That one weekend I went to Ireland...

Another crazy and awesome week passed me by, and on Thursday afternoon I was already making my way towards Dublin, Ireland. 


I travelled with 4 other people: my roommate Lindsey, Kayla, Lauren, and Angelo. We took a 4 hour train (it was cheaper) to Rome, which then we took a bus to the airport, waited 6 hours (our flight got delayed by 2 hours) hopped on a 3 hour plane ride to Dublin. It was a long travel day, but the end result was so worth it. If anyone knows me well enough, Ireland is one of my favorite places in the entire world. I got the chance to visit with my mom and sister in June of 2006, and it was one of the most memorable trips of my life. I'm so glad that I was fortunate enough to come back, 5 years later :)


The trip started out perfectly with the simple cab ride to our hostel. Our Irish driver told us all the "hot spots" to go, and then proceeded to tell us all about his weekend trip to London to a funeral where we got drunk because "that's how the Irish do it...it's FECKING mad!" Oh Lord. How can you not love these people? Anyways, he was quite friendly and gave us a discount on the ride. I remember coming to Florence for the first time, and the Italian cab driver hardly said two words to me, except correct my mispronunciation of my street name. I'm not kidding when I say Italians are snobs, and the Irish are the friendliest people you will ever meet.


Anyways, we got into our hostel at 12:30AM (due to late plane) and this place reminded me so much of my dorm from freshman year of college. It was all "hip" and geared towards American students, clearly. I can't complain though, the staff was friendly, the facilities were awesome, it was super cheap, and only a 10-13 minute walk away from the main part of town, AND 2 seconds away from the Jameson Distillery. Perfect. The next day we woke up, and I realized I had an infection (not pink eye, but close enough) in my eye, so it was glasses time for me. :( We prepared our day with some traditional Irish breakfast at a pub called the Boar's Head, and at 11AM everyone was drinking a pint. I slightly celebrated 11/11/11 at 11:11AM by taking a picture of the time and my breakfast, whoop whoop! After that, we walked around Dublin. It was a perfect Irish rainy day, except by perfect I mean terribly annoying. My umbrella broke, I wasn't wearing the right shoes (but then again, I never do...), and my glasses kept fogging up. I was struggling, to say the least. Luckily, we managed to get out of the rain by heading to Trinity College, one of the oldest universities in Europe (established by Queen Elizabeth 1). I fell in love with the campus, and I learned that they have excellent law school and historic preservation programs! Hmmm.... :) Anyways, the main purpose for this visit was to see the Book of Kells, another thing on my Art History bucket list. The Book of Kells is an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New Testament together with various prefatory texts and tables. It was created by Celtic monks ca. 800 or slightly earlier. It's considered one of Ireland's national treasures, and I got to see it! The college created a mini exhibit, explaining the history, techniques, and other facts/tidbits about monks and illuminated texts at the time. The book itself is in a highly preserved case, and no pictures were allowed! I managed to sneak one in of descriptions of decorated letters in the text...not very exciting. We also saw the famous hallway of the library, with many famous books and texts. They had on display one of the original proclamations from the Rebellion of 1916, which was so exciting to see because I wrote my HL European History paper on that topic! It was so warm and cozy inside, and it definitely made me rethink some future plans I may have with art history/preservation.The rest of the day followed with more wondering around Dublin, mostly trying to get our bearings down, and visiting multiple pubs, as that seems to be the highlight of Ireland.


I miss the Irish pubs. Like Oktoberfest, it felt like the happiest place in the world. Yes, I know it involves alcohol, but here in Europe it feels much more than that. There's a sense of community, pride, and an overall positive attitude that makes you realize that it won't be a bad night. The people are some of the nicest I have ever met in my life. Makes up for the nasty teeth I suppose. I especially loved the pubs with live music, because everyone was dancing, singing, laughing, and enjoying the environment. The singers will actually sing to you, dedicate songs to people in the crowd, and make everyone laugh. Funny enough, I actually knew almost every single song the performers would sing due to the fact I bought an "Irish Drinking Songs CD" 5 years ago at an "Everything is 2 euro" store. That made my time extra exciting as I was able to belt out "Whiskey in the Jar," "Cliffs of Doneen," "The Wild Rover," and "Galway Girl."


Saturday was an early one, as we decided to go on a day trip all over the countryside and to the Cliffs of Moher. We had a hilarious tour guide with much Irish pride, historical facts, and advice/tips for things to do in Ireland. Some things I learned from him...


