Days in Dublin

Just an American girl living the Dublin lifestyle for a while :)

[diariesofdublin]

Home Sweet Home

I am currently writing this blog on my back deck in the wonderful town of North Wales, Pennsylvania. I just got home yesterday from Ireland, but I don’t think it has hit me quite yet. I landed in Philadelphia yesterday around 2 p.m. EST, but it was 7 p.m. Dublin time, so I was a little jet lagged in the evening and actually went to bed at 10 p.m. for the first time in a very long time. Probably since that time I had the Irish mumps. Good times.

Since the last time I wrote, I took 3 exams within 43 hours of each other and somehow survived them. They were very intense in how they were administered, reminding me of the SATs: a time I’ve tried to erase from my memory. Hopefully I passed, but I won’t find out until the end of June. Crossing my fingers!

I also went to Edinburgh, Scotland for 2 days for my last trip outside of Ireland in my time abroad. I flew solo for this one, but I made the best of it. It was such a beautiful place, and I did tons of hiking all around, admiring the beautiful view of the city the entire time. It was super easy to get around, and the people I met in my hostel were super cool. One was from Australia so I was loving her accent. Definitely glad I fit this last trip in!

Besides going to Scotland and taking exams, I tried to just appreciate the beauty of Ireland and go to any places that I didn’t get to yet. One day, Taylor, Michelle and I went to Bray, which is about a 40 minute train ride from Dublin. There’s a beach there and some cliffs for hiking. We spent the afternoon hiking and enjoyed a nice lunch at the top of a cliff with a pretty amazing view looking over the town of Bray. After we returned to Dublin, we went to the National Botanical Gardens, which are actually in walking distance of DCU. Lots of beautiful flowers and cute little gardens to walk through :)

Since Kieran’s birthday was yesterday (the day I left - I know, terrible timing), he & I got a little dressed up and went into city centre for one last dinner date. We both got some nice steaks while enjoying some pints. Ugh, definitely already missing Irish cider.

Studying in Dublin for 4 months was beyond amazing. It truly flew by. I’m so happy with my decision to study in such a beautiful country and meet so many amazing people. I made great friends, saw 11 countries and 17 cities, became much more independent, learned so much about Irish culture, spent Easter in Rome and St. Paddy’s Day in Dublin, survived the mumps, and even found a lil’ Irish romance.

Leaving was definitely a weird, bittersweet feeling. It was super hard to say bye to Kieran, especially on his birthday and knowing that I won’t be seeing him all the time anymore. I am so grateful to have met him, though, and I hope to see him again sometime in the future!

Now that I’m home, I’m not sure how to feel. It’s very nice to be home - having food I’ve missed, being able to drive myself places, making back some of the money I blew through this semester, and getting to see all my family and friends of course! Oh, and not having to rely on WiFi all the time! That’ll be nice. It is definitely a bittersweet feeling to be home.

This experience will stay with me forever without a doubt. I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to just pick up and spend a semester abroad. It has inspired me to see more of the world and has opened my eyes to many different cultures. I definitely think I’ve carried some of that Irish slang over the Atlantic with me, too!

I hope you all enjoyed reading this blog for the past 4 months. Hopefully it was entertaining and didn’t bore you all to death :) Now that I have some time on my hands and am not cramming to finish that 3,000 word essay for my Irish history class anymore, I will be updating my Facebook with pictures from the rest of my trip as soon as I get a chance! 

Until next time, Dublin!! And, as they would say in Irish, sláinte (cheers!) 

[diariesofdublin]

Some Eurotrip pictures - there are more on Facebook ...and I still have a few more cities to add (trying my best, but it’s a pain in the butt).

xoxo

Val

[diariesofdublin]

Eurotrip 2k15

Right after our classes ended for the term, I went on a week’s worth of adventures with some of the girls in my program. First stop was Switzerland, and then we had four other destinations after that. Since it was a lot of planning, the big question was how well it would all work out….but we can successfully say we made it. Somehow. Only a few bumps in the road, but that’s expected. Here are some highlights:

Switzerland: It was ironic because we didn’t have an exact plan for this one, yet it ended up being one of our favorites. We figured we would just walk around and figure it out when we got there. We flew into Basel and explored around before finding a bench by the river and just taking in the beauty. Then, we took a train to Lucerne, which is where we had our hostel booked. Our hostel had a balcony and you could see the Swiss Alps from it. Not too shabby. In almost any part of the city, there is a beautiful view of them, so we were always stopping to take pictures and admire the natural beauty. It didn’t even seem real honestly. The next day, a lady in the tourist office gave us information for a self-guided tour of the city centre, which ended up being well worth our time. We did some hiking, climbing, and finally relaxing, especially at this one point where you have an aerial view of the entire city. Breathtaking to say the least. The only real complaints we had with this place was that it was pretty expensive. Also, they used a different currency, so it was a pain because if you paid in euros, you got change in Swiss francs.

