Gal in Galway

My name is Sarah and I attend Linfield College. From the months of January until May (2016) I will be studying abroad in Galway at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG). This is a blog to let you all know what I'm up to!

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Belfast and the final final

First off, Belfast was not quite what I expected. I’m not sure if I can exactly articulate what I expected of Belfast, but it wasn’t that. I guess I was expecting it to be more violent and much more broken down than it was, but it seemed just like any other city. The main things we did (Emily, Alyssa, Brett, and I) were go to the Titanic museum and go to Giant’s Causeway, which was absolutely amazing.

The Titanic museum was really interesting because it talked about the building of the ship, the people who road it, and even the remains of it under the sea. Giant’s Causeway is this area of beach that has hexagonal pillars all over that have formed as a result of lava cooling (but the video I watched about it didn’t tell me why they were hexagonal as opposed to just lumps, but I’m assuming it has something to do with the molecule shape, but I could be wrong). Anyways, they were really fun to see. On that tour we also went to Bushmills distillery, and I learned that I actually like some whiskey! Surprisingly it wasn’t bad and I enjoyed the little bit we got to try. On the Giant’s Causeway tour we got to stop at this rope bridge called the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge that is suspended over the water and it mildly terrifying, but was incredibly fun to walk on. In Belfast there is a peace wall that was used to separate the Protestants and the Catholics and prevent any violence between the groups, but on the wall now people have painted murals and wrote encouraging words. It was crazy to see this wall because it is was built so recently and it was just insane to imagine living like that. 

This was my last trip with Emily and Alyssa and it was a good last one, but it is sad that we won’t be going on any more trips together, at least for a while.

After this trip we got back and Emily and I had our last final 4 days later, so we were frantically studying and freaking out because the test was worth 90% of our grade and we didn’t know what to expect or really how to study for it. Luckily what we did study worked well because we left feeling like we knew the topics and were able to (hopefully) do well. After the final we all went to the College Bar (it’s a bar that is on campus, which is new to me and a lot of fun) and had a pint in celebration of finishing this school year!

So overall, Belfast was interesting and informative and I am very happy to be done with classes and not have to worry about it at all anymore.

All the pictures are on the next post!

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Click on the pictures for captions!

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Twenty-FUN!

So this is late, but you know, it's better late than never! So I turned 21 on April 28th and since I have the best friends ever they decorated my apartment! I woke up totally unsuspecting and had an apartment that was adorable. I had been talking about getting a crown and sash, but I wasn't able to find one in stores, so I gave up on that idea. But when I went into the kitchen they had ordered one online and it was sitting waiting for me! During the day Spencer took me out to Salt Hill (an area of Galway by the water) and took me to the Aquarium there. Then he took me to a nice dinner and I got to wear a beautiful little black dress I found in Scotland to that. Later that night people came over to my apartment to hang out for a while and after that I went out to a few pubs with friends! At one place we were at, Emily would tell everyone who passed by that it was my birthday so they would wish me happy birthday and pour some of their drink into the shot glass I had on a necklace (it's weird but it's a thing here for parties, and it did get me some free drinks!). So even though 21 isn't as big of a deal here because I could already drink, it was still a grand time and it just means that when I go home I can get a drink out (and I'm excited for that). Overall, I have fabulous friends and am thankful for the fun I had with them! 

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Home thoughts

I will be on a plane flying home in 2 weeks, 5 days and 26 minutes, but you know, who’s counting?

I’m really looking forward to going home and seeing everyone I haven’t seen in so long, but I’m also really going to miss it here. I wish I could just bring my family here to see the place, but maybe in the future! Some days I miss home so much and I want to be there immediately and May 16th can’t come soon enough. But other days I just think about how much I will miss Galway and being in Europe and I’m sad because I know I can’t just come back whenever I want. 

So right now I’m really excited to go home, but also sad to leave. But in the meantime, before my flight, I still have one more paper to write, a birthday to enjoy (it’s tomorrow!), a trip to Belfast, a trip to Cork, a final exam to study for and take, and a lot of packing to do. So while I’m really excited to go home and I’m counting down the days, they will just fly by with all the things I have happening!

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Dublin

I went to Dublin pretty much right after I got back from Edinburgh. I arrived in Galway from my Edinburgh trip at 1am on the 19th and left at 7 on the 20th for Dublin. So I had a little one day break where I just relaxed and got ready to go on my next trip. When I went to Dublin I just went for two days with Spencer. We got there in the morning of the 20th and then did a walking tour, which showed us pretty much all the sights we wanted to see, and then after that we went to the Guinness Storehouse. This was super interesting and we spent a pretty long time in there because it was cool to learn about the history of Guinness and how it is made. While we were there we also learned how to pour our own pint of Guinness and are now certified pourers (I don't think that’s a word, but let’s go with it). We took our pint that we poured up to the top of the building and drank it while looking out over the whole city. Later that night we went for dinner and then got a drink at a pub in town. The next day we walked around and hit all the things we missed before or went back to any of the sights we wanted to spend more time at (like Trinity college and this park called St. Stephen’s Green) and then we walked around and went into all these really cute hipster shops. Dublin was cool, but personally I think I prefer Galway and I'm happy that I'm studying in Galway for the semester.

Pictures on the next post!

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My pictures from Dublin! Click on them to see the captions

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Edinburgh

I went to Edinburgh  on April 16th until April 18th with  Emily and Alyssa. First things first, I LOVE Edinburgh.

I just felt so at home there. Traveling there was not stressful and everything I did I loved. I haven't seen true clothing shops in quite a while because in Galway everyone is stuck in the 90s and the clothing reflects that. But in Edinburgh I saw stuff I haven't seen since before I left, and it was awesome (I’m not even exaggerating though). We totally took advantage of this and tried on a bunch of different clothes and had a bunch of fun. I even bought a romper and a skirt as well as a dress that I can wear on my birthday (next week, April 28th) when I go have a girls night! While we were there my favorite thing was probably climbing Arthur's Seat. This is a hill on the edge of town that takes a bit to climb up, but gives you perfect panoramic views of the city! It was beautiful, and incredibly windy, we were even knocked over a few times when the wind caught us off guard. On Sunday night when we were there we did a pub crawl, and it was really cool because we met some awesome people, some of which were even in our hostel so we ate breakfast with them in the morning! I just really liked it here and want to go back so I can do a Loch Ness tour so that I can see Highland cows and Shetland ponies. We had two and a half days there but we are so used to only having two so we had extra time we didn’t know what to do with! It wasn’t bad though, and if you ever want to go to Edinburgh, just do it. But beware, since it’s on the pound, everything is super expensive because the pound is 1 to 1.25 euros and 1 to almost 1.5 US dollars, so even if the price doesn’t seem bad, once you do the exchange it really adds up. (this means I spent more money than I realized when I was there because of the stupid exchange rate)

The pictures are on the next post!

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Edinburgh pictures, just click on the pictures to get the captions!

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Spring Break Trip!

For spring break I traveled with Julie and Emily for most of the time, and then just Emily when we went to Prague. I was in Barcelona from March 22nd until March 24th, Venice from March 24th to March 27th, Rome from March 27th until March 29th, and then Prague from March 29th until March 31st.

This trip was 9 days long, we went to 3 countries, 4 cities, walked 254,297 steps and 108.22 miles.

According to TripAdvisor, the top three pickpocket cities in Europe are three of the places I went to. Ringing in at number one on the list is Barcelona, second is Rome, and finally Prague. Luckily we are all smart and aware of our surroundings and didn't lose anything!

Barcelona

I was in Barcelona from March 22nd until March 24th with Emily and Julie and while we were there we did a great walking tour, a tapas experience, went to the market, went to the beach, and stayed at the best hostel ever! Barcelona was so beautiful and I absolutely have to go back when I get a chance! I loved it so much. There is so much color everywhere and plants hanging out of every balcony. It was warm and so nice to not have to wear a jacket everywhere! We did a Tapas Experience tour where we got to try good tapas (basically small little appetizers) and different traditional drinks! We had a traditional cider and a wine that we drank out of a porron. This was a way of drinking wine that people used to use in order to keep them from getting sick. The wine comes out of a spout and you just pour it into your mouth without touching it to your mouth. While in Barcelona we went to La Barceloneta, a beach in the city. It was so nice to be able to take off my shoes and put my toes in the sand, I even put them in the water! We also went to Las Ramblas, the market, and got some chocolate covered strawberries on a stick there, they were delicious. (You can tell that I loved this place so much based off of the amount of exclamation points I used)

 Venice

From Barcelona we flew to Venice on the 24th. Our flight from Barcelona to Venice was a disaster. We were delayed a little bit, they boarded the plane, and then we were delayed more, and they disembarked the plane, and then we waited more, and eventually left Barcelona at midnight instead of at 6pm, causing us to arrive to the airport at 3am. While this sucked, they gave us a free three course meal at a restaurant in the airport. This meal was actually labeled as the delayed flights menu! It was pretty good and I was just happy I didn't have to pay for it. While there we stayed in a cabin at a camping ground just outside of Venice until the 27th.This was not the most pleasant place to stay because it was so cold. I actually slept wearing leggings, sweat pants, a sweatshirt, and a down jacket. It wouldn't have been so bad if the cabin was better insulated (you could actually see light through cracks in the ceiling) or we had warmer blankets (two was not enough when it was that cold). But the good thing is that the showers were hot and had good water pressure, so while we were cold when we slept, at least I could take a warm shower to warm up. In Venice we just walked around the city and got lost in all the little roads that are twisty and walked along the canals. For our second day in Venice we went to the island Murano that is known for glass making. Here we went in to a bunch of different glass shops and watched someone make a glass vase and a glass unicorn! During our time in Venice we did a poor man's gondola, which is just a ferry because a gondola ride is incredibly expensive (€80 [$91] for just 30 minutes), and road that up and down the Grand Canal. While we were here we seemed to see tons of bakeries and pizza places and whatnot when we weren't looking for them, but the second we tried to find them, we couldn't! It was so frustrating because one night we just wanted cannoli but could not, for the life of us, find any bakeries! After wandering around for over 30 minutes we finally found one, but it was a struggle because we had to back-track our steps. Venice is way different than any other place I've ever been. Most places I go to look somewhat similar to some place I have seen, but here it was all different! It was a really fun experience.

 Rome

We took an early train into Rome on the 27th (Easter) and stayed until the 29th, giving us one full day there. In my opinion this wasn't enough time to do everything, so I need to go back and see what I missed. While here we stayed a ways out of the city, about 40 minute bus and metro ride, in a camping ground, that was much nicer than the place in Venice. This was called "camping" but it was really more "glamping" because we stayed in a little RV like cabin with it's own bathroom and heater and everything. So this was much more comfortable and I did not have to bundle up like I did for my stay in Venice. One thing that sucked was that since the two days we were in Rome were Easter and Easter Monday, the museum at the Vatican was closed so we did not get to go in there. That was unfortunate because that would have been an amazing experience. But one thing we did do was see the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. This was so enormous that it was definitely a full day trip even if the Vatican was open for us to see, we didn't really have time. The Colosseum is huge and is unfathomably old, being built in 72 AD. It was also built in 8 years, which would be impressive for today, but is crazy considering they didn't have the technology we have! (in comparison, La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona is an enormous church that isn't yet finished after 150 years of construction, so the Romans really know how to get stuff done) In addition to this, some of the buildings in the Roman Forum were five stories tall and incredibly intricately designed. The history that is seen in the structures in Rome is amazing. In addition to seeing all of this, we also channeled our inner Lizzie McGuire by tossing coins into the Trevi Fountain. This was the last part of the trip where I traveled with both Emily and Julie, after this Julie headed back to Ireland and Emily and I went to Prague.