1. Craic = An Irish term for "having fun," and it's pronounced like "crack" (yes, like the drug). For example, I was craicin' around in Dublin this weekend. Or, "what's the crack?" as in what's going on, what's happening, etc. 
2. Feck = Surprisingly, it's not what you think it means, but it sounds awfully close! :) It's more of an emphasis word, like "very," "really," or as people in New England say "wicked." It's not really seen as a naughty word like the other "F" word is. 
3. J.R.R. Tolkien (author of Lord of the Rings) would escape to the Cliffs of Moher on a yearly basis to collect his thoughts and write. There are two small ruins in the area, and supposedly he got inspiration for the title "The Two Towers" from this area.
4. The Princess Bride and Harry Potter 6 both had scenes filmed at the Cliffs of Moher!
5. Parts of Braveheart and 300 were filmed outside of Dublin. 
6. People who lived in the Burren area especially suffered during the potato famine.
7. Frederick Douglass (African American activist who wanted to free the slaves Civil War era) escaped to Limerick at times to relax and collect his thoughts.
8. Bono usually stays in a fancy hotel called The Clarence right by the river. The lights in his room are purple.
9. Ireland produces 45% of Europe's beef.
10. Ireland has 10 out of 15 of the world's most famous and best golf courses. 


....And much more. It was such a wonderful day. Although it started out way early, we got to see the sunrise and arrive to the Cliffs with the most perfect weather. It was moderately warm, not so windy, and just pleasant. The sun was out and I took the most beautiful pictures I think I've ever taken. I was the happiest girl at those cliffs, and I did not want to say goodbye. The funny thing is, it's my second time going to the cliffs (I went 5 years ago with my mom and sister) and back then, you could easily hang off the edge if you wanted to! Now that there has been so many deaths (both accidental and purposeful) they have created a barricade so you cannot cross it. However, I still decided to cross over (oops) and take pictures, which ended up turning out perfect. We left the cliffs (sniff sniff) and headed towards Doolin, where I had an amazing Irish lunch: stuffed chicken, taters, beats, and other things. It was extremely satisfying. We continued to drive to other places, such as the Barren (part of Ireland completely made up of rock, it used to be below sea level), Galway Bay, some ruins of an abbey, and more countryside. It was a perfect day weather-wise, sightseeing-wise, and Irish wise. We got back around 7:30PM, and headed off to another night of Irish pubs.


Sunday was filled with alcoholic drinks and learning. Yes, you read that right! 


We visited the Jameson distillery, the Guinness Storehouse/Brewery, and went to the oldest pub in Ireland. It was such a great and fasniating day. I learned so much about how to brew alcohol, what it means to distill the water (make it sweeter), why storage and aging is so important, and how this has had a huge cultural and economic impact on Ireland. Both places had really great and interactive exhibits, and I highly recommend them to anyone who goes to Dublin. The Jameson Distillery was a guided tour, while the Guinness Brewery was an individual tour. Both were very different in their own way, and yet I learned so much from each establishment. I got to be a whiskey taste tester at the Jameson museum, in which I had to compare the differences between Jonnie Walker whiskey (distilled twice), Jack Daniel's (distilled once, which I think is why it tastes awful) and Jameson (distilled twice). I liked the Jameson better by far, and at the end I got a certificate! The Guinness Brewery was a blast. The museum itself is shaped as the world's largest Guinness glass, and at the bottom you can see the lease that Arthur Guinness signed to keep the establishment for 9,000 years. Again, I learned a lot about production, storage, the history, advertisement, how to pour a perfect Guinness, and cultural impact. At the end of the tour, there is a bar on the rooftop which shows a 360 degree view of Dublin. We timed our stay there perfectly, because once we got to the top to claim our free pint, we were able to watch the sunset over a gorgeous view of Dublin. I'll never forget that moment. Once our stay was done, we headed back to the Brazenhead pub for another night of cracin' around, involving life talks, meeting new friends, laughing, and singing drinking songs with the old Irish bartender (who looked an awful lot like Dennis Hopper). 


Monday was the day to say goodbye. :( It was a long and tedious travel day: bus to Dublin airport, waiting around, plane to Rome, bus to train station, waiting around while almost getting robbed (no worries, nothing was stolen and everything/everyone is fine), and taking a sketchy night train back to Florence. It was hard for me to say goodbye to this country I have always loved and to come back to Italy, where no one speaks English, everyone thinks you're annoying because you're an American, and you almost get robbed. I'll get over it...it's Italy after all :) I am so lucky I got to take this trip, because it was definitely the best weekend I have had since I've been in Europe. There is no doubt that I am definitely coming back to Ireland someday, and hopefully for a long while. 


