EUROTRIP.

sorry about not blogging about my travels for awhile. we've been laying low, just around ireland, waiting for our BIG trip that we start exactly one week from today! so my americana friends and i booked our flights to and from Munich and rail pass around Austria for our midterm "study" break at the end of october. let me just fill you in on my life right now:

october 30th (sunday), we leave dublin and get to munich, germany. we're going to spend a day in the city, touring the sights. what are the sights? well, glad you asked. i didn't really have a clue, either. (look, we're going for cheap here, okay.) so i googled the best places to go:

Marienplatz

• Hofbräuhaus beer hall, one of the beer halls used by the Nazi Party to declare policies and hold meetings. Here, Hitler held his first meeting and many others, gave numerous speeches, and came regularly to socialize (FUN FACT: Hitler did not drink, eat red meat, or smoke). not to mention Mozart was rumored to have written his opera Idomeneo after frequenting the beer hall. Not to mention JFK, Thomas Wolf and other famous people who have visited. Can't wait to get a beer stein! Souvenir!
• Marienplatz, Munich's largest public square, where the Neues Rathaus (New City Hall) dominates the square. its central clocktower features a splendid Glockenspiele with medieval knights hold a jousting tournament and the townspeople dance afterward holding the city's banner aloft. the bells chime and the figures dance at 11:00 Am and 5:00 Pm.
• Munich Residenz, the former royal palace of the Bavarian monarchs. it's the largest city palace that's open to visitors. The first couple of buildings were built in 1385, and Maximilian I commissioned the entire West Wing and Court Garden to be built during his reign in the mid-1600s. the Winter Garden was commissioned by Ludwig II of Bavaria. After the king’s death in 1897, the Winter Garden on the roof was dismantled because of water leaking from the ornamental lake through the ceiling of the rooms below. Later, courtyards were built and much renovation were done inside the building. Albert V the house jewels of the Wittelsbach are today on display in the treasury.



Inner hall of Munich Residenz

• Deutsches Museum, one of the world's largest science museums. I. love. museums.  

Belvedere Palace

after we're done in Munich, we're going to take a train to Salzburg, Austria and begin our week-long rail-jumping extravaganza all over the country. freaking out, i'm so excited! we'd originally planned on a week-long, three-country trip to Poland, Germany, and Switzerland. turns out it's wicked expensive, country rail passes didn't correspond, and the trip was not really feasible for anyone. so after having dinner (Liz cooked pasta, Becca made the zalad, Anne brought apple pies, and Cat brought the drinks, of course), we got our thinkin' caps on, our computers out, and got down to business. (to defeat the Huns). SO we decided on Austria (at first, I was a little bummed, because i really wanted to go to Switzerland, but Austria's a pretty ballin' substitute, and they have Alps, so I'm content). a rough overview of what all we need to see:

inmates in Mauthausen

• Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp. Since the trip was supposed to be a tour to all the major historical events in central Europe (then condensed to Munich and Austria), we decided that we absolutely have to go to a concentration camp. By the summer of 1940, the Mauthausen-Gusen had become one of the largest labor camp complexes in German-controlled Europe, and its death toll, while mostly unknown, is figured to be between 200 and 400 thousand. whoa. i get chill bumps just thinking about it...

• Vienna, the capital of Austria and on the River Danube. It has the 3rd highest quality of living in European Union. People from Vienna are called Viennese. The major religion of the people is Christianity. The major language spoken in Vienna is German. Surprisingly the voting age in Austria is only 16 years old.Vienna is known worldwide as the city of music and is home to great music hall with excellent acoustics. 

Sound of Music filming - East Alps

• Salzburg, the fourth-largest city in Austria and located on the Northern edge of the Alps. Salzburg was capital of an independent principality until the Napoleonic Wars; it became part of Habsburg Austria at the Congress of Vienna in 1815. It is famous for mainly four things: its Baroque architecture and general prettiness; as the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; the world-class Salzburg Festival, a series of opera, concerts and theatre performances during the summer; and as the place where "The Sound of Music" was filmed. 