Munich: Spring fest. It’s basically the spring version of Oktoberfest. Tons of beer, food, live music, and people dancing on tables (tons of great craic). It was funny because we met a German guy, and he pretty much predicted exactly when the whole room would get crazy with people dancing and he was spot on. Definitely an experience to remember. Unfortunately, on our second day there when we wanted to go around and see the city, it was raining. We did enjoy it, but I definitely think my memory of it would be better if it had been just a little sunnier…or at least if I was not soaking wet all day. Oh well, luckily the weather improved for us the rest of the trip!!

Prague: I think this was my favorite city in terms of beauty. We got a free tour there from a tour guide at the hostel, so we were able to see a decent part of the city with him. Then, we did some exploring on our own to the Senate gardens, the Castle, the John Lennon Wall and the Charles Bridge. At night, we went to an ice bar because our hostel gave us a voucher for 2 free drinks with admission to there. Pretty cool experience – pun intended. Later on, we went to a five-story club, which had different types of music playing on each floor. One room was oldies, another was dance songs and so on. We spent most of the night on the hip hop floor and danced the night away.

Amsterdam: I loved this place. It was so cute, although after walking around for a little while, you realize it looks the same on every street…not exaggerating one bit. Canals and identical houses everywhere. This made it a little difficult to find our way back to our hostel at night, but I mean, getting lost in a cute little city isn’t the worst thing in the world. Unfortunately, we didn’t plan well for the Anne Frank House. It was a 3 hour wait, and since we had limited time, we weren’t able to take the tour of it, but we did go to a Jewish Historical Museum instead. We also took a canal ride through the city which was really pretty. We checked out the “coffee” shops as well (when in Amsterdam).

Brussels: Sadly, we had the shortest amount of time in this city. No worries – we still made time to get our Belgian chocolate. Yum. I did buy some to take back home, but those truffles didn’t stand a chance to make it back the states. Sorry fam. We walked through the touristy spots like the Grand Place which was really beautiful, but I wish we would have been able to see it lit up at night.

Sadly for us, our vacation is over, and it’s time to hit the books. We have final exams coming up next week, and I’m actually starting to get a little nervous (possibly for the first time all semester). Since the Irish school system is a lot different than back home, I haven’t taken any exams here yet, and I’m not entirely sure what to expect. I feel like I have to cram a whole semester’s worth of information into my brain for 3 different classes…so we’ll see how that pans out. It will all be grand – that’s all you really have to remember.

I go home in 16 days, and it’s definitely a bittersweet feeling. Besides studying and making great friends with the library, I’m going to try to use that time to do anything throughout Ireland that I haven’t had the chance to do yet. I also have a short trip to Scotland planned in about a week, so I’m looking forward to that!

-VS

[diariesofdublin]

"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us, or we find it not" -Emerson

[diariesofdublin]

The latest craic

With all of the recent traveling I’ve been doing around Europe, I realized I haven’t written much about Dublin (it is diaries of DUBLIN, after all). So, I’ll fill you guys in on the latest scoop here and around Ireland :)

Mini excursions: Our program has held a few free “excursions” for us to visit places in the city centre...and if it’s for free, it’s for me (seriously, though, I’m on a tight budget and need to take advantage of these opportunities). So, some of us were able to tour Christ Church Cathedral and St. Patrick’s Cathedral - both very beautiful churches and VERY enthusiastic tour guides (always a plus). We also got to ring the bells of Christ Church, which I thought was pretty cool. The other excursion I went on was to the Little Museum of Dublin. This museum focuses on the history of Dublin in 20th century, and all of the items in it were donated by the people of Dublin. I think that definitely gave it an exciting touch because it is a different type of museum than most ones I’ve ever visited. The museum also had an entire room dedicated to U2. Very modern overall, but well worth the visit.

