Week 3 - Galway & Adventures around Dublin

Apparently keeping up with a blog is much more time consuming than expected... it's going to be much harder to recap everything since my last post, but I'll do my best!

My last post ended discussing how I wasn't sure what I was going to do on the 4-day weekend we had from June 17-20th. I ended up staying in Ireland. A big group went to Barcelona (been there), another went to London (JUST spent this past weekend there), and another went to Munich (be there in 5 days!)... so I took some time to explore the Emerald Island! There were only a few other people who stayed too, but  they mainly stayed in Dublin. The first day of the weekend (Friday the 17th) I went out to Howth with one of the other guys on the trip, Baron. Baron and I both hadn't been to Howth yet, and many others already went. When we left it was rainy, and after the 20min train ride there, it was rainier. We were pretty bummed about the weather, but knew how sporadic Ireland's weather is, so we attempted to wait it out. The wind was brutal, and the rain was cold so after waiting 20min for a bus to take us to the hill, we gave up and decided to pass time with a warm lunch! We walked up and down the harbor looking for some yummy seafood, and ended up eating at a WONDERFUL place called The Oar House. It was the ONE meal I truly splurged on, but it was very well worth it. I started off with an Irish Bailey's coffee (heavenly) and some seafood chowder. Baron got the cajun calamari (also very yummy!), and for my main course... rare grilled Tuna steak with a green olive pesto on top, a small salad, and 'chips' n' vinegar (chips are ACTUALLY not chips like the Americans like to think... they're more like steak fries that you get back home!, but amazing with vinegar!!). It was a wonderful lunch, and while we passed a bit of time the rain hadn't let out, but the wind did, so we managed to catch a bus (after running after it!) to the beginning of the hill hike. By the time we made our way up the rain let out to a mist, and we decided to take our chances and start hiking anyways... GOOD idea, because the sun eventually came out and the weather was more than I could've asked for! It was beautiful, and we hiked around almost the entire island of Howth, along the cliffs.. we took detours down to the bays and saw seals in the waves, I walked along the Irish sea, and got SOAKED/muddy/and ruined my tennis shoes, but all the well worth it! I took some breathtaking pictures, and saw every different aspect the coasts of the Island had to offer. It was a day VERY well spent. Experiencing the scenery here has made me step back from reality and truly take everything I have for what it's worth. I'm so blessed to have this opportunity, and while I may be paying it off for quite some time, I'm glad that I can say this is what I did and that I have incredible family and friends who are supporting me.

After returning from such a wonderful day in Howth, I decided I would spend the rest of my weekend in Galway... by myself. Not sure if the "by myself" part went as lovely and relaxing as I had expected it, but I survived. I found a 3-day trip that took me to the Cliffs of Moher, Aran Islands, and Connemara for  80euro (including transportation to-from Dublin, as well as transportation around to the sites). I was able to find hostels for the 2 nights, which was only 27 euro. The 1st day was the Cliffs, and I got incredibly lucky with the weather! It was sunny, and the wind was apparently "calm"... blowing and pushing me around didn't seem too calm, but the locals insisted it was. The views were amazing, and although I was a little too scared to get close to the edge, I got some pretty awesome pictures. That night I stayed in a dorm at NUI Galway (a University there). It was pretty nice.. had a few mishaps with the dorms they put me in (yes, I had to move to another one), but I survived. I attempted to venture into town by myself, but it had been a long day and I was in an iffy mood, so I ended up going back to the dorm and getting some sleep after a bit of time in the city.

The next day the tour took us to the Aran Islands. I didn't have the greatest time here unfortunately... I don't think I really knew what to do! It was the one day of the trip that the tour wasn't guided, you had to self-guide yourself. So I rented a bike (like everyone else does) and attempted to venture around... needless to say I didn't make it very far around the island so I didn't get to see any of the big sites. Biking long hilly distances is something I haven't done in years, and after hiking all around Howth a few days before my body was taking a beating... I also didn't realize how hard on my back biking would be. But even though I didn't get to see much, I got a good workout! That night I stayed in a different hostel, which was much better! More people were around so it wasn't so lonely, plus it was in Galway city center, so it was closer to everything. I attempted to venture around town for a bit, and headed towards a pub called "Hole in the Wall". Along my way there I met a few guys, and invited them out to join. One joined me, but it was after only a pint with him that I discovered he was just another rude boy in the world.. so I ventured back to my hostel and got some rest for the next day.

The last day was spent on a bus going all around Connemara and the Killmore Abbey. I FINALLY got to see the countryside of Ireland! It was beautiful. I saw a few small old castle remains, some monasteries, Connemara ponies (loved them!), sheep, cows, sheep dogs, and Killmore Abbey was beautiful too. I truly enjoyed the landscaping and the countryside!