• Innsbruck, situated between the Alps

Salzburg Castle

• Bregenz, located on the eastern shores of Lake Constance, the third-largest freshwater lake in Central Europe, between Switzerland in the west and Germany in the northwest. The city is situated on a plateau falling in a series of terraces to the lake at the foot of Pfänder mountain. The first settlements date from 1500 BC. Celtic tribe named Brigantii is mentioned by Strabo as a sub-tribe in these region of the Alps.

•  Salzkammergut, a region in Austria. It is located near the Hallstätter See. allstatt is a village perched on the rim of Lake Hallstatt with salt mines that have been in operation since the iron age, 7000 years ago.

Hallstatt

never trust the leprechauns.

this weekend was so good in so many ways! erika, mariah and i decided to hang out for mariah's remaining days in ireland. so after my classes on thursday (and a quick nap), mariah and i took a train to dublin and walked to erika's house. wouldn't you know, that lady had been cooking up a storm the entire day for our belated birthday dinner. it was the cutest thing ever. earlier that day, she went to the store and picked up some birthday plates, a banner, wine, a bottle of coke, and made spaghetti. it was wonderful. mostly because she made it with love and a dash of honey. ha. that night, we finished off the wine with her roommate, safia, and had the neighbors over (two intelligent, charismatic, charming and cute Spaniards).

the next day, we slept in until around ten, only to wake up and find that it was a downpour outside. now, we're used to ireland being rainy and mildly chilly, but this was an awful rain, cold and wet. so we scrapped our plans for the day (a couple museums, a trip to the park, tea) and opted to stay inside. i ran across to fresh, a local grocery nearby, and loaded up on breakfast essentials for brunch while erika booked our Galway tour and mariah took a shower. we cooked brunch (it was delicious - rashers (bacon, not a fan), eggs, toast, jam, and juice) and then lay around watching the best episodes of Grey's Anatomy while it was a constant downpour outside. i wasn't complaining. sometimes you just need those days to catch up on sleep, lay around, play on pinterest and be all-around unproductive. it's good for your health.

on saturday, we got up early to catch a bus to Galway, about three hours away from Dublin. we finally got to Galway, off the bus, and to the city centre around 2:30 and we were starving. so we grabbed some food and headed for our B&B/a little shopping.
Galway has the cutest little city. all old buildings on a cobblestone path with a fun atmosphere and bustling city centre. we stopped in a toy shop (can't resist, life of a camp counselor), grabbed some hot chocolate, drooled over engagement rings, and erika bought a Claddagh ring, a traditional Irish symbol for love, friendship and loyalty, for herself and her sister. we are such girls.
afterwards, we grabbed a taxi and headed all of three minutes to our B&B (we had no clue it was so close), but, unfortunately, were told that they didn't have our reservation. i don't know how, but we didn't spend anymore time arguing with the old Irish lady about it. so we started walking, hoping to find a sign for availability or a hostel or a cardboard box. just something to sleep in for the night. finally, a couple streets over and in a random house with a purple door,
we found the Delta B&B and basically pleaded with the lady to let us have her last double room for the three of us. "we love to snuggle!" we said, nodding a little too cheerfully. there's no clue what she was thinking as three American girls in their early twenties stood in front of her, giving her a sob story about a misplaced reservation and pleading to all sleep with each other. but we won her over, apparently, because she gave us the room with 20 euro apiece.
so we took a few minutes to put our bags down, relax, plug my phone in, and we headed to find the beach. in the cold rain. well, we found it. it was beachy. with a nice view of the atlantic, the entire 20 feet we could see in front of us. then, we took a taxi back into the city centre, went to dunne's stores, bought scarves for the next day, and went to go find an authentic Irish pub. but our hunger got the best of us and we took a slight detour to an Asian restaurant that looked like something we'd find at home (anything that reminds us of home, we are such suckers for). but after that, we found a pub with local Irish music, got bulmer's and enjoyed our night.

the next morning, we woke up and took a tour through the Burren National Park and to the Cliffs of Moher. the word "Burren" comes from an Irish word "Boíreann" meaning a rocky place, with the largest karst landscapes in Europe. there are more than 90 megalithic tombs in the area. the major portal tomb we visited was Poulnabrone dolmen, dating back to the Neolithic period, probably between 4200 BC to 2900 BC. excavations found that between 16 and 22 adults and 6 children were buried underneath. personal items buried with the dead included a polished stone axe, a bone pendant, quartz crystals, weapons and pottery. with its dominating presence on the limestone landscape of the Burren, the tomb was likely a centre for ceremony and ritual until well into the Celtic period or it may have served as a territorial marker in the Neolithic landscape.

