The Best Of...

Four months, six countries, eleven hostels, and fifteen plane rides later, I'm finally back in America. Since coming home on Saturday, I've been thinking a lot about how awesome this semester was and all of the wonderful opportunities I had for learning, traveling, and exploring Europe. I loved every minute of studying abroad, and even though there were a few mishaps (i.e. having a bus drop us off in the middle of nowhere in Italy), there isn't a thing I would change about this semester. With that being said, here are some of my favorite things about my study abroad experience.

Best Walking Tour: 

I went on walking tours in Dublin, Cork, Berlin, Belfast, Kilkenny, London, and Paris, and while I learned a lot on all of them, London was definitely my favorite. Not only did we get to see all of London's major landmarks, we also got to see the Changing of the Guard, a car that possibly had Queen Elizabeth in it, and take pictures with guard in from of Charles and Camilla's house. We also had fairly decent weather, so all in all, this tour was bloody brilliant.

Best Museum: 

Usually I'm not a big fan of museums, so I was surprised when I actually ended up enjoying most of the museums I went to. From the Louvre to the Leprechaun Museum to the National Gallery of Scotland, every museum had something cool to offer, and the since it rained on every single trip I went on, going to museums was a great indoor activity. Hands down though, my favorite was the Holocaust Museum in Berlin. Going there was a very eye-opening experience, and it was really powerful to learn about something so horrific in the place where it happened.

Best View: 

Despite all of the terrible weather I had this semester, I got very lucky in a few places and had some great outdoor experiences. In Mizen Head, I really fell in love with Ireland; at the Duomo in Florence I got an awesome view of a country I always wanted to visit, and seeing the Eiffel Tower sparkle at night from the top of Montparnasse was picture perfect. There were so many times I was overcome by the beauty, both natural and man-made, that surrounded me, and the winner for Best View is Arthur's Seat in Scotland. The weather was perfect, the hike to the top was challenging, and getting to see what felt like all of Edinburgh, from the castle to the ocean, was absolutely incredible.

Best Castle: 

Speaking of castles, I saw a lot of those this semester too. The exterior of all of the castles was beautiful, and the inside of each was full of history, and I liked each one for different reasons. As cliche as this sounds though, nothing beats Blarney Castle. All of the legends about wishing stones, poisonous gardens, and of course, the Gift of Gab, make Blarney Castle a fun place to explore and a great introduction to old Irish legends.

Best Hostel: 

Now for the exact opposite of castles: hostels. Staying in hostels was interesting, and although I had some gross experiences (namely, a cat on my friend's bed), they weren't as bad as I thought they would be. In Florence, we rented an apartment in the city center, and that was definitely my favorite place we stayed. But, since that's technically not a hostel, this award goes to Caulaincourt Square Hostel in Paris. The location was perfect; it was in a part of the city that was close to a metro and Sacre Cour, but since it wasn't right in the city center there weren't a lot of tourists. My friends and I had a private room, it was very clean, and, to top it all off, we got free homemade croissants and baguettes for breakfast.

Best Food: 

While we're on the topic of croissants and baguettes, it's time for the Best Food award. This was probably the hardest to choose, because, as anyone who's been following my blog regularly can attest to, I ate some great food in my travels and loved every bite! In Paris, I ate the best salad of my life and discovered a beautiful little dessert called a macaron; in Spain, I fell in love with paella and ate a crepe that accomplished the impossible: being more delicious than any crepe in Paris. I even had great food in Ireland, and I will miss my almost daily cup of tea and brown bread. The best food overall however, was in Florence. I didn't eat anything in Florence that I didn't love, and I wanted to lick my plate and order seconds after every single meal. The spinach ricotta ravioli, zucchini pizza, and of course, copious amounts of gelato, were unforgettable. But, the reason why Florence wins is because a little old man in a sandwich shop made me a sandwich on focaccia bread with prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, and sun dried tomatoes that I will probably dream about for the rest of my life. Usually, I hate prosciutto, so the fact that my mouth waters when I think about this sandwich is what puts Florence over the edge in the food department.

