The Last Time

Yes Sam, the title doubles as a T-Swift song.

I know that these kind of posts are very cheesy and played up a bit, so I'll try to keep you all from gagging. So where can I begin? I wanted to find some corny quote for this, so after going through about 10 pages of Google results, I found this one:

“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.” 

-Terry Pratchett

I liked this one in particular because as a I was traveling around, I remember wondering if I'll ever see this view again.  I took about 8,000 pictures (obviously not posting all of them since a lot were the same) but I always made sure I personally enjoyed the view so I could remember it.  As I am typing this I am picturing Stockholm and how beautiful it was, and hope I can go back someday to relive that memory.

I am so thankful and truly blessed to have had this experience; when I was on the plane flying to Ireland I was so nervous and thought maybe I made the wrong decision coming, but I am now so happy.

A few of my favorite memories:

• The randos: every once in awhile I would meet someone in a pub and strike up a random but great conversation.  Once at the Skeff I talked to someone for two hours until 3AM because she was so interesting.  Even last night I met some philosopher guy who knew so much about nothing, and it was crazy listening to him.  The best part about all of these random conversations is that I don't even know the people's names; we talked about everything under the sun and yet never exchanged names
• Running on the Prom: for whatever reason I love to run, and I had the best running loop that went up and down Galway Bay, right on the water.  You probably saw all of the Instagrams of it.
• Traveling to Belfast: everything about that trip was great: the hostel, Liz, Paige, Carli, Filthy McNastys, the coffee, the bagels, Giant's Causeway.  Minus the rope bridge..a little over rated.
• The Cliffs of Moher: they were absolutely breathtaking
• My Dad Visiting: how cool is it to have a pint with you dad, in Ireland, in an Irish pub?
• Katie Reilly taking shots; I've never been prouder of anyone!
• Apartment 3.
• Seeing Paris with Sam and splitting a bottle of wine in my hostel's basement, keeping it classy with plastic cups of course
• Irish accents
• Napoli Pizza, whether at 4 in the afternoon or 4 in the morning
• The night Liz and I had with Dahti; the definition of epic. #thepepper
• Guinness, Purple Haze, Sambuca, Bulmers
• Our last night at the Front Door - $90 worth of fun
• Gino's Gelato trips with Cynthia
• Ugly Sweaters from Penny's
• Donuts from Dan the Donut Man at the Farmers Market
• My foam mattress pad, the best investment I ever made
• The word craic

A few shout outs:

• Carli Markus: if you hear a loud noise, no it's not a hawk tearing apart a mouse or the shriek of a cat being attacked by a coyote; it's Carli screaming.  Most likely the word "shots."  My wing man who I could always rely on to down a few with.  You're a Peach, stay golden.
• Paige: if it weren't for us, I think Liz would most likely still be trying to figure out a bus back from Belfast.  You were always the voice of reason and logic and helped make it home.  While I'm not sure how or why you like Moscato so much, I can forgive you for that.  And, you also got me to watch Friends, and that deserves credit.
• Liz: two people go to the library, sit across from each other, end up Facebook chatting the entire time, then end up at the College Bar.  Wanna guess who they were? Here's a hint, it was us.  You literally bleed Ireland (technically Guinness & Bulmers).  You + Me + the Front Door = well, yup, the rest is for the books.  As for the great times we've had, I'm hoping between the two of us we can piece a few nights back together. Last thing:
  
• Kyle & Rich: As of 1:45AM you were both alive and didn't move out on me.  You put up with a lot of late nights and you each deserve some type of award for that.  We had a great time and I'll always remember Apartment 4.  
• Tayler: you had the best Santa hat out of all of us and I'm really hoping we make it to the airport together tomorrow, because we're supposed to wake up in 4 hours...and I'm still wide awake....

I am truly blessed to have had such an amazing time with such amazing people, Carli, Joanna, Katie, Kyle, Liz, Mackenzie, Paige, Rich, Ross, and Spencer, and I can't believe how fast the time went.  It's going to be extremely sad to leave, but I am so excited to see my Mom, Dad, Devon, Barb, John, Fal, Cory, Bert, Shanelle, and of course, Peach.  Until next time Galway, this blog is done!

Cork & Cobh

This was easily the prettiest place in Ireland hands down.  My trip started Thursday night when I was looking at the weather at 12AM and realized if I didn't do my day trip on Friday, it'd be crappy weather until I leave.  So at 12, I bought my bus ticket online, got on a 7:30AM bus and went off by myself.  After 3 hours I got to Cork but I was on my phone the whole bus ride and read that people loved visiting Cobh and it's only a 30 minutes train from Cork.  My bus arrived at 11 and there was an 11:30 train to Cobh that I had to catch...the problem was that the train station was 1.5 miles away.  So I figured if I walked/jogged a little, I'd make it no problem, and since I have a walking map on my phone I'd be fine. At 11:15 I could see the train station, but there was a huge fence that I was somehow on the wrong side of that I had been walking along the whole time.  So, my power walk turned into a full on sprint, I went back to the beginning, got on the right side of the fence, and barely made the train.  Cobh was beautiful; a very small town with streets lined with colorful houses, right on the coast.  Cork was more city like with lots of big department stores and a lot of car dealerships.