Family visiting: As I said in my most recent post, my family came to visit me this week. They landed on Sunday, so Kieran and I went into city centre to meet with them, and we headed to lunch and did the Old Jameson Distillery Tour. I am not a huge whiskey fan, but I thought the tour was pretty awesome. Again, we had a good tour guide, and we were given a ginger ale whiskey at the end...no complaints there. My family began their tour throughout Ireland the next day, and then they returned back to Dublin yesterday, so I went to meet them again in the city. Side note: I found a place right near their hotel that served gluten-free chicken goujons (chicken fingers) for the first time in Ireland!!! It’s the little things in life. Anyway, they had one last dinner with their tour group Saturday night, and one member in their group left the tour a day early to visit friends, so I was actually able to go to the dinner with them - I just had to be Maureen for the night. The dinner was pretty delicious (and free for me, so win-win), and there was a band playing some Irish music throughout the night. Toward the end of the night, some Irish dancers performed, so it was some good craic – especially when they included some older members of the audience...very funny. Today, Kieran and I met my parents at Guinness and we did the tour (yes, it was my second time, and yes, it was still awesome). I actually liked it better this time around because we took more time to enjoy the tour since it’s self-guided. We also poured the perfect pint at the Guinness Academy, which was something I didn’t do last time and that I needed to do before leaving here. The sky bar was my favorite part again, especially since it turned out to be a sunny day, so the view was really nice. After Guinness, we met up with Colleen for a late lunch, and I had my first bangers and mash. Thumbs up. My family came back to DCU with me to check out my accommodation set-up and we relaxed...with some tea of course (so Irish, I know). After that, I said my goodbyes to them, but this time the goodbye is only for a little over a month. It was very nice to see them though after being away from them for so long, and I’m glad Kieran was able to meet them as well :)

Cork: A few weeks ago, Michelle, our friend Taylor and I took a bus to Cork where we visited the Blarney Castle (and kissed the stone, of course). After exploring the castle, we walked around the gardens and surrounding area of woods and trails, which I did not even know existed before my visit. It was beautiful, and we definitely picked a good day for it. I really liked the city of Cork – much less lively than Dublin – but in a refreshing way. We are thinking of making the trip back on a weekday or Saturday (we went on a Sunday) because they have an English Market there, which seems like a cool place to check out. We tend to be very spontaneous here, so who knows? Oh, one other thing: we ate breakfast and lunch there, and both times they had gluten-free options for sandwiches and bagels...safe to say that made my day.

Western Ireland: Last week, we took a second field trip with our program to the west of Ireland and stayed in County Mayo in a little town called Westport. I definitely liked this trip more than Belfast, mainly because the scenery was absolutely stunning on day two and three. On the first day, we took a tour of an Anglo-Irish mansion and then of a Irish heritage center. Both tours gave different perspectives of Irish life for sure. In the morning of the second day, we hiked up parts of Croagh Patrick, Ireland’s Holy Mountain, and were rewarded for our efforts once we reached a certain point because the view was breathtaking. We drove along the Atlantic Coast after and stopped in a spot called Achill Island – again, amazing. Finally, we stopped in a deserted village where there were a bunch of old famine houses scattered around as this part of the country was hit hard during the famine years. On the third day, we drove around and saw some small villages in which Irish is actually spoken by all inhabitants. In most of Ireland, English is the primary language spoken even though Irish is technically the first official language of the country, so this was the first place I witnessed that primarily speaks Irish. We continued the drive through the valley and saw parts of Connemara and Killary Harbor. The natural beauty of this place truly never ceases to amaze me. Finally, we made our last stop in Galway, where we walked around and got some lunch. Unfortunately, we did not have much time there, but it was a cute little city to see. I definitely fell in love with Ireland this trip...well, even more than I was beforehand. Pictures will be coming soon :)

More random Irish slang:

They say “like” at the end of their sentences...a lot.

They call it a “coach” instead of the bus (on tour buses).

They say “at some stage” rather than “at some point.”

Their bacon is called “rashers” here. It’s a little different. I don’t mind it, but I definitely prefer the bacon back home.

Some Irish people have a certain accent where they do not pronounce the “th” sound the same way we do. (e.g ‘think’ = ‘tink’, three = ‘tree’)

They call a band-aid a “plaster.”

“Call over” means to “come over.”

They usually say they “ring” you on the phone, not “call” you.

This is the last week of classes for us at DCU. Bittersweet. I am definitely excited for lectures to be over, but I can’t believe how fast this semester went, and I am in no rush to go home anytime soon...or take final exams. I am looking forward to this Thursday, though! There is a summer ball at our school, so that should be a lot of good craic!! (Side note: it is very casual event, not like a ball that you would probably think of). I better get some sleep so I can prepare for the busy week ahead!

-VS

[diariesofdublin]

[diariesofdublin]

When in Rome (and Florence)

I know this post is quite delayed considering it’s been over a week since we got back from Italy, but it has been such a busy week since then. The day after we returned, my program took us on a 3-day trip to Western Ireland, so it was a lot of traveling over the course of 8 days with little down time. Then, once I finally got back to Dublin for longer than 24 hours, my family flew across the pond to come visit me (well, and to explore this beautiful country). They are still here, somewhere in Ireland, and they’re coming back to Dublin this weekend before they fly back to the states. I’ll write more about all of that soon!