what we should've seen...

what we saw...

unfortunately the Cliffs of Moher were covered in a dense fog (apparently the first in months, just our luck). so, no big deal, we just stood on top of the eighth wonder of the world, hung out for a little while, and left. didn't see anything. thanks a lot, weather. but the cliffs of moher rise 390-702 feet above the Atlantic, varying in different places. it is possible to see 300 million year-old river channels cutting through, forming unconformities at the base of the cliffs. FUN FACT: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and The Princess Bride, to name a few, had scenes filmed here.

thankfully, our tour guide, a flirty, little old Irish man who kept going on and on about leprechauns, took us to "baby" cliffs, which were much more clear and visible. we were able to get some good pictures and the entire time at the cliffs wasn't a waste. all in all, it was such a fantastic weekend. pearl and honey convinced me to stay Monday, too. (whoops, about class...) and we did a little shopping, hung out, and then i caught a train back to Maynooth. so now for my normal life to start.. it's been great.

until i shoot the craic another time,

 FMS and the little leprechauns.

anyone care for a little gaelic football?

i started classes monday. after spending two and a hour hours registering. there was a queue of internationals sitting, waiting to be called. apparently you were supposed to have the classes you wanted to take, a slip of paper about releasing your grades to your home university, and your passport. i had two of the three. of course. and then it said that one of my classes wasn't even available (which is false, because it definitely is). sooo talk about frustration city.

finally, i got all registered and sturff and started classes. they're okay. they are huge class sizes. not a huge fan, though, because i want one-on-one, you know. i want a teacher to know my name, to realize that i have thoughts about what he's lecturing on, and then i want him to expect me to pitch those to the class. that may sound obnoxious, but that's just how i roll in class. and it mostly gets me A's. this is a whole new ball game. i guess i'll just have to go introduce myself and be the innocent, but smart, American girl with the sweet smile and occasional attentive nods. dadgummit.

so yesterday i saw all of my ole miss friends' statuses (stati?). it was how they all just wanted to sleep because it was rainy and blah and meeh, blah blah. and i was right there with them this time last year. heck, i would've been right there with them this year, if i would've been in oxford.

but instead, i am in the middle of THE rainiest, cold rainiest, place. have i mentioned it rains? i'm not complaining in the least - i'm definitely the one who decided that i was going to come to ireland! but i do like this weather. i'm sure once i get used to the weather, it will be much better, but all i want to do is just lay in bed! because cold rain = lazy weather, right? NO. it means.. get used to it, sucka, you're here for four months!!

my 'merican frands are great. becca (from texas, plays softball at trinity), liz (from rhode island, goes to assumption, wherever the h-e-doublehockeysticks that is) and i found the gym yesterday. it was great fun. i ran a couple miles (can you say out. of. shape), did about 10 minutes on a piece of weight equipment specifically for rowing (daaaannngg, stuff is real! real hard), some free weights and then just cardio stuff. and then we played a little basketball (i made them play, they're not big fans. I JUST WANT TO PLAY BASKETBALL WITH PEOPLE WHO KNOW HOW TO PLAY.) and then we did an aerobics class. too much looking like an idiot for my taste, though.

there were posters up about joining different teams. think i've narrowed it down to basketball, kayaking, and gaelic football (ha!). a girl was trying to explain it to me yesterday. apparently it's a mixture of soccer and rugby and gets INTENSE. in tents? i wish i was somewhere in a tent. so i guess we'll see how that goes. i'm going to get out there with 30 of the most manliest irish women and just be taken to the house.

tonight we're going to some fresher's ball thing at a pub. because everything is at a pub. seriously. all meals, drinks, nights - all spent in pubs. you win, ireland. you win.

until something else interesting comes about, love love you all :)

my goodness, my guinness!

tomorrow marks officially one week since i've been across the pond. it has been absolutely terrific. full of new friends, lots of walking, a new appreciation for public transportation, and pints of beer. talk about growing up. adjusting to the local culture has been a smoother transition than i thought it would be. everyone is so nice and welcoming. i'm excited to get settled, start classes and get into a groove.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS WEEK:

-honey came to maynooth on friday and we toured the town and campus. (i like it much more!) and later that night, we watched a movie and had pizza with the american girls i met

- pearl and i went to the guinness storehouse. we both poured the "perfect pint." it was really neat - you go through all 7 steps of pouring guinness, and then you drink it. and do you know what guinness tastes like? vomit. put into a blender with tar and other terrible things. and then blended into a thick smoothie. it. is. gross. but pearl and i were determined to finish. she owned it. and the guinness owned me.