The week following in Dublin was busy with school and work. Work is getting better, I was very happy to finally talk some Marketing talk about Pandora's products with one of the main executives, John Fitzpatrick. He's an older guy, and has been in the family business for years I'm assuming. His perspective and insights to marketing Pandora jewelry was very interesting, and I'm looking forward to looking into jobs with Pandora for the future. He also showed me two new products they are introducing soon, and said he would hook me up with anything if I was interested :)

Wednesday (22nd) we celebrated Dani's 21st birthday. Her birthday wasn't actually until Saturday, but since everyone was going to be gone traveling and her mom was coming to Dublin to take her around Ireland, so we celebrated early! I made her a shot book, but it was the worst quality shot book I'd ever made since there are NO Hobby Lobby's here!!! But it was the thought that counts, and she loved it! Most of the entire group of us studying went out that night to celebrate, and we surely celebrated hard. We had a free day from class on Thursday so we were able to celebrate hard and sleep in a bit.

That Thursday (23rd), myself, Baron, and my roommate Meghan went to the Guinness factory finally! I LOVED it. I didn't like that it was self-guided, but it just made me have to read more! I loved all of the history of the beer, the company, the advertising, and everything that goes into brewing a Guinness.. it was very interesting and I wish my daddy could have been there for it too! I got to enjoy my Guinness at the Gravity bar, where you can look out to all of Dublin. It was incredible! On the way back to the dorms we decided to opt out of walking 25min, and took a horse carriage instead! It was my first ever ride in one, and I LOVED it!!!! Our horse's name was Molly, she was an Irish horse, but I can't remember the breed. That evening I got to meet Dani's mom, Cindy aka Momma D. She took myself and 3 other friends on the trip to dinner with her and Dani. We attempted to eat at Davy Burnes, but it was too busy, so we went to Sheehans, where I had lunch once at the beginning of our trip. This time I got salmon with mashed potatoes and green beans... it was amazing to say the least!

I'm going to end this post now, and start a new one for Week 4 and London!!! Hopefully this was a good recap of week 3... I know I at least hit all of the important adventures!

End of Week 2 -- BaRceLoNa!!!