Best Historical Site: 

I was lucky enough to spend a week in Italy to visit Florence and Rome, and like Berlin, Rome made me want to take a history class and wish I had paid a little more attention in my freshman year World Civilizations class. When I saw the Colosseum, I was in awe of how people could have built something so epic so long ago with technology that seems like nothing compared to what it is today. With its careful circular design and multiple levels, I now know why Rome wasn't built in a day.

Best Park: 

When it wasn't raining, I like to spend as much time as possible outside, and going to parks was a great way to do so. I toured the president of Ireland's house at Phoenix Park in Dublin, enjoyed a perfect outdoor lunch in Paris at the Tuileries Gardens, actually enjoyed getting lost in Hyde Park in London, and escaped to St. Stephen's Green in Dublin whenever I had the chance. But, my favorite park was definitely Parc Guell in Barcelona. The combination of palm trees and Gaudi's amazing mosaics made Parc Guell the prettiest park I saw this semester.

Best Church: 

I also saw a lot of churches this semester, and was captivated by how beautiful they were. I went to St. Patrick's Cathedral on St. Patrick's Day, Easter Sunday mass at Notre Dame, and walked through the Vatican the day before Pope Francis was chosen. While all of these churches were incredible and the experience of being in Rome when a pope was picked is something I will always remember, I have to say that Barcelona wins again for prettiest church. Sagrada Familia is the coolest church I have ever seen because it's so unlike all of the other churches I visited. "Awesome" is an understatement, but I really can't think of any adjective that can adequately describe how captivated I was by the inside of Sagrada Familia. 

Best Rainy Day Activity:

I experienced a LOT of rain this semester, and although it didn't deter me from making the most of whatever city I was in had to offer, there were some activities that were definitely more fun in the rain than others. When I was in Rome, we visited the Vatican during a thunderstorm, and walking around the interior while hearing the rain outside was incredibly peaceful. Touring the Vatican at any time of day would be awesome, but I think there's something about visiting while it's raining that makes it extra special.

Best Pub:

I went to 30 pubs this semester (yes, I kept a list), and all of them were "great craic," as the Irish would say. On our very first night in Dublin, all of the BC students got on the bus, got off at a random stop, and walked into the first pub we saw for dinner. We somehow ended up at O'Neill's, and this became my favorite pub. With the great live music every night of the week, step dancing bar tenders, and a friendly, laid-back atmosphere, O'Neill's quickly became our go-to pub for a fun night out with great music and, of course, a pint of Bulmers. O'Neill's will always have a special place in my heart, and I know that when I go back to Dublin, it will be the first pub I walk into.

I could go on and on about the best things I did this semester, because I feel like every place I visited, and every landmark I saw was the "best" in its own way. Words cannot even describe how amazing this semester was, and I'm so grateful for all of the opportunities I had for learning, traveling, and meeting new people. These past four months were incredibly life-changing, and I made so many wonderful memories. Dublin has become a new home for me, and like James Joyce, I know that "When I die Dublin will be written in my heart." 

My Day as a Galway Girl

Salmon Weir Bridge and Galway Cathedral

Remember when I said Barcelona was my last trip? Well, last Monday I decided to visit Galway and the Aran Islands. Galway was the one place in Ireland outside of Dublin that I really wanted to go to, and since my time here is running out, I knew I needed to find a way there. Final exams are now in full swing, but since I had most of my finals either during the last week of classes or have them next week, I had some time to spare for one last getaway. So, Tuesday morning, I took a bus to Galway and spent the day exploring the city on my own. Since I have to fly back and forth from school alone, I didn't have any apprehensions about traveling by myself, and since I've been in Ireland for a while now, going to Galway alone was the perfect solo trip to take. Galway itself felt very small; when I got there I immediately found a map and planned out what I would walk around and see. After only being there for about two hours, I felt like I knew my way around most of the city. I saw all of the major Galway landmarks, like Eyre Square, the Salmon Weir Bridge, the Spanish Arch, Galway Cathedral, and St. Nicholas' Church. I walked down to the water and along some of the Salthill Promenade and ambled along Shop Street, which felt like a mini version of Grafton Street in Dublin. By dinner time though, I was getting a little bored because I had already done everything on my list of things I wanted to do in Galway and seen all of the main attractions that the lady at the hostel I stayed in told me I should see. Fortunately, two of my friends met me there later after they finished exams, and I didn't have to stay in the hostel alone. When they got there, we found a pub near our hostel, and much to our delight, the band there played "Galway Girl," which made my day in Galway feel perfectly complete.