Anyways Cobh & Cork:

St Colman's Cathedral

Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral - Cork

Cork

University College Cork, my cousin mallory went here when she studied in Ireland!

In other news, nothing too much else is new. Finals are done.  I had 4 essays that I barely made the word counts for and 1 exam that was really easy.  It's crazy to think that another semester is down and only 3 left....then another year for an MSA :/  Carli, Ross, and Spencer left already....it's definitely quieter without my better-half Carli here, and I come home the 18th.  It will be really weird to leave and definitely sad but I am really excited to go home and see everyone so that makes up for it.  Plus I know at some point I will be back. Pce&Bs!

Thanksgiving & Santa Dash!

This was the first Thanksgiving that I wasn't home for and while that was kinda sad, we in Galway all got together and made up for it.  We started by taking the table from next door and moving it into our apartment.  The tricky part was it wouldn't fit through the door…and since the apartments are next to each other, we opened our balcony doors and passed it over the railing, above the road, and in.  Then with three of us working in restaurants and banquets, we set it very nicely.

The ugly sweater party that I somehow found out about too late and missed

at the pub on campus

A few pictures around Galway:

One day I was Googling road races in Galway, and found a "Santa Dash 10K" so for 25 euro I signed up and ran it.  It was really fun; the hardest part was wearing the santa suit they gave us because it was sewn together very well, so everyone's pants ripped because our strides too big.  On a strange side note,  there was somebody running it while smoking a cigarette, so that was weird. There was a 5K and a 10K at the same time and we all started at the same time and our chips only recorded our finishing times, so the results are all one page.  But after looking at it and eliminating what I think are the 5K runners, I finished 141/451, so that's alright.

Nothing too much else is new.  There are 17 days left until I fly back and between now and then I have four essays and one test to take.  I try to write 1,000 words/day and study a little bit (altogether the essays come to 9,500 words) so nothing too exciting is going on.  I am done traveling outside of Ireland for good, but am trying to get to Cork before I leave because I heard it's beautiful. And since Christmas is coming:

SURPRISE!

Since I was already in Dublin, which is 3 hours from Galway and where the airport is, I decided I would take a one hour flight back to London and surprise Sam and Will, and see Ashlee who was visiting.  I literally showed up at their doors and knocked, and they were pretty surprised.

Sam, Ryan Perry (who goes to Fairfield, but studies at a different school in London), and I went to Aqua Bar, which is on the 31st floor of this really tall building and got to see London from up above.  It was really pretty, but really expensive.  When I left the next morning, Sam and I realized that when we each paid for our drinks, the bartender mixed up our credit cards, so now I have hers and she has mine. 

We also went to an ice bar, and as you could guess, it was made entirely of ice. Basically you pay to go in for 40 minutes, have a drink, and get to wear a cool parka:

Me and Steph!

And THIS is the British SSS Building (British Secret Intelligence Service) aka MI6, that all the James Bond movies show.  Under this picture is a screen shot from the newest James Bond movie, Skyfall

Screen shot from Skyfall

Dublin!

My last Irish trip was to the city of Dublin.  Although I've been to its airport 12 times now, I never got to actually see it:

Temple Bar

Much bigger than Galway

Fairfield paid for our hotel!

And no Megan Cavallo, this is in an elevator.

 O'Connell Street

It started out with the typical 3 hour bus ride, then a tour of Kilmainham Jail, followed by a tour of Dublin Castle.  The jail was really interesting because everything they talked about related to my 19th Century Irish History class and talked about all of the leaders that fought for Catholic Emancipation and Home Rule.  A lot of the rooms had windows facing the outside but the windows only had bars and no glass or coverings, so there was always wind and rain coming in:

The castle was also cool because it is still in use today, plus is was decked out for Christmas:

The next trip was to Glasnevin Cemetery where all of these famous people are buried.  I wasn't a huge fan of it, mostly because every story ended in death, but since Fairfield paid for our whole trip, I can't complain.  After the cemetery, we went to see the Book of Kells (basically a really pretty and colorful version of the four Gospels).

This was followed by a tour of the Guinness Factory, which was long over due.  Them most interesting thing I learned was that all of the Guinness for the United States is made in that factory.  The reason it tastes different however depends on how individual bars treat the kegs/how often they change them out. Also, everything is automated.  While there are 1,200 employees in the factory, only about 60 of them are for the actual brewing process, and even then, they are only there in case something goes wrong:

Yes, that tanker transports Guinness.

Side note: the changing rooms in the Guinness Factory were

not designed with short people in mind.

We each got to go behind the bar and pour our own pint

The trip was a lot of fun and since it was all free it was even better. Oh and I tried duck #quack: