany. but we will be reunited for thanksgiving in dublin =) so until next time, brittany ! lots and lots of love to all !
life itself is the most wonderful fairytale of all
[hans christian andersen]

02 October 2009

kilkenny: lets never come here again

it has taken me almost a week to recover from the strange and crazy adventure i had in kilkenny, ireland. though we were only there for twenty five hours total, it was packed full with disgusting hostels, strange encounters with the locals, and plenty of laughs to follow us all the way back to dublin. kilkenny is about two hours southeast of dublin city and lonely planet described the city as 'a dream'. a little less than a dream, we thought, but it did provide us with many a story that only those that went can really understand. we really had no idea what we were getting into..
we had to pack eleven students, yes eleven, into a hostel room that was probably only meant to house six people. the room was a mess ( i will spare you the details..) and some of us even ended up sleeping on couch cushions. we then ventured to the town to find some pub food because by the time we finished negotiating a better price for the room, our stomachs were empty. we got ripped off again by our waiter who charged us way more than we ordered (much like the hostel). at this point, we are all a little fed up and extremely confused about this town that was seemingly trying to steal from us ha.
kilkenny castle is beautiful from the outside and stands on a hill overlooking the small city itself. but the 13th century castle was filled inside with a modern art exhibit displaying photos and movies of new york and london. not exactly what we were looking for inside a medieval castle: beautiful on the outside, unexpectedly strange on the inside. after that, we returned to our less than sanitary hostel to play some games and laugh about everything that we had just witnessed. we spent the evening roaming the small town and ended up at kyteler's inn, the mideval tavern that was established in 1324. the pub was originally owned by a witch, which explains the halloween witch hat that randomly found a place on everyones head throughout the night.
all in all, i think everyone had a pretty great time in kilkenny. would i go back?! we decided that our experience in kilkenny could, and should, never be replicated again. the countryside was beautiful and when you have eleven students traveling around, you are definitely due for some crazy adventures. this post definitely does not paint a completely accurate picture of how interesting our experience really was in kilkenny.. but, you kinda had to be there..