Shop Street

Dun Aonghasa Cliffs

The next morning, we woke up early to take a bus and then a ferry to Inis Mor, which is the largest of the three Aran Islands. There isn't really anything to do at Inis Mor besides see the island itself, and the best way to do so is by bike. Fortunately, it wasn't raining too hard, so we rented bikes and set off along the 12km trail throughout the island to the Dun Aonghasa cliffs. To get to the cliffs, we biked through a village, where we saw lots of cows, wild horses, and tiny houses. We didn't really see any people though, which was cool but kind of creepy at the same time. The ride was very peaceful; it felt like we had the whole island to ourselves, and the scenery was beautiful, which made the almost completely uphill bike ride enjoyable. When we got to the cliffs, we parked our bikes and hiked for about 20 minutes to get to the top. The view from the top of the cliffs was beautiful, but the winds were really strong and it was starting to rain so we didn't stay at them for long. On the ride back, we took a different path that was along the water. With fields on one side and the ocean on the other, this ride was just as peaceful and even more beautiful than the ride up. The ferry ride back to the mainland was far from peaceful, though. It was raining pretty hard, and there were a few times when I thought the boat was going to flip over. Fortunately, we made it back to Dublin, and now I can say that I safely survived all of the trips I took this semester!

the bike ride back along the water

I have less than a week in Dublin, and I'm filling all of my spare time with a mixture of doing things I've always wanted to do and going back and re-doing some of my favorite things. Yesterday, I went to Phoenix Park to enjoy the scenery and tour the president of Ireland's house. Anyone can tour the president's house for free on Saturdays, so a friend and I went. We got to see his car, the dining room, the room where all famous guests meet him, and even his personal study. I couldn't believe we got to see all of this, especially since there was no security at all to get inside! Our tour guide told us we were all "very welcome at the president's house," which are words I never thought I'd ever hear!

President's house! 

It's still raining here, as always, so even though nothing can top touring the president's house, I've been finding other cool indoor things to do, like visiting the Leprechaun Museum, the Dublin Writers Museum, and finding new restaurants to try. In the rare moments of sunshine, I'll go for a run outside at UCD or take a walk and have a picnic in St. Stephen's Green. Everything on my "Dublin Bucket List" is almost all checked off, and I'm going to do my best to finish everything on it by Saturday, which is when I come back to America!

The Last Hurrah: Barcelona

Yesterday I got back from my last big European adventure. I went to Barcelona for four days, and it was one of my favorite and least favorite trips at the same time. It was one of my favorites because it was relaxing and Barcelona is beautiful, but one of my least favorites because it rained three out of the four days we were there, which made our plans of laying on the beach all day virtually impossible.

SO MUCH PAELLA

We checked into our hostel on Saturday afternoon, and immediately upon our arrival we decided to immerse ourselves in the Spanish culture by taking a little siesta. Every afternoon we took a nap, and it was so nice to do this! For the first time, I felt truly relaxed on a trip that I took, and it never seemed like we were rushing anywhere, which was a welcome change. That night for dinner we wandered around side streets near our hostel and found a place with some delicious chicken and vegetable paella and sangria. As in most other places I've been to, the food in Spain was amazing! Most of the time I wasn't sure exactly what I was eating since I don't speak Spanish and couldn't understand the menus. I didn't care though because the tapas, paella, and fresh fruits and vegetables were all great and very different from what I normally eat.

On Sunday it was pouring rain, but we were still determined to go to the beach. So, we made our way down to the water, and after about 15 miserable minutes, we left and took a gondola ride that went between two mountains and gave us an incredible view of Barcelona and the Mediterranean Sea. We then ambled along Las Ramblas, which is the main street in Barcelona and stretches between the Gothic District and El Raval. Las Ramblas is lined with trees, and there are numerous side streets off the main road that are full of cute shops, and of course, great places to eat.

View from the gondola ride - imagine how much better it would have been without rain! 

Like Sunday, Monday was very rainy. In the morning we walked along Las Ramblas again, but this time we stopped at La Marcat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria, which is the biggest and coolest market I've seen in Europe so far. Everything from fruits and vegetables to entire pigs' heads are sold there, and all of it was locally grown. We got fresh fruit cups, but my favorite thing about La Boqueria was the crepe stand. My friends and I kept talking about how much we had been craving crepes ever since coming back from Paris, and the crepes we had here were even better than the crepes in France. I got my favorite, Nutella and banana, and it was indescribably delicious. The Nutella to banana ration was spot on, and the crepe itself had a slightly cinnamon-y flavor. It was also folded into a rectangle instead of a triangle like all of the dessert crepes I had in Paris, and it came in a long, rectangular box that you had to hold parallel to the ground while eating in order to prevent all of the filling from falling out. I'm not sure exactly what it was that made this crepe so awesome, but it far surpassed all of the crepes I ate in Paris, which I didn't think was possible.

After the La Boqueria, we walked away from Las Ramblas and to Parc de la Ciutadella, which is home to a zoo, a lake, some museums, and the prettiest fountain I've seen in Europe. I had never heard of this fountain before, and I think it's way cooler than the Trevi Fountain. With its golden horse statues, palm trees, stairs, and lush, green, surroundings, the fountain at Parc de la Ciutadella seems almost majestic. It also wasn't crowded at all when we went there, so we got to take our time and enjoy being in the park for as long as we wanted to.

All of the girls I went with and I have several friends who have been to Barcelona, and all of them have told us that the nightlife there is awesome. Fortunately, like me, the friends I went with aren't really into staying out at clubs until 6:00 am, but we did go to a few bars that were really fun and different from the Irish pubs we've become accustomed to. One bar we went to was called Dow Jones, and all of the drink prices there change based on what drinks are popular and which ones aren't. Every hour or so, there's a "stock market crash," and the drink prices go way down for two minutes. Another bar we went to was called Chupitos, which has probably over 100 types of shots, each with a crazy name, and many involving candy and/or fire. On our last night, we went to an 80's themed bar called Polaroid, which was also really cool and way less tourist-y than the other two bars. Comic books and other 80's memorabilia cover the walls, and all of the drinks are named after things from 80's movies, like the Delorean. Going out in Barcelona was fun, but I still much prefer the more laid-back atmosphere of the pubs in Ireland.

Ceiling of Sagrada Familia

Tuesday was our last day in Barcelona, and we were lucky enough to have great weather. In the morning, we went straight to Sagrada Familia, which was absolutely beautiful! (Special thanks to Auntie Ann for encouraging me to go inside!) I've seen plenty of churches since being abroad, and after a while, they all kind of start to blend together. Sagrada Familia, though, is in a league of its own. Construction began in 1882, and is still going on. The anticipated finish date is 2026, which is the 100 year anniversary of Antoni Gaudi's, its architect's, death. When it's done, the outside will have three sets of four pillars; each set of three representing either Jesus' birth, death, or resurrection, and the twelve pillars in total representing the twelve apostles. There will be six additional pillars, four representing the Evangelists, one representing Mary, and the tallest representing Jesus. All of the symbolism and thought behind the outside of Sagrada Familia fascinates me, and I hope I get to go back to Barcelona when it's done to see the finished product. The inside of Sagrada Familia is also incredible, and nothing like any church I've ever seen. All of the walls and pillars are white, which makes the stained glass windows look exceptional when the light shines through them. The ceiling looks like it's covered in giant, white, mosaic stars. To me, Sagrada Familia felt nothing like a church but simultaneously more holy than any other church I've been to.

After Sagrada Familia, we went to Parc Guell, which was also designed by Gaudi. Parc Guell is one of the largest parks in Europe, and is definitely the coolest park I've ever been to (so far Spain is winning for best fountain, best church, and best park). There's a giant hill leading up to it, and once you get there, there are some winding trails that lead you to  beautiful gardens and mosaic structures. There's an incredible view of Barcelona from the top, and we finally got perfect weather for enjoying it all. Parc Guell was probably one of my favorite parts about Barcelona because it's a beautiful mix of natural and man-made beauty.

Palm trees in the park

Mosaic benches in Parc Guell

When we were finished walking through the park, we went down to the Marina area for lunch at an outdoor cafe, followed by a siesta on the beach and a glass of sangria at another outdoor cafe. The things we did on Tuesday were exactly how I expected Barcelona would be, and I wish we could have had weather like that the entire time. I think the rain on the other three days made me appreciate Tuesday so much more though, and I can honestly say that Tuesday was one of the best days of my semester abroad. I really didn't want to leave Barcelona, but on Wednesday we boarded our last Ryanair flight of the semester back to Dublin. We almost didn't make it though, because the bus from Barcelona city center to the airport was on a different schedule since May 1st is apparently a Spanish holiday. Our flight was at 11:45, and we got to the airport at 11:16, as our plane was boarding. You know how in movies people run through the airport, cut security lines, and sprint onto the plane just as it's about to take off? That was us. Since I normally like to get to the airport obscenely early, I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Fortunately, we made it!  Now I'm safely back in Dublin, away from the blissful days of Barcelona, and in the midst of final exams, thinking that maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if we had missed our flight after all.

Annie and the Chocolate Factory

This week I stayed in Dublin and got the chance to cross a few things off my "Dublin bucket list." I have a little less than a month here, and I can't believe how quickly the semester has gone!

Leinster House

On Thursday I went on a tour of the Dail (pronounced like "doll"), which is the lower houses of the Irish Parliament and is located in the Leinster House in Dublin. I went with my BC class, and we got a private tour from one of the security guards. He showed us around the different chambers, and we even got to meet a senator! She was there when we walked in, shook all of our hands, and in typical Irish fashion, said, "You're all very welcome to the Dail." We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the Leinster House, which was a shame because it was beautiful. In the Senate chamber, there are chandeliers made from Waterford crystals, and the entryway has very ornate gold-leaf patterns covering the walls and ceilings. I've been doing my best to keep up with Irish politics since coming here, and seeing the Leinster House and learning about how the Irish government works definitely makes everything I've been reading and watching on the news make a lot more sense. The lower houses of the Irish government are fairly similar to the bicameral legislature in America. The Dail is more akin to the U.S. House of Representatives; it has 166 members and is directly elected every five years under a proportional representation system. The Dail is seen as the most dominant branch, and it has the power to nominate the Taoiseach, which is the Prime Minister and pronounced like "tee-shock", approve the budget, approve declarations of war, and ratify treaties. The Seanad, or Senate, is also located at the Leinster House. Its powers are loosely modeled on those of the British House of Lords, and it is seen as the weakest branch of Irish government. There are 60 members of the Seanad, and they only have the power to delay the passage of bills; they cannot veto a bill outright. Senators are not directly elected, but rather appointed in a few different ways. Eleven are chosen directly by the Taoiseach, so the Taoiseach usually enjoys a majority since the Dail must approve his or her nomination. Ireland also has a president, a deputy prime minister, and a supreme court, so the way government works here isn't all that similar to how it works in America because there isn't the same separation of powers and system of checks and balances. After the tour, our teacher took us to a hotel across the street from the Leinster House for a drink with one of the members of the Dail. I couldn't decide what shocked me more: that BC paid for a pint for all of us, or that a politician joined us!

Friday got off to a great start as a friend and I toured the Butlers Chocolate Factory, which is about an hour from UCD by bus. Butlers has a few chocolate shops around Dublin and Europe in general, and their chocolate is amazing (but not as good as See's)! We watched a film about the history of chocolate, got to see a timeline of important events in chocolate's past, watched chocolate being made and workers decorating the handmade chocolates that Butlers sells, and of course, learned about the history of Butlers, which was founded in 1932 by Marion Butler. The highlight of the tour, though, was the copious amount of chocolate that we were given. We got to try white, milk, and dark chocolate, toffee fudge, milk chocolate truffles, and orange crunch truffles. At the end of the tour, we got to go to the "experience room," where they were playing the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie soundtrack and we got to use melted white chocolate to "glue" chocolate decorations onto a giant milk chocolate bear!

As much fun as the Butlers Factory was, it was kind of hard to enjoy. After we had been there for about 10 minutes, my friend got an email on her phone from BC telling all students to stay inside because of safety issues connected to the Marathon bombings. During the entire tour, we weren't really paying attention because we were too busy trying to find a news article explaining what was going on and trying to text our friends at school to make sure they were okay. For this entire semester, I've never questioned my decision to come abroad, but on Friday all I wanted to do was go back to BC. I know it seems weird that I wanted to go back when all of this was going on, but I couldn't handle being so far away from my home and not knowing if everyone was safe. I felt almost guilty for being abroad. Why did I have the freedom to tour a chocolate factory, visit the Irish Parliament, and travel around Europe when my friends couldn't even leave their dorm rooms? It didn't make sense; it wasn't fair. And nobody here seemed to care. Nobody was talking about what was happening in Boston, and none of my roommates or other European students I know seemed to understand how afraid all of us from BC were. My friend and I spent the remainder of Friday watching the news and reading articles online, trying to make sense of all of this. I couldn't sleep until they announced that the police caught the suspect, and when that happened, I was overwhelmed with gratitude and relief. I've always loved going to BC and been so grateful to have the opportunity to go to school there, and I know I'll return in the fall with a deeper sense of appreciation than I ever had before. Boston is a beautiful, wonderful, and incredibly strong city, and I know it will be even more so after last week's events.



The rest of my weekend was very low key. On Saturday evening I went to mass at the chapel on campus, and today a friend and I went to Fixx Coffeehouse, which is our favorite Dublin coffee shop, to do homework. Fixx has a welcoming and relaxed atmosphere, baristas that draw pictures in the foam on your coffee, and, best of all, a free library! The walls in the back of the shop are lined with bookshelves, and they ask that if you take a book you either put one in its place or make a small donation. The last time I went I picked up a copy of Sherlock Holmes, and when I finished that, I put it back in exchange for a short story collection. Since classes at UCD aren't as rigorous as they are at BC, I've had a lot of time to read for pleasure, which has been awesome.

While last week was pretty laid back, albeit stressful, this week will be much busier. Tomorrow night is UCD's annual International Ball, which should be great craic (the Irish slang for "fun," pronounced like "crack"). I have a final essay due on Wednesday and a final exam on Thursday, which probably won't be too much craic, but that's okay because I have Barcelona to look forward to this weekend!

"Can we sit where JK Rowling sat?"

Sunday morning I came back from a quick trip to Scotland. Three friends and I spent two days in Edinburgh, and this was definitely one of our quietest, least busy weekend adventures. We arrived in Scotland on Friday morning, and the first thing we did was head to Edinburgh Castle. Edinburgh Castle sits atop Castle Rock, which has hosted human inhabitants since 900 BC. The Castle, though, was built in the 1200s, and was the cite of royal occupation until the 1600s. By the 1700s, its chief purpose was militaristic, and since the 1900s it has primarily served as an historical monument. Edinburgh Castle is huge, and we spent about two hours exploring. The Crown Room and Royal Palace houses the Stone of Destiny and the Great Hall contains a display of armor. St. Margaret's Chapel is the oldest building of the Castle, and it was built to honor David I's mother. The Prisons contain bunks that emulate the beds the prisoners would have actually slept in, and in keeping with the authentic feel of the entire castle, a gun is fired every afternoon at 1:00.

Jewels in the Crown Room

The 1:00 gun

After visiting Edinburgh Castle, we checked into our hostel, Castle Rock, which was only about a stone's throw from the top of the Castle (pun intended). This is probably my favorite hostel I've stayed in so far. First of all, it looked like a castle on the outside, and the inside had lots of stairwells leading in different directions, much like the castle we explored earlier that day. There were a few different lounges, each with a name and a purpose, like The Posh Lounge, which has a fish tank and a piano, and my personal favorite, The Groove Lounge, which houses a record player, a guitar, and is "strictly for grooving." Each dorm room has a theme too, and we were in the Happy Days Room. There were 14 other people in our room, so needless to say I didn't sleep at all, but the hostel was so cool and in a great location, so it was worth it.

The Groove Lounge

That night we went to dinner at Elephant House, which is where JK Rowling started writing Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. When we walked in, the waitress asked us if we wanted to sit in the front or in the back, and one of my friends jokingly responded, "Can we sit where JK Rowling sat?" The waitress gave her one of the biggest eye rolls I've ever seen, and put us at a table at the front of the restaurant. We later found out that JK Rowling sat in the back. Rude. Aside from the waitress, eating at the Elephant House was magical (this time, no pun intended). Being the literature nerd that I am, I couldn't get over how cool it was that I was in the same place as where one of the most influential authors of all time was when she began her writing career. The bathrooms are covered in graffiti that has thank-you messages to JK Rowling and quotes from the books. The messages range from sentimental to funny; one of my favorites was the spell "Alohomora," which is used to unlock doors, and is written on one of the door handles.