And know for the moment I know you all have been waiting for...picture time! I promise they won't disappoint. 

11/11/11 at 11:11AM...Irish breakfast and tea in Dublin!

Rainy day in Dublin

Book of Kells exhibit

Trinity College

Temple Bar area, Guinness ad!

My first pint of Guinness! So delicious.

Me and Irish singer guy in a pub

Fish and chips!! Mhmm

Countryside 

Cliffs of Moher

Happiest girl

The Barren

Celtic crosses

Old abbey 

Jameson Distillery 

Guinness Brewery

How the storehouse is shaped

Top of Guinness Storehouse, just in time for the sunset

Dublin is perfect

The Brazen Head, oldest pub in Ireland

And there you have it folks. My last trip will be over Thanksgiving weekend in Amsterdam, and then two weeks after that I'll be heading home. Where did the time go?

Ciao!

Week 9 and Rome Weekend Trip

As usual, this week flew by faster than I can comprehend, and I can't believe I am already more than halfway through with this semester! I have come to a point here in Florence where I am not sure if I am ready to leave. I love my routine, classes, friends, food, and life here. But, obviously, life here isn't reality (not everybody travels to a new place in Europe every weekend) and soon I will be at KU, finishing up my boring classes and stressing out about what to do with my life.

On a brighter note, this week itself was a blast! Halloween was on Monday and LdM did not have class on Tuesday due to All Saints Day, some Catholic holiday. We have a "make up" day on a Friday in a couple of weeks, which sort of messes with everyone's travel plans. However, Halloween in Florence was a blast. It was a great night full of silly costumes and hanging out with great friends, as well as an appropriate visit to Finnegan's. School was the usual. I got back most of my midterms and did much better than I thought! I got an A on my hardest final that I thought I nearly bombed, thank the Lord. I turned in a 14 page paper on astrology/alchemy in the Medici family and did a presentation on the Sistine Chapel.....whew! The week was, overall, quite relaxing and not so stressful, as I am now getting into the "oh yeah you're in school" phase.

On Saturday, I woke up at 4:45AM to catch a 6AM bus for a LdM sponsored trip to Rome for the weekend. Our trip leaders were Franco and Stefano, probably the sweetest and most hilarious Italian men I have ever met. (There was one point on the bus where Stefano was talking to us about some art, and then he stops and said "Aww, everyone look at that dog to your right. It's such a sweet and typical Italian dog. VA BENE!" ADD much?) It took about 3 hours to get there by bus (not including the annoying 30 minute stop), and we finally arrived at the Colosseum. I had been here before with my parents when I was 9, but it was so great to see it again. There were more ruins and display pieces than I had remembered. We were there for about an hour and then walked to the Forum right next to the Arch of Constantine and Colosseum. There were many ancient ruins, but the place overall was very pretty and green. It's nice to see more green in this big city than in Florence. We walked around, saw the house of Augustus, really old frescoes, and a bunch of ancient rocks. After that nonsense, we hopped on a bus that took us to Vatican City. We had a quick lunch, then went inside for a 3-4 hour tour with a guide. I felt like a weirdo, wearing the headphones and following the man with the flag around like the tourists do in Florence, but it was actually probably my favorite part of the entire trip. The guide was hilarious and informative, and I learned so much from walking around the entire Vatican. We saw many sculptures, including Lao-coon that was discovered under water, or something like that. I didn't realize how huge the Vatican collection was, and they form the exhibit so that you are required to look at everything before you reach the Sistine Chapel. It was exhausting and at times overwhelming with all the crowds, but seeing the Raphael Rooms (specifically School of Athens) and the Sistine Chapel made the all the negative aspects completely worth going through. I absolutely loved the Sistine Chapel, and after just going a presentation over the topic, I felt like a tour guide as I told my friends all my newly acquired knowledge. Did you know that Michelangelo didn't even want to paint it, nor did he know how to paint in fresco? It took him 5 years to complete the chapel, and we wouldn't let a soul see it...not even the Pope. This chapel ceiling truly changed the course of Western art history forever. Anyways, we saw that and I about cried. I also snuck in some illegal photos, and although they are terrible quality, I have at least something. We exited Michelangelo's masterpiece and finally went inside St. Peter's, only to run into another masterpiece...the Pieta. The church is huge and beautiful, full of dead Popes and random chapels. I feel like I saw a lot of either ruins or dead popes on this trip. We got a tour inside the church and after that, we finally finished it up outside and were allowed to wandered around Vatican City. I bought some postcards and mailed one to a special somebody back home, equipped with special Vatican stamps! Can't get them anywhere else. :) We then got on the bus which took us to our hotel, and we were free for the night. A big group of us grabbed some nice dinner and roamed around Rome for part of the night. The area was a bit sketchy, and I hated being cat-called and smooched at by disgusting Italian guys. I swear, I will never ever understand how that is acceptable to do that in this culture. I will be so happy to return to the States where I am not stared at like a piece of meat. Italian men = NO BUONO! Anyways, Lauren and I (did I mention she's an Alpha Gamma Delta at Chapman in California? Sisters!) wondered up to the empty hotel bar on the roof where we got free Cokes because we were "molto bella." I guess being an American girl in this country has some perks. We sat on the roof that overlooked a pretty part of Rome, and we talked about life, home, and the future. I'm really lucky to have made such wonderful friends here.

