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.