Saturday, the weather was uncharacteristically warm and sunny, so we started our day with a hike to the top of Arthur's Seat, which is a dormant volcano. Getting to be outside and enjoy the sunshine, a hike, and the beautiful views, was the highlight of the weekend for me, and I would definitely recommend this to anyone who goes to Scotland. From the top, you can see what feels like all of Scotland, from Edinburgh Castle to the ocean. There's a large grass area on the top, and when we got there we laid down and basked in the sun before heading back down the other side of the mountain.

View from halfway up...

and the view from the top! 

Stereotypical Scotland 

After climbing up Arthur's Seat, we took a stroll down the Royal Mile, which is a series of streets that runs between Edinburgh Castle and Arthur's Seat. There were countless pubs, Scottish wool and cashmere stores, and bagpipe players in kilts lining the streets; basically exactly what I imagined Scotland would be like. The National Gallery isn't far from the Royal Mile either, so we went in there for a little to look at some artwork. Museums aren't my favorite thing, but there were a lot of impressionist paintings there that I really liked and a collection of work by Scottish painters that was really unique.

The Royal Mile

Saturday evening we continued to live out our Harry Potter dreams by walking through Greyfrieirs Graveyard, which is behind Elephant House and inspired many of the characters' names in the books. We saw Tom Riddell's (aka Tom Riddle / Lord Voldemort) and William McGonagall's (inspiration for Professor Minerva McGonagall) graves.


Later that night, we went to dinner with a Canadian girl whom we met at our hostel. When I pictured hostels before I came to Europe, I always imagined them as these giant rooms with lots of beds where people from all over the world became friends. This was the closest experience I had to what I thought a hostel would be like, and it was cool to branch out and explore a new city with someone else who was also new there. After dinner, we went back to Edinburgh Castle. It was really peaceful to walk around at night and see great views of Edinburgh when it was dark.



Edinburgh was great, but it felt very small, and I don't know what we would have done if we hadn't come back on Sunday. As always, I was happy to be back in Dublin. Now I have only one more weekend trip to look forward to: Barcelona!

"Paris is always a good idea." - Audrey Hepburn

Disclaimer: this post will be full of cliches and over-excited adjectives, but I can't help it! Going to Paris was literally one of the best ideas I've ever had. I was lucky enough to go for Easter weekend, and this was my favorite trip since being abroad. The sights, sounds, friends, and of course, the food, were all incredible, and I could not have asked for a better weekend.

The Eiffel Tower from the top of Montparnasse

First of all, the weather was gorgeous. It was a little cold, but there was no rain and the sun was shining. As always, we started the trip with a free walking tour. We got to walk through the Latin Quarter and see the Fontaine di St. Michel, the Seine River, Notre Dame, Saint Louis Palace, The New Bridge, the Henry IV statue, Pont des Arts (aka the Lock Bridge), the Louvre, the Joan of Arc statue, the Eiffel Tower, Place de la Concorde, the Naval Academy, Parliament buildings, Musee d'Orsay, Ile - de - la - Cite, the Tuileries Gardens, and walk down Champs - Elysees. Throughout the tour, our guide gave us tips about his favorite things to do in Paris that most tourists might not know about. Montparnasse, one of the places he recommended we visit, was one of my favorite things we did in Pairs. Montparnasse is a 58-story skyscraper, and besides the Eiffel Tower, it's one of the tallest buildings in Paris. We went on our second night there, and it was so cool to get a beautiful view of the Eiffel Tower from another place that's so tall.

There were a few things we saw on the walking tour that we wanted to explore further, so we made time during our stay to go to the Louvre (tip for anyone who's interested in going there: if you go in the entrance by the lion statues, there's virtually no wait and this is the closest entrance to the Mona Lisa!), L'Orangerie Museum (where some of Monet's paintings are), the Arc di Triomphe (where there's a Tomb of the Unknown Soldier), and the Tuileries Gardens. We walked around the gardens for a while on Easter Sunday, and this, like most of the rest of the weekend, epitomized exactly what I thought Paris would be. It was relatively warm, and there was an egg hunt going on, so there were lots of families there too. We got lunch (savory crepes) at an outdoor cafe, and spent over an hour just sitting outside and loving being in Paris.