 Prague

I flew into Prague on March 29th, and when we arrived it wasn't obvious where to go to get our passport stamped so we ended up passing through without receiving a stamp (which was also the case when we arrived in Venice from Barcelona, but that was partially because the plane arrived at 3am so the airport was dead). So this turned out to be a problem when we were flying out. We went through passport control in Prague before getting to our gate, and the man working spent a really long time flipping through my passport looking for the Prague stamp, and when he didn't find it he asked me how and when I got to Prague. Once I told him he looked at it a little longer and then eventually stamped it. But the person that looked at Emily's passport just stamped hers no problem, so Emily was on the other side of the area. I was so afraid that they weren't going to let me past and that I would be separated from Emily, but when he let me go it was the best feeling of relief ever. But that's jumping ahead of my trip a little bit, so I will now backtrack and recap what I did while in Prague. The first night that we were there Emily and I walked around and tried some traditional Czech cuisine (consisting mainly of meat) and then went and got a Trdelník, also called a Chimney by people who don't speak Czech (me). This is made of dough that is wrapped around a large stick, covered in cinnamon sugar, and grilled, and then it is filled with many different things, usually fruit or ice cream (I opted for the strawberries inside and whipped cream on top). It was delicious and kind of reminded me of a churro, if you were to have a giant hollow churro filled with other food. After we got these, when we were walking back to the hostel, we heard these incredibly loud booms and were terrified (or I was, Emily was keeping her calm exterior because no one else was freaking out, but I was thinking it was bombs or something like that since that's been happening in Europe) and we started walking back faster, then we saw smoke and freaked out a little more. But still, no one else was freaking out and there were no screams or other signs of distress. When we turned around to look later we figured out that they were just fireworks and we were worked up about nothing. But seeing the smoke and hearing the booms just made us freak out a little bit. Good thing they were just fireworks and it was nothing to worry about. So the next day, after our minor freak out, we went on a walking tour, went to the castle, and went on a pub crawl. On the tour we saw Prague's astronomical clock. This is the worlds oldest functioning astronomical clock. It was built in the 1400s, and tells you when the sun will set, the phase of the moon, and the day and month. It is so intricate and beautiful and I can't imagine how someone was able to construct it. During our tour we also saw a bunch of cute markets that we went back to later. After the tour we ventured up to the Prague Castle, one of the largest castles in Europe. Finally after that we went on a pub crawl. It was a bunch of fun and we got to meet some really cool girls, some were from England, and others from Ireland (we meet people from Ireland pretty much where ever we go, it's crazy!).The first bar we were at was only for the pub crawl so we got to chat with everyone and that was nice. There we also had two and a half hours of open bar. I had a drink that tasted like it had no alcohol in it at all, which is dangerous, so I only had one of those and switched to water after that. In all, it was good craic, but the last place we ended up at was supposed to be a club and was actually a biker bar. It was weird and we decided to leave and just go back to the hostel. On the 31st our flight didn't leave until the evening so we walked up this really large hill, and then up 299 steps in the Petrin tower to see an amazing view overlooking Prague. It was a really great way to finish off our trip. I didn't want to head back, but I am also happy to not have to walk over 20,000 steps everyday and to be able to just chill. This experience was truly amazing and I'm incredibly happy that I was able to go on this trip.

 If you made it this far in my post, congratulations, I ramble a lot and that was probably a struggle to read, but thank you for listening to my stories. But I also have no way of knowing if anyone actually reads all the way down to the bottom, so if you didn't get this far I wouldn't know either way. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the read (if you did read) and if not then hopefully you'll enjoy looking at my pictures!

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My pictures from Barcelona, if you want to see captions click on the pictures!

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My pictures of Venice, click on them to see the captions!

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My pictures from Rome, click on them to see the captions!

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My pictures from Prague, click on the pictures to see the captions

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Brussels!

I went to Brussels March 11th-13th with Emily and Alyssa. We arrived on Friday in mid-afternoon and had some time to walk around the city and go into Delirium, a beer café in the city that has like a million beers (not really, but there are a ton of options). I had a grapefruit beer, that tasted more like juice than beer, it was delicious to say the least! 

In Brussels there is this building/area/square that is called the Grand Place and it was the most amazing thing I have ever seen. It was so incredibly beautiful and I would love to live there. Also, the symbol of their city is this little peeing statue, called Manneken Pis (meaning little boy that pees). He also has a sister called Jeanneke Pis (meaning little girl that pees) and their dog Zinneke Pis (meaning dog that pees). So those were throughout the city and were really cool to see. Manneken Pis has over 900 different little outfits and is almost always dressed up in something to celebrate various event. This little statue has more clothes than I do!