This past weekend was spent in beautiful Barcelona Spain! After ridiculous amounts of traveling (from dorm to airport, Girona airport to Barcelona, bus station to hostel...) we FINALLY made it to Barcelona and settled into our hostel around midnight. The hostel was... well, a little skeptical, but I just kept telling myself it could possibly have been worst. It was only 55euro for the three nights for each person. There were four of us that went. After we got in we headed right down the street to the Bar/Restaurant... where we ended up spending most of our weekend making friends with the bartenders and owner! Abil was the owner, and main bartender. He was incredibly nice, and hooked us up at the bar every night! He gave us good insights on the city, and fun things to do! We quickly learned the bars closed at 130, but the clubs didn’t get started until 2am, and closed at 6!!! Surprisingly, I only ventured to one club, and only stayed out til 3am! Saturday we woke up bright and early for our “free breakfast”... which we were told was a “GIFT!” from the hostel. Breakfast was quite the continental brunch... white bread for toast, butter, coffee, and orange juice and milk... both of which were room temperature (yes, including the milk). Needless to say, I didn’t get my cold glass of milk in the morning! We ventured off for the day, heading for the Sagrada Familia (Gaudi Church). It was absolutely amazing, but the line was too long to wait to experience the inside. One day I would like to go back, hopefully it will be finished!!! As always, I was obsessed with the intricate detail in every building or statue. This church was beyond amazing. I wouldn’t say beautiful as in aesthetically pleasing, but beautiful as in how incredible it was thought out and designed. After that we wandered around town... for HOUUUURRRRSSSS... in search of the beach. The language barrier wasn’t a huge problem, until we were lost and frustrated. But eventually... after many hours, and miles... we made it to the beach! And later realized how easy it would have been had we  stopped to learn the metro for a few more minutes, oh well, it was a Barcelona adventure! That night I had dinner at the bar down the street from the hostel. I ate Paella (but I got my seafood peeled!!) It was amazing!!! We went to a bar called Dow Jones, its concept is based on the stock market and prices for drinks fluctuates, and every now and then the market crashes and drinks were super cheap. It was a fun concept. and a cool place to go, but the place was full of ALL americans, so it felt really touristy! After that we ventured around to some other places, and eventually the club. The club could have been a lot of fun had there been a bigger group of us, but it was just me and Dani who ventured off together! On Sunday we slept through our “breakfast” and ventured to the beach. We wandered around Port Veil, and stopped to get lunch. Once again, I ordered Paella... this time it came with creepy crawlers in it!! It was too fishy for me, which is rare, so I definetely enjoyed it better the night before! What an experience though, tearing the head off my little crawfish looking creature, who STILL had his eyes! The beach was beautiful and I couldn’t have asked for better weather! First time I experienced a topless/nude beach. The topless part wasn’t as bothersome as the old men who seemed to be the only ones participating in the nude part... but it was an experience to say the least. I also met my FIRST great dane in Europe!!!!!!!!!! Hims was black just like Jack, but no where NEAR as big!!! He was super sweet though, I spotted him from across the beach and ran to go see him! His owner was from Sweden, and was super nice, but he said danes are not very popular (at least in Spain). I did see a lot more dogs in Spain though. Dani and I ventured along the beach to get some gelato, and walk along the shore. We eventually ended up falling for some of the random people selling things on the beach (food, drinks, scarves, massages... you name it!) I bartered with the guy for some scarves for a few minutes... I finally got him to agree on 2 for 8 euro! He originally wanted almost 8 for one! After the beach we ventured back to the hostel and got ready for the night. We met our neighbors, who were from France. We partied with them in the hostel before going out, and then took them to our favorite bar down the street. There we ate food, and ended up hanging out there all night! Abil made us really good drinks, and the super sweet french guys paid for everything!! They were a lot of fun, there were a couple girls and a couple guys, and we all had a great time! Monday morning we ventured down Las Ramblas to check out all the shops and stands. After that we ventured around, and Dani and I ended up going off to do our own thing. We went back to the bar by the hostel for a drink, and went to walk around the city a bit more. We walked through the “slums” (what we called it), where tons of people camped out and demolished this plaza for protesting. We haven’t figured out why yet, because we couldn’t read the spanish!! But it was a crazy experience! Afterwards we ate a a little cafe, where we somehow ended up paying 18 euro EACH for a salad and a tapa (small appetizer plate).. we later found out that sitting outside added an additional 20% to your prices!!!! Ridiculous! Overall it was a good trip! Dani and I had a really good time, and spent time getting to know each other, which meant a lot to make a new friend :) Our flight didn’t leave the Girona airport until 10:30pm, and we didn’t get back to the dorms at Trinity until 2am, but it was all worth it! I can’t wait to go back to Spain again someday and experience more. It was definitely a different experience then Dublin has been, but one worth experiencing! This weekend I have a 4 day weekend, and NOTHING to do... two big groups are taking trips, one to Barcelona, and one to Munich. I had originally wanted to spend the weekend traveling around Ireland to other places, but there are only 3 other guys who are staying here for the weekend... as selfish as it seems, I would rather spend my weekend having a good time with my friends. I’ve found that the hardest part about this trip has been experiencing these awesome places without my very best friends, but I’ve been working to make friends here. Dani and I get along very well, unfortunately we’re not roommates, but we have a lot of fun together! She is going to Munich this weekend, and I would ABSOLUTELY love to go, but I’m going to be there for a YEAR so I’m torn... plus, I’m running low on cash... the Irish price inflation along with the currency conversion is KILLING my bank account. No one told me how expensive the price of living was here. Anyways, my next post will be about this long 4 day weekend... hopefully I get to experience something fun!

Forgetful Blogger...

Friday June 2 - Tuesday June 8... I'm still adjusting, and FINALLY (as of today, the 8th) getting into somewhat of a routine... class, work, food, workout, etc... hopefully it sticks!

Friday was the first day of classes -- it was rough, but hopefully it doesn't take too long to get into the swing of things! I have one class for my Six Sigma management practice (the class in which I work for BJ Fitzpatrick -- a retail company that owns Pandora Jewelry in Dublin), and the other  class is taught my an Irish professor about the economy in Ireland. So far, pretty boring, and brutal getting up for. Six Sigma will take up a lot of my time. We met with the company for the first time Monday 7th, they are pretty cool, but it's overwhelming!!

As far as exploring --

My roommate and I attempted to adventure to the Guinness Brewery, and instead wound up at the Jameson Distillery. Can't complain! I got to do a whiskey tasting, and overall it was a lot of fun! We also got to see some great places around Dublin (St. Patrick's Cathedral, etc.) that I would like to go back around town and visit more. We had dinner (my 1st Guinness & Beef stew) at the Brazen Head... Ireland's oldest Pub! It was delicious!

I also ate at a place called Sheehans. I meant to get a fish n' chips platter, and instead ended up with fried salmon and crab and potato patty... which was not 3 separate things as I had assumed! It was all one patty, but it was good!