Back to Italia. It was such a great trip, although Michelle and I did hit just a few bumps in the road. We were quickly convinced that we do NOT have the best luck with transportation in Italy. Or weather...but I’ll touch on that in a little bit. First example: we flew into Rome and took a shuttle to the train station, but we missed the last train to Florence for the night (I have to add that this train station was not in the nicest part of the city). Long story short: we spent some quality time with the 24-hour McDonald’s across the street...as in until the next train at 6 a.m. (although, we even got booted out of there a few times...rude). Definitely not my idea of a slumber party. Although this was a rough experience, it is a story to tell, and in hindsight, slightly humorous. Considering the circumstances, I think we did well staying positive, especially through the late hours of the night. Second example: as if the sleepless night in a sketchy part of Rome wasn’t enough, we got some icing on the cake when we got slapped with a fine on the train for not validating our tickets before getting on board. Ugh. Another lesson learned.

Enough of the bad stuff, though...we got to travel through a beautiful country and see 2 gorgeous cities, so I’ll talk about the highlights of both:

Florence recap: Amazing. I wish I could have seen more of it, but I guess that gives me reason to come back someday. On Friday, we had a nice sunny day, so we did a lot of walking around the city and saw the David (the real one). The view of Florence from the Piazza Michelangelo was unreal and by far my favorite part. We went there around dusk, so we could see the transition of the city from daytime to nighttime, which was absolutely stunning. On Saturday, we did a wine tour in Chianti, which was about an hour outside of Florence. We hiked throughout the vineyards with our tour guide Paul (what a guy), and then sat and enjoyed a lovely view from the top of the hills. Then, we got to the most important part - the wine tasting. After getting a mini tour of the wine cellar, we tried 4 different types of red wine and also some type of liquor. They also provided us with a full Italian meal. Yum. Definitely worth the price (I think it was about 45 euro for the day, including transportation). Oh, surprise, surprise: we also had an issue with transportation this day. We took a bus from the city to Chianti, and of course, it was two hours late to pick us up at the end of the day...and it was pouring while we waited. Classic. The odds were just not in our favor. One thing I loved about Florence was that you could walk everywhere throughout the city. Since Dublin City University is located outside of Dublin’s city centre, I am much more reliant on taxis and public transportation here, which quickly adds up. We did not have to rely on any taxis or metros when we were there, so that was a plus.

Rome recap: Likewise, Rome was a beautiful city to see, and I would love to have more time in it someday. We got there Saturday night and checked into our hostel (the nicest one I’ve stayed in yet for sure), and then got some much-needed rest. We woke up bright and early on Sunday, met up with our Susquehanna friends who are in Rome for the semester, and made our way to the Vatican for Easter Mass. What an experience. Of course, it was pouring down rain, so standing in drenched clothes for about 4 and a half hours was not ideal, but again, it is a story to tell. The mass was spoken in Italian so I did not understand any of it, but we did get to see the Pope up close at the end of the mass when he came around on his popemobile. Pretty cool to say. Later on, we had a big dinner with our friends and some of their study abroad roommates and families. It was nice to do this since it was my first time being away from my family on a major holiday. On Monday, we had much nicer weather, so we spent a long day walking all around Rome. We saw the Forum, Colosseum, Palatine Hill, Pantheon, Spanish steps, and the Trevi Fountain - although the fountain was under construction. They had a bridge over the fountain, so we were actually able to get closer to the statues than we would have been able to if the fountain were filled with water. After a long exhausting day of exploring, we had a our last delicious Italian meal and headed back to our hostel before getting our flight back to Dublin the next morning.

Despite our terrible luck with transportation, some poor weather conditions and having to pay to go to the bathroom (usually avoided this for the most part), Italy was an awesome trip. The food is fabulous, the architecture is beautiful, the scenery is gorgeous, and there is so much to see and do. Oh, and can’t forget the gelato...so delicious.

I have a whole album of pictures from Italy on my Facebook page, but I’ll post some of my favorites in the next post :)

-VS

[diariesofdublin]

Since I haven't added pictures to this in awhile, here are some pictures from Waterford and St. Paddy's! Enjoy :)

[diariesofdublin]

United Kingdom (part two): LONDON!!

After returning from Belfast, I spent a whopping 12 hours in Dublin before heading back to the UK for my trip to London on Saturday morning. Kieran and I had a 6:30 a.m. flight (should probably stop scheduling them so early), but it was nice because by the time that we got into the actual city of London, it was about 10:30 a.m, so we still had the whole day for exploring. Once Kieran and I figured out the ropes of the tube and found our hostel, we met up with my friends who are studying in London this semester. It was so great to see them and be reunited with some of my soulmates, but definitely missing the others (shout out to my SU fam!)

First, we went to the Portobello market, which had tons of vendors selling clothes, food, accessories, knick-knacks, and tons more…kind of like a Rice’s back home. It was pretty cold walking around, but I found a few cute souvenirs and a cardigan, so I’d say it was a success. Then, we went on a river cruise, which was pretty cheap and we were able to see a lot of the city in a short amount of time. Later on, we got dinner in a pub and watched the rugby game (Kieran had to hide his happiness since England got close to winning the 6 nations, but Ireland ended up coming out on top). Oh, and the pub had Angry Orchards, which I don’t think they have in Ireland, so that was fabulous!! Later on, we went out to a club and then headed back to the hostel to get some much-needed sleep.

On Sunday, after getting breakfast with the girls, Kieran and I did some sight-seeing around the city. I was surprised at how close some things were to each other, but it definitely made it easy to get around to all the places we wanted to see. We walked to Trafalgar Square and Buckingham palace (tons of fun to people watch in these places), and then we also saw Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament, and Big Ben. After walking around for a while, we found a cute little cafe right along the river and got some coffee there while enjoying a nice view of the city. Later on, we went on the London Eye, and our ticket came with a “free” 4D preview show for it, so that was pretty cool as well. At this point, we were pretty hungry so we took a tube ride to get food at Chipotle AKA what I’ve been craving most since I left the states. It was obvi amazing. It was also Kieran’s first time trying it since they don’t have Chipotle in Ireland, and he really enjoyed it as well. We then headed back to hang out with some of my friends before getting a night bus to the airport. Our flight was at 6:30 a.m. again (seriously need to stop booking those early flights), so instead of staying in a hostel, we spent a nice, luxurious night in the London airport. A lot of people had the same idea, so it was actually hard to find a spot to hang for a few hours. After sleeping on and off using our backpacks as pillows, we finally boarded the plane and landed back in Dublin around 8 a.m. As expected, I spent some of that Monday catching up on some zzz’s. And by some of that Monday I mean all day.

Although it was a short trip, London definitely lived up to its expectations. It’s a beautiful place with tons of things to see and do. Even better, I got to see some people that I’ve definitely been missing like crazy this semester.

The pound exchange rate is horrendous, so that was by far the worst part of being there, especially with how expensive London is to begin with. It was nice to get back to the euro for sure. Other than that, I really had no other complaints. It was pretty easy to find our way around, and the hostel we stayed at was in a great location. We were only about a 10 minute walk to the London Eye and my friends’ apartment, so that made our lives easier as well.

Next up is Italy! Right now, Michelle and I are in the airport waiting to board the plane. We’re going to Florence for the first two days and then spending the next few in Rome (including Easter), so we’re super excited for it!!

-VS

[diariesofdublin]

Halfway Point

So, I’ve reached the halfway point of my time here… crazy, I know. It’s been a great two months of exploring and experiencing new places and things, and I’ve also met some really awesome people along the way…even found myself an Irish boyfriend. As I’ve been in Dublin, I’ve tried my best to keep track of the differences I’ve experienced – small or large. Here are some things that I’ve learned:

1. Classes are very casual here – Back at Susquehanna, I am very used to having assignments due throughout the week. Here, we do not really have many things to do throughout the week besides occasional readings. Each lecture is very focusedon what will be on the final exam, at least for my classes, or should I say “modules” as they do here. Even after 7 weeks of classes, I still feel like I’m missing something and ignoring academic obligations, but that’s just how they operate over here. Not really complaining about it.

2. Shops close very early – At home, our malls and shops usually close around 9 p.m. with the exception of Sundays. That is not the case here. The other day, Michelle and I were in this store called Penney’s (not to be confused with JC Penney’s), and just as we began to browse, they told us all that they were about to close the store, so we had to leave. It was only 6 p.m. so it did not even cross our minds that it would shut down so early.

3. People are much more vulgar in language – Irish people use curse words very casually in their everyday conversation. It’s just part of their culture. We were at a hurling match a few weeks ago and this one guy was shouting the F word, but parents with children there didn’t seem to be bothered by it all. Also, my one professor actually referred to us as “f***ers” one time, no joke. I think back home, people definitely curse a lot, but I feel like it’s less acceptable than here.

4. Most students go home every weekend – I may have touched on this in a previous post when I talked about the library not being open on a Sunday, but most Irish students do not stay on campus on the weekends. It makes campus very quiet, almost like a ghost town. It is so bizarre to me because back home, we usually stay on campus unless there is a good reason to go home. We reserve our weekends to go out, whereas here, they go out much more during the week and reserve their weekends for family. …Who goes on out Mondays? Irish people do. (sorry, I totally just quoted the #selfie song, but it was so tempting)

5. They use the metric system – Even though I knew they did not use the English system prior to coming here, I’ve had a few occasions where I had to remind myself of the difference: -Speed limit signs: When I first saw 100 km/h -Oven: When I saw our oven only goes up to 260 degrees -Treadmill: I feel like I’m running farther since a km<mile (I guess this is a good thing?) -Scale: Weighing myself in kg (also not really a bad thing because kg>pounds)

6. They display the date and time differently – I am still having trouble getting used to this. The date is written (dd/mm/yyyy) here. When I was sick with the mumps about a month ago (lucky me, right?), I had to give my birthdate multiple times to the doctor and they would give me a confused look whenever I said 9/26/93. It was just natural to me and rolled off the tongue. Also, they use military time on their clocks, so I am still getting used to subtracting the 12 from the number before I actually know the time. I’ve gotten better, but it’s just something I am not used to.

I also have more Irish slang that I’ve noticed since my last post about it:

They say “whatever suits” instead of “whatever works.”

They say “that’s class” all the time.

They say “collect” instead of “pick up” for when people are coming to get you in a car.

Shite means shit (really not sure why that extra vowel is necessary)

Going for a few scoops – Of course I would think this means ice cream (always got food on my mind), but this actually is referring to going for a few drinks.

Taking the piss – this basically just means to make fun of someone or give them a hard time, but in a friendly-joking way (e.g “Aw, don’t get offended, I’m just taking the piss out of you”) …yeah this one is a little odd to me.

Sound or sound out – this just means something or someone is good, well-liked, nice or cool.

I think that’s all that I have for now. I am super excited for the next two months - tons of traveling and great craic to look forward to!! 

Side note: my London post is coming as soon as I have some more time, but I hope you guys enjoyed this one!!

-VS

[diariesofdublin]

United Kingdom (part one)

At the end of last week (our reading week, spring break, whatever you want to call it), my program took us on a trip to Northern Ireland (which, although many don’t realize, is actually not part of the Republic of Ireland). It is an independent country part of the United Kingdom, but when we crossed the border, it was just like passing through different states in America...very different than what we are used to. My international phone realized quickly though and sent me the automatic text I get every time I leave Ireland. Besides not being able to use my Irish phone, another difference I experienced was the currency. Since they are part of the UK, they use the pound sterling. The conversion rate from dollar to pound is absolutely terrible - it actually made me appreciate the euro conversion rate, which is saying a lot. Fortunately, our program provided us with 2 meals, so I did not have to spend too much of my own money on our trip there.

We explored Belfast by first doing a walking tour in the nationalist side of the city, which is where we saw flags, symbols and murals representing the nationalist view that supports a united Ireland. We then crossed into the unionist side, which is where we saw the same type of flags, symbols and murals, but instead representing the unionist view that supports Northern Ireland to remain in the United Kingdom. It was crazy to me how divided a city could truly be, especially within such close proximity, but seeing it made it all very real. Even colors on buildings corresponded to each respective side.

We also went to the Titanic Quarter and got a pretty awesome tour. We got to go in the drawing room, which apparently most of the public does not have the privilege to do. We also got to stand in the dry dock where the Titanic was built. Pretty cool if you ask me.

On our second day in Belfast, we took a tour of the Carrickfergus castle, which is one of the most preserved medieval castles in Ireland. It was pretty cool to walk through, and it also looked over a body of water, so it was very picturesque.

I have an entire album from Northern Ireland on my Facebook, so check it out :)

-VS

[diariesofdublin]

St. Paddy’s Day in Dublin!

Well, I can officially cross spending March 17th in Ireland’s capital off my bucket list. I had a ton of fun yesterday even though the city centre was absolute chaos all day long (as expected).

A group of us woke up yesterday and headed into town for the parade, which started at noon. Honestly, I couldn’t see much of it at all because of the crowd, but I did enjoy what I could see. I can at least say I had it better than some of my other friends who are a little more vertically challenged than me.

After the parade was wrapping up, we attempted to find a pub to get some food and drinks at. When I say that it took 3 hours to successfully find a spot, I am not exaggerating at all. Not only were the streets almost impossible to navigate (literally just got tossed around in the crowd at one point), but every place we went into, there was not a vacant table in sight. We expected this to be the case, but it did get frustrating after a while. Finally, we found a winner and were able to make our bellies happy again.

After our meal, we went to the Temple Bar District, which many Irish natives would probably raise an eyebrow at. It reminded me of a tailgate/day party type environment with the huge crowds of drunk people, the Garda (police) checking drinks, some people getting sick, and just overall loudness. We then found another pub around the area and (somehow) got a table to sit at and have more drinks.

I don’t really know exactly what my expectations for this day were beforehand, but it was a grand time overall - lots of good craic with good friends!! (I’m actually starting to say craic in my daily vocabulary, it’s kind of freaking me out). Oh, one more thing about this day is Irish people really dislike when Americans say St. Patty’s instead of St. Paddy’s because Patty would be short for Patricia, not Patrick. Lesson learned.

Other things going on:

I spent this past weekend in Waterford, which is a city in the south of Ireland. My boyfriend, Kieran, is from there, so he wanted to show it off to me. We stayed at his mom’s house, so I got the chance to meet his family - they were so welcoming and made me feel right at home. I have to say, it was so nice to have his parents drive us around because up until then, I’ve relied on public transportation since I’ve been in Ireland. I was also spoiled with food because his mom made us absolutely delicious home-cooked meals all weekend, including a full Irish breakfast (so yummy and especially great for a morning after a night out at the pubs). To top it off, his mom also bought me tons of gluten-free snacks. God bless her, seriously.

We spent Saturday walking around city centre and then watching the Wales-Ireland rugby match in a pub with his dad. I think I may have brought bad luck because apparently Ireland had been doing really well this season up until that game…oops.

On Sunday, Kieran took me to a few scenic spots called Tramore and Dunmore - both absolutely gorgeous places. Tramore had a beach and people were actually surfing in the ocean - I couldn’t believe it. I had my parka and boots on, and I was still shivering. Some people are a little nuts if you ask me.

I think that’s enough rambling for the day. Tomorrow we go to Northern Ireland with our program and stay the night. Then, I am going to London on Saturday for a few days to see some of my Susquehanna friends who are studying there this semester. So excited. I’ll post sometime next week about those adventures and also about more random Irish things that I’ve been keeping track of (lingo, lifestyle, etc.) Stay tuned!

-VS

[diariesofdublin]

So, I'm actually pretty terrible at keeping this blog updated, but I have been so busy the past two weeks, it's hard to find the time. That means I have lots to talk about though, so I'll try to touch on everything! :)

Last week, my friend Steph from Susquehanna (who I met up with in Paris) came to visit me for a few days. It actually turned out to be her 21st birthday the second night she stayed, so a bunch of us got together to celebrate. Although she was already legal to drink in Europe, 21 is still a pretty big deal, especially back in the states, so I'm glad she got to ring it in here in Dublin!

This past week, I had two visitors come and stay for 6 nights. They were my friend Gabbie from home and her roommate from college, Michelle. We stayed busy with a bunch of things, and we only got lost once in Dublin (totally my fault - it was an area I wasn't very familiar with, so it was the blind leading the blind at that point). We went to a hurling and Gaelic football match, which was really cool to watch, but it looked so dangerous. I give them a lot of credit for how little protection they wear. On Sunday, we woke up at the crack of dawn (thank god we made time for Starbucks) and did a day tour of Cliffs of Moher. We were all so amazed at how beautiful it was, and I have to say it was my favorite place in Ireland so far. On Monday, we went to Kilmainham Gaol, which was a pretty cool tour, although this is the place we got a little lost coming back from. Ya win some, ya lose some, right? During the rest of the week, I had to go to classes throughout the day (yes, I actually go to class here believe it or not) so Gabbie and Michelle headed into the city themselves to go to a few different "Dublin must-sees." It's a shame my class schedule did not allow me to join them, but they still managed to have a grand old time - lots of great craic as the Irish would say.

I have plenty of pictures from these past few weeks, but I just posted a few of my favorites on here. Check out my Facebook page for the rest - hope you enjoy :)

-VS

[diariesofdublin]

Recap of Paris

As expected, Paris was amazing. Ireally don't even know where to begin.

Besides getting lost on our wayto the Eiffel Tower and having no Wi-Fi in our hostel, we didn’t run into too many problems. We quickly figured out the Metro system for getting around, which was super cheap and convenient. Our hostel was actually about a two hour walk from some of the sites we wanted to see, so the Metro was definitely useful for us.

We were not really impressed with our hostel, mainly because of the lack of Wi-Fi and outlets provided in our bedrooms, but we paid about 15 euro per night, so I guess you get what you pay for. Next time we should probably do a little more research and read more reviews before booking accommodation, but you live and you learn, right?

So as far as things we saw – Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, the Catacombs, the Louvre and the cemetery where Oscar Wilde was buried. I was happy with all we got to see in just a few days.

We took the elevator to the top of the Eiffel Tower at night time. I am not a huge fan of heights, but the view definitely made it worth it. The Catacombs were also pretty awesome. It was crazy to me how far they extend throughout the city, but it was a very different experience for me -  a little eery, but still cool.