The next day (Sunday) we woke up early, had breakfast, and got on the bus at 8:15AM sharp to the first destination of our walking tour. We started off at some Neptune Fountain, then walked over to the Pantheon. I love this building, and I remember visiting with my parents. It's an engineering feat in and of itself, considering the time it was built (2,000 years ago) and the intelligence of the Roman Empire of the time. It was then converted into a Christian church, and it's wonderful to go inside and see the giant occulus that remains powerful and simple to this day. We walked over to the famous Trevi Fountain where you make a wish and throw a coin behind your back, only then it will come true! Another AGD named Kelly was also on this trip, so me, Lauren, and her all took sorority pictures by this fountain. Although cheesy, it's nice to find new friends that I have lots in common with. After that, we walked to the Spanish steps and climbed all the way to the top. Next was Trajan's column and a government building that I can't remember the name of (I feel really stupid right now). It was a long walking tour, but it was a cool morning and I loved seeing all the important parts of Rome. We then took a bus to a church, where I don't remember the name, but it was huge and outstanding. They were even having mass during our visit, and I have to say that was truly my first time at church in months! Haha. We then headed over to our paid lunch, where we went to a lovely restaurant in the outskirts of Rome and had a 5 course meal. Yes, five dishes. I was stuffed by the fourth, but somehow had room for dessert. I actually got two desserts, because the waiters saw me crying (I was actually laughing so hard because we had quite the characters at our table) and they wanted me to feel better! I guess Italians aren't all that bad ;)
After lunch, we had a quick tour of Roman catacombs, which are apparently underground tombs that Christians would practice church and bury the dead here because Christianity wasn't legal before 313AD. We got to go down to 2 levels of catacombs (there are 4) and it was a bit creepy. We saw some open tombs (no bodies) but it was a dark and eerie maze. I felt like I was in an Indiana Jones movie, which honestly made the experience that much more fun. We weren't allowed to take pictures, so I have none from this specific visit. After being underground for about 45 minutes, we stepped onto the bus at 4:30 and made our way back home to Florence.

Overall, it was a wonderful weekend. I became close with new friends, saw some of the world's most incredible art, laughed my butt off, and crossed off a couple more things from my bucket list. The saying is true: Rome wasn't built in a day. But what does that mean? With it's history, conquering, wars, political rulers, and much more, clearly a lot has happened in this city. There's so much to see, I don't think even a month is long enough to see everything. I managed to see a ton in 2 days....exhausting, but entirely worth it.

Me at the Colosseum 

Goofing off with a Colosseum ruin

The Forum (ruins)

The real Lao-coon statue

School of Athens by Raphael 

Illegal photo of Sistine Chapel Ceiling

Michelangelo's Pieta

Inside St. Peter's

Vatican City: St. Peter's Square

Christine, me, and Lauren in front of Pantheon

Inside Pantheon, famous occulus 

AGDs in front of Trevi Fountain

Spanish Steps

Trajan's Column 

Church inside a famous church! 

Got this photo from google images...it's what the catacombs looked like!

What's on my agenda for next weekend? IRELAND!! I can't even believe it. No doubt this will be one of my favorite trips (maybe even absolute favorite) and I will have a hard time leaving, but let's not think about that right now :) Allora, time to sleep.

Ciao!