Enjoying some sun at Tuileries Gardens

Arc di Triomphe

In addition to the walking tour, we went on a boat cruise tour in the Seine. This was another one of my favorite things about Paris because it was relaxing, informative, and allowed us to see the city from a different angle and to get a glimpse of parts we wouldn't have been able to get to on foot.

View of Notre Dame from the Seine

Sisters reunited in Paris!

We of course went to the Eiffel Tower, and this too, was one of my favorite things (basically everything in Paris was my favorite thing; I can't narrow it down at all!). The first time we went was at night because my sister was there on a field trip with her French class. Trying to get in touch with her was kind of a challenge, but we finally found each other and got to talk for about 10 minutes. I couldn't believe that we got to meet up here! After she and her class went up to the top, my friends and I found a spot near a fountain on the other side of the street to watch the Eiffel Tower sparkle (which it does for five minutes every hour once it gets dark) and enjoy our first of many dessert crepes.

Our daytime visit to the Eiffel Tower was also picture perfect. We climbed the 669 stairs to the second story, and from there took an elevator all the way to the top. The top was much colder than the bottom, so we didn't stay for long, but it was definitely worth the cold. For some reason, I thought I would be disappointed by the Eiffel Tower and that it wouldn't be as cool as it seems in pictures, so I was surprised at how in awe I was when I first saw it. I've seen a lot of impressive architecture since being abroad, and the Eiffel Tower was so different from anything else I've seen. This made me appreciate it even more though, and every time I saw it when we were walking throughout the city, I had to stop and take a picture because I got so excited.

Since we were in Paris for Easter, one of the friends I went with and I went to mass at Notre Dame. We went to an international mass which was supposed to be held in a mix of English and French, but it was all in French except for one reading. I couldn't really understand what was going on (we even accidentally missed the Our Father), but my favorite part was the sign of peace. Everyone was saying it in his or her native language, and it was really cool to see people from all over the world shaking hands and coming together for mass on Easter Sunday.

Inside Notre Dame

In addition to all of the beautiful sights, the food in Paris was also incredible. The bread, cheese, crepes, croissants, bread, salad, desserts, bread, fondue, bread, and bread were all phenomenal. One of my favorite things I ate in Paris though (besides the bread) were macarons, which are colorful little sweets that are kind of like sandwich cookies. We went to a pastry shop called Laduree, and the macarons there were life-changing. My favorite flavor was vanilla, which tasted like a light, fluffy, chewy cloud of deliciousness and perfection. If happiness had a taste, it would taste like this.

Macarons!!!!!!!!

Putting our lock on the bridge

One of the reasons why I loved Paris so much was because of the people I was there with. It was great to see my sister, and I got to go with two of the closest friends I've made in Ireland. When we were walking by a street vendor along the Seine one day, we saw a lock with three keys, so we decided to put our initials on it and add it to the Pont des Arts. On the back we wrote, "for friends and family," and we all put it on the bridge together and threw our keys into the Seine. Very cheesy, I know, but it was fun and cool to leave our mark on Paris! If I ever get to go back, I hope our lock is still there.


Another reason why I loved Paris so much was that it was the perfect mix between busy touristy things and leisure. Since we were there for three full days, we were able to take our time with the sightseeing and really get to enjoy all of the places we went. On our last day there after visiting the Eiffel Tower, we went back to Montmarte, which is the area where our hostel was, and spent the rest of the afternoon walking around and going into different shops. We just happened to walk by Sacre Cour, a cathedral at the top of a hill, at sunset, so we decided to sit on the steps and watch the sun go down. It was the perfect way to end the weekend, and, like London, I wasn't ready to leave! If I had to do it all over again, there isn't a thing I would change about the entire trip; the weekend I spent in Paris was probably the best weekend I've had abroad so far, and I hope I get to go back someday.

Watching the sun set at Sacre Cour - the perfect ending to a perfect weekend