There is one girl, Michelle, who is in my program here and also goes to Susquehanna with me. We ended up booking the same weekend in Paris with some of our other Susquehanna friends so that was a funny coincidence. Even with limited Wi-Fi, Michelle and I somehow managed to find the other girls. It was definitely nice to see some familiar faces while traveling in a foreign country.

One thing I did notice about France is that there were not many gluten-free options compared to what is offered in both Ireland and in America, so it would probably pretty difficult for me to study there or visit there for an extended time.

As much as I loved Paris, it was nice to return to Ireland. Dublin feels like home now, so it was nice to return to more reliable Wi-Fi and my double bed.

I took tons of pictures on the trip, so if you want to take a look at them, I have an entire album on my Facebook page. Enjoy!!

-VS

[diariesofdublin]

It's finally time for our first trip outside of Ireland: Paris, France!

Tomorrow at 6 a.m. (after plenty of coffee), a group of us will board the plane to the City of Lights. I couldn't be more excited to explore more of Europe! We return on Sunday, so i'll be sure to post about it as soon as I can :)

xoxo

[diariesofdublin]

So, I may have gone a little panoramic-picture-happy in my last few trips, but it was the best way to capture the gorgeous views.

The first picture is the view from the sky bar at the top of the Guinness Storehouse. The 360 view was absolutely amazing and by far my favorite part of the tour. It was really cool to see all the things I've been seeing in Dublin for a few weeks now but from a whole new perspective. The free pint of Guinness was nice, too. (Even though I'm gluten-free and beer is strictly off my diet, I had to give it a try...because when in Dublin, right?)

The two pictures at the bottom are from Howth, a cute little fishing village right outside of Dublin. We took a train called the DART there. The fare was only 6 euro round trip, so it was a cheap little excursion. The DART almost reminded me of Philadelphia because it was very similar to SEPTA (definitely not my favorite memory of home). SEPTA actually has more seating than the DART, so we had to spend the trip standing, but the ride wasn't too long - only about 25 minutes - which wasn't bad.

Unfortunately for us, our trip to Howth was cut short by rain, but I guess you can't expect much less in Ireland. Thankfully, I got some pretty pictures before the rain hit. The town was adorable - lots of little shops, restaurants, and markets - so I definitely want to try and make it back there again...when the sun's out! :)

This weekend, we went to see Fifty Shades of Grey in the cinema (I personally thought it was pretty good), and then we went to the Dublin Zoo. It was probably not the best time of the year to go to the zoo because there is a lot of construction currently going on with exhibits, but it was a nice day out so we enjoyed the weather while making our way around. We finished the day with a trip to a Mexican food place. It was just like Chipotle - burritos, burrito bowls, tacos, and salads - which was really nice because I haven't really eaten Mexican since I've been here. 

Today, some of my friends and I attempted to go to the library to work on a history paper we have due at the end of this week...but the library was closed. Yeah, we were a little confused because back at our home universities, that would be crazy for a college library to be closed on a Sunday - the day delegated to homework for many.

I ended up going into town with my Irish friend Kieran, but we got poured on before making it very far, so we found a cute little café to get some hot chocolate at. I also ordered a gluten-free carrot cake, which was SO delicious. I am still kicking myself for not getting a picture of that beauty before I dug in...guess I'll just have to go back for another.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading this week - I'll post again soon!

-VS

[diariesofdublin]

Hi friends :)

Sorry I haven't posted in the past week - it's been super busy with figuring out classes (if I'm attending the right ones- I wish I was kidding), going out in the city, and going on daytrips.

These pictures above are from a trip we took last Sunday. It was a bus tour that cost 25 euro total, and it took us to Glendalough, Wicklow Mountains, and Kilkenny. I have plenty of pictures of each place on my Facebook page - so check 'em out!

Glendalough was absolutely gorgeous. We took a 30 minute hike through the valley and although it was an early morning for us all, the views were too amazing to even care about being tired. Hopefully I can get back there before I leave...in preferably warmer weather.

Likewise, the Wicklow Mountains were breathtaking. Our tour guide took us to a viewing spot so we were able to take our beautiful, touristy pictures.

Our last stop of the day was in Kilkenny - a cute, little city that is home to the castle pictured above. There were tons of small shops and restaurants in the town, and although the town mainly consisted of about two main roads, it was a beautiful place to see.

This past Saturday, some of us did the Guinness Storehouse tour (very nice way to spend Valentine's Day). Then, on Sunday, a group of us took a short train ride to Howth, a cute fishing village right outside of Dublin. I will post soon about these and more!!

It's crazy that I've already been here for almost a month. I miss everyone at home and school, but I am definitely enjoying all of the opportunities so far and am so excited for the ones to come :)

-VS