On Saturday we did the best walking tour ever. Our guide had so much energy and made the tour the best one I've had yet! After the tour we just walked all around the city and saw anything we missed on the tour and ate a bunch of fries and waffles. Later that evening we went on a beer tasting tour that was sponsored by the same company that we did the walking tour with. We were supposed to go to a few different bars, but they were too busy because of some sporting event and we ended up only going to one bar. There we tried a few different beers, one which was a Trappist beer. Trappist beers are made by monks in monastery and they are not allowed to make a profit off of the beer so they have to give it to charity. So basically by drinking this beer I was saving the world! Anyways, we met some really cool people on the tour, and weren't going to do the pub crawl that was put on by the same company, but they talked us into it, so we were freeloaders on the pub crawl and didn't pay for the fee and only paid for a taxi back. The pub crawl was super fun and it was really nice to meet other travelers! 

On Sunday we had to leave the city at 5 so we had pretty much the whole day to do whatever. We were going to go shopping because there were a bunch of fun clothing shops, but they were all closed on Sunday so instead we ate a bunch more waffles and fries. We went back to Delirium to try their house beers and then went and bought way too much chocolate. After that we went to a really authentic seafood restuarant that was away from the touristy areas. They serve you outside and everything was in French so we had to ask someone, but the person working was amazing and told us everything and helped us decide. I tried sea snail soup! It actually wasn’t too bad. The snails just tasted like chewier clams. I’m just happy to say I tried snails.

As we got on the bus to go to the airport everything started going downhill from there. I started to feel sick and not so good then, and then I lost part of a paper that I wrote, and when I got to the airport I bought a 7UP to sooth my stomach. I put that in my purse, but it wasn't fully sealed so it leaked and my whole purse was soaking and dripping on the ground. To make matters worse, it got my camera a little wet and now I have to send it in for repairs because it will turn on, but won't open the lense. So basically, the trip was amazing and super fun, but then everything was not so great and not so fun, but that is all okay and everything will be fine. And anyways, it is what it is, I can't change it and I will just make the best of it!

Next on my trip plan is to go on my spring break trip to Barcelona, Venice, Rome, and Prague. Here we go for the semester of a lifetime!

This is the Grand Place

Here is a horse I saw (this is for you mom)

Delirium, the beer bar I went to

The Trappist beer I tried, it has very specific instructions!

Me at the beer tasting tour

The sea snail soup that I tried (and liked)

Manneken Pis

Jeanneke Pis

Zinneke

My fries were in a cone!

All of the waffle options!

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Update

So I’m sick for the first time here, and let me tell you it sucks. I got used to being at sick while at college, but I could call my mom whenever, now being sick in a different country makes things a little more difficult. I got sick on Sunday when I was traveling back from Brussels and have been sick since then (today is Saturday). So hopefully I get better soon, but until then I will probably need to buy more tissues. 

But last night I planned my spring break trip and it will be so much fun! I leave on Tuesday the 22nd and go to Barcelona, from there I go to Venice, then Rome and finish off in Prague. I’m traveling with Emily the whole time and Julie will be there for everything but Prague. So I’m excited for everything, and hopefully by Tuesday I feel better, because I really don’t want to be sick and traveling. 

On the brightside, I was pretty homesick for a while and that has mostly passed. I mean I still miss home, but it’s just a normal amount now. And I can’t believe I have less than 2 months left here. I still have so much I want to do! Anyways, I’m going to open my second box of tissues now and not leave the apartment until I get better. 

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Paris (part 2)

So I know part one of this post came forever ago, but I've been super busy and haven't had time to write part two yet. I went to Brussels last weekend (the weekend after I went to Paris) and have been stressing out over multiple papers that are due in the next week, so I think it is forgivable that this post is late.

Paris was beautiful and amazing and I loved it. Our hostel was great and I can't even believe that the view was so amazing (I mean it doesn't get much better than Sacré Cœur) and it was fabulous to have a private room with just Spencer and not have to deal with a bunch of other people in the room (not my favorite way to travel, but since it saves money I will deal with it). During our trip it was perfect to have basically three full days there, because since the city was so large, I think if we had any less time I wouldn't have felt like I'd seen enough.