During the weekend on Saturday (3rd) the school took us to Wicklow Mountains and Bray beach. The mountains were absolutely AMAZING. It was such a great experience to go hiking, since I don't do it often... if EVER. It made me realize how much I want to do more stuff like that more often! I am planning more hikes through other places in the area while i'm here too! We also went to Bray beach for a bit. Gorgeous views of the ocean and the mountains, but I've been hearing that there are better in other places! It was super chilly on the beach, but kids were still running around swimming... and cursing! The kids here have no shame, "oh shiiiit these rocks are getting slippery!" "You don't need a fucking towel" -- all in their 6 year old Irish accents... pure entertainment!

Right now I'm sitting at work, doing absolutely nothing, because they seem to be a bit unorganized... or maybe we are asking for too much? or maybe we're all just confused? Oh well, I loved visiting the Pandora store... the company we are ACTUALLY working for owns/runs the store, so we don't actually get to work WITH the store... although I would rather! Cute cute cute jewelry, and obviously the sales environment is more up my alley than this management, etc. stuff! What was I thinking?!

Tomorrow we have a free day... I'm planning on going hiking in Killiney Hill. I've heard wonderful stories, and Bono lives up there! I would one day soon, like to visit Howth & the Malahide Castle too!

This weekend I'm getting out of cold, rainy Ireland and heading to BRIGHT sunny, and WARM BARCELONA!!!!! eeyyyy yi yi yi yiiii!!!! I'm going with a couple of the girls I've been spending most of my time with, and 2 of the guys on the trip. It should be a pretty good time!

Being that I haven't kept up with this thing DAILY, I'm probably leaving a lot out, but I surely have hit all the big things! I've been meeting lots of people, but so far I haven't fallen in love with any Irish lads... there just aren't any breathtaking Gerard Butler's around, and their accents aren't as charming and mesmerizing as I remember his being in P.S. I love you! Oh well, I'm better off anyways!

Guess I should get back to work, even though we have accomplished... NOTHING since we have been here since 11am! So much for exploring Dublin in my free time!!!!!!!

Day 2 - Oh yeah, I have to go to class...

Yesterday I finally arrived in Dublin... after a good nights sleep at the Hilton in Chicago, a wholesome breakfast buffet, and a good workout I ventured back to O'hare and made it to my flight with no problems. (Minus my lack of knowledge about O'hare, but I caught on quickly!). I flight went by quick, and was VERY nice. Aer Lingus has nice clean planes, and I got lucky with an aisle seat and no one to the left of me, so plenty of room to relax! I watched the new movie with Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston, Just Go With It, funny and cute! Then I took a good nap, woke up and I was in Ireland! I managed to get through the Dublin airport, and immigration services... then I successfully managed to find a bus and get to campus!  After that, I went to the wrong entrance of campus, trekked all 125lbs of luggage across cobblestones to accommodations and finally, checked in. I missed my first day of class, and my meeting the company I work for... but I put all my clothes away and took a magnificent nap! My dorm room smells like pee and sweaty boys, and the shower is 2'x2' but I guess I can manage for 4 weeks! The campus is SOOO old, and everything is spread out (not like MU), but I'm in love with the architecture! The College of Business treated us to dinner at Messr's Maguire -- vegetable soup, pork loin w/ potatoes, and chocolate cake... with a Guiness of course! Couldn't have asked for a better welcome to Ireland dinner. And the building this restaurant was in was AMAZING. After dinner I took a walk around town, and walked around campus a bit. The city is dirtier than I was expecting, but then again, its VERY old!! On campus there is a designated bar and an area around the sports field for students to drink (you can't bring your own drinks though, they have to be bought at the bar), but it was a nice social place, and a good place to pregame -- 4 Amstel Light's for 8 euro! (I'm having a hard time adjusting to beer that isn't ICE COLD, I'll survive). I'm also having a hard time adjusting to the sun... it doesn't set until 10pm and it rises again at 3am!!! We finally hit the pubs around 11, started out at Doyle's and ventured around the Temple Bar area and ended up back at Doyle's, which was right outside of campus. I actually called it a night before everyone else, but like I said, the sun was rising when I went to bed at 3am! I am excited to see where my first Friday night takes us!!! This morning was rough... can't remember the last time I got drunk on beer only, but my headache this morning reminded me why it doesn't happen often! It's 11:30am now, and I've been in class since 8am... this class is supposed to last until 1, but I'm praying it doesn't. I'm starving, could use an hr nap, and I have lots of exploring to do... as well as investing in a european straightener!! I also need to buy a phone to call locally, and some groceries (class from 8-1 everyday is brutal with no breakfast/lunch). This weekend we are exploring Ireland. I booked my trip to London for the last weekend I'm here, and I'm debating on Barcelona for next weekend or my 4-day weekend. I'll figure it out soon enough. I'll post some pictures soon. Stay tuned for more adventures... I'm just getting started so I haven't gotten too crazy just yet :)