- we went shopping in dublin. there's a place called penney's that's a lot like forever 21. so that was fun.

- honey moved into her apartment. it's a cute, little loft above the light shop of an old man. old and so dublin.


- pearl and i almost got hit by the bus illegally crossing the sidewalk, after she dropped a euro in the gelato - that was behind the glass, and, when we got to maynooth, she pulled out her mace and threatened me with it. i'm sharing a two-foot space with a crazy. #getmeoutofhere hahaha

Maynooth, Ireland, Co. Kildare: my home for the next couple months

ireland. day one.

soo we pearl (mariah) and i got here yesterday. talk about a cray cray day. i left mississippi at 11:50 pm, had layovers in hotlanta and new yawk and then flew over to dublin. loved my flight from nyc to dublin. the flight attendants seemed to be enjoying their job (but really, i love it when people look like they have positives about and are having fun with their jobs) - they were making jokes, etc. i sat in the middle of a window and an Irish guy in college who was my age. aka: best of both worlds. so that was fun. we chatted about our summers, took naps, attempted to watch a terrible movie, had dinner, then had brekkie, and i recruited him to work at GAC. we'll see how that goes. :)

so i get into dublin, find mariah, and we attempt to take two 50-pound suitcases, two duffels, two backpacks, and two purses and cart them around the city (DUMBEST. MISTAKE. OF. OUR. LIVES.) we had tons of the nicest irish people coming up to see if we needed help (of course we did, we were struggle boatin' hard and it was definitely apparent), but only the serous ones grabbed our bags and started telling us where we were going. finally, we took a bus (after a really charming irish lad gave us directions, helped put our bags on the bus, and told us what to not do to look like americans). it was then that i decided i was very much going to like this place.

so we took a bus to the train station, then a train to maynooth. once there, we got more help from a mother and daughter - we had to climb (really, really steep) stairs, and then go down them to get over this channel in the town. so we thanked them and were on our way. slowly, but surely. and with great huff and puff (seriously. we were in the middle of the effects of hurricane katia - and the wind was supa crazy). so we finally made it to the middle of the town where there was a literal fork in the road - going to north campus or south campus. we flipped a coin, decided on south.

whaddaya know, it would be the wrong campus. by about two miles. haha. SO we asked a rando stranger (story of our lives. at this point, there's no shame. we have no shame) and he tells us how not in the right place we are, then tells us where to go and walks off. so we're like "okay, let's do this," and then, about two minutes later, the stranger comes back, offers to take us to our housing and then grabs my bag. WHAT. how awesome are these people? so i find out that he is a first-year (soo... i am a complete american. about 50 things have reminded me of harry potter. 1) pearl carrying all her luggage on a trolley.), business major, skinny blonde boy named emmett, who is from maynooth, who has the cutest little lisp and the nicest manners. seriously. he would fit in great in the south.

so after we finally got to our housing and bid emmett farewell, we slept for four hours, got internet, skyped honey (erika) and then took a train to meet her in dublin.

so on the train ride, we sit across from this irish girl (named something i can't write, much less pronounce). she's telling us how great maynooth is (she went to school there) and the town and people, etc. and then she warns us to be careful at night, because she and her friend got beat up/stabbed and were in the hospital for a while. WHAT.

that's when i started freaking out. so i was silent the entire ride. just thinkin', ya know. sooo... that's fun.

then honey, pearl and i had dinner and drinks at an irish pub (duh, had to) and came back to stay at her friends' apartment in the city.

that's all for now. my computer is about to die. i'm ready for day two already! :)

we're going to get phones, groceries, showers, and explore dublin, then maynooth.