During our time there we went to the Eiffel Tower (of course), outside the Louvre (but not inside because we didn't have enough time), Nortre Dame (breathtakingly beautiful), the lock bridge, the Musée de l’Orangerie (which I will admit that I have been calling the Orange Museum and was just informed that this is incorrect and Orangerie does not actually mean Orange...) and saw Monet's water lilies (they are much longer painting than I would have thought!), Versailles (where we waited in line for over an hour because we didn’t realize that the first Sunday of every month, the day that we went, was free entry, so there were many people there), and many, many bakeries! One of my favorite parts of our trip was going to the lock bridge, buying a cute little heart shaped lock that has Paris engraved on one side, and then getting the other side engraved with our names (because engraving lasts forever while sharpie does not). It was incredibly cliché and cheesy, but I loved it nonetheless, and if I ever go back to Paris, hopefully I will be able to find that lock.

Honestly, eating at the bakeries in Paris will have ruined all other bakery items from elsewhere. The pastries they make are absolutely the best, flakey, delicious, things I have had ever. Most of our time there we rarely ate true meals out (actually it was only once at a Creperie, which had amazing crepes, I got one with smoked salmon, lemon, and sour cream), and instead simply bought a bunch of bakery items and ate them at the different parks we went to.

Anyways, this post about Paris could go on and on for days, but frankly I am tired and sick and do not have the energy to continue. Too much traveling really zaps your energy and kills your immune system, but I will always go on these trips because the memories will last a lifetime. Hopefully in the next few days I will have a post up about my most recent trip to Brussels, but it may be a while since I have a paper due on Friday that I have barely started (and don't even know how to start because I don't really understand what I am talking about) and one due next Tuesday that I have actually slightly started (because I know a little bit more about what I am discussing so it is easier). So I will try and keep everyone posted, but it may not be that easy for me.

Just down the street from our hostel!

The view from our window!

Up close and personal with Sacré Cœur

The Eiffel Tower during the day

The Eiffel Tower lit up at night!

Notre Dame

Our lock on the bridge :)

Monet’s water lilies

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Paris part 1

Hey guys, so I have somethings to say and I figured since I have a little down time I might as well say them now and have less to include in my post about Paris that has all of my pictures.

So I’m spending the weekend in Paris with Spencer as our two year anniversary celebration, and so far we have had some interesting times.

So last night (March 3rd) I stayed up with Spencer and just took a tiny nap because we had to leave at 12:30am on the 4th, so there wasn’t much of a point in trying to sleep. So we left the apartment at 12:30 to get to a bus in downtown Galway that left at 1:15am in order to get us to the Dublin airport at 3:45am so we could catch our 6am flight. On the bus I slept a little, but it wasn’t super restful. Once we got through security it was easy going and just a lot of waiting for our gate to be announced, and then after it was announced waiting to board our plane. 

Once we boarded our plane I passed out right away and slept like a rock for a while, but when I woke up, we were still in the gate and had been waiting for someone to come and defrost our plane so we could leave. During the process of waiting to be defrosted, I sleep on-and-off to try to pass the time (and because I was exhausted). By the time we actually left the gate it had been almost 3 hours since our designated departure time. But at least the flight was in the morning and not evening, so that way we didn’t arrive in the dark. We landed the plane safely and it was all good, but I hate it when people clap when the pilot lands the plane. That is literally the piolet’s job to get people like us around safely, so I don’t understand clapping. Anyways that’s my small rant.  

When we arrived to Paris, the airport that we flew into was tiny and adorable. But when I got my passport checked the person checking it, half-jokingly, asks if it was me in the picture because it didn’t look like me (when my passport photo was taken my hair was red and a terrible cut, so I don’t blame them). And after passing through passport control, we see these men in full on military garb with assault riffels standing around the baggage claim. I don’t know what they were monitoring, but it was terrifying to see men with guns that big just standing around. And even though I know I haven’t done anything wrong, it just makes me feel like I have. But we left safely and got to our hostel with only a minor mishap in the metro, so I call that a success. 

Finally, once we could check in and we went up to our room (it’s a private room with our own bathroom and all) we found out that we have the most beautiful view ever. Our window looks out onto Sacré Cœur and it is amazing. Anyways, I will be posting the full update when I get back from the trip!