A Heart Replete With Thankfulness

Well this blog post is coming at you early this week. We're all having a relaxing, lazy weekend here in Limerick to be followed by a week full of mad studying for exams. The holiday season started this week, normally a time to be spent lounging around with family and eating until you pop. Needless to say, this Thanksgiving was a little different. For  about a month now all of us Americans have been dreading Thursday the 24th. Most of us found the idea of spending Thanksgiving without our families too difficult to bear. However, we pushed on through and realized how much we truly have to be thankful for. So at risk of being over-sentimental, here is what I'm thankful for:

I'm thankful to have had this amazing opportunity to study abroad. I've been places I never would've imagined going and met so many amazing people. Normally on Thanksgiving my cell phone is flooded with 'Happy Thanksgiving' texts from friends, but being overseas, I did not get to experience this annual delight. However, one of my Irish friends did remember me on Thanksgiving and I think that text means more to me than he could possibly know. I also have the best travel buddies a girl could ask for. I cannot count the times they've made me laugh till my cheeks hurt and I had tears in my eyes. They are truly amazing young women and I cannot imagine my life in Ireland without them! I've truly feel that I've grown as a person since I've been in Ireland. This is one of the best decisions I have ever made and I'm so grateful that I was given this opportunity.

I am grateful to have an incredible group of friends. Whether they be friends from Ireland, college, high school, or those few that I've known since elementary school, they are amazing people. I'm so blessed to be surrounded by such genuinely great people. I even would count those I've worked with at Bella Napoli as a second family. We've had so many good times together, and I know we'll be there for each other for years to come! I cannot wait to see all those lovely familiar faces when I get back to the states!

Most of all I'm so incredibly thankful for my wonderful, loving family. We always poke fun at my mom for using the phrase, 'my cup runneth over' every year at Thanksgiving. But, I feel like I may need to steal this phrase this year. When it comes to my family, my cup really does run over. I have a father who supports me in all that I do (not only financially - although I do also really appreciate that part!). I have a mother who I'm so thankful I never went through the 'I hate you' phase with - I'm lucky enough to count my mother as a friend as well as family. I'm happy to say that I also know count my three older brothers as friends instead of mortal enemies. I'm not exactly sure when that transition occurred, but I will be ever grateful that it did. I also cannot say enough about my extended family. I have wonderful grandparents who I cannot imagine my life without, cousins who are the closest things I've ever had to sisters, the most adorable little second cousins who bring me nothing but smiles and laughs, and wonderful aunts and uncles who I love being around and can make me laugh until I cry.

Being away from home for Thanksgiving was really difficult. However, we all made it through, and at least for me, it made me reflect on my life more than normal. I have so much to be thankful for, and if you're reading this blog post - you're probably among those things for which I am most grateful!
AND now that Thanksgiving is over, it is officially the start of the Christmas season! This is my favorite time of year and I could not be more excited. I'm even watching 'A Christmas Story' right now as I'm writing this! I cannot wait to break out the Christmas music either and we're going to a tree lighting in about a week! We're off to London next weekend and I've heard that they're already all decked out for Christmas, so that will surely get us even more into the Christmas spirit!
While I will be so sad to leave this wonderful country and experience in about three weeks, I genuinely cannot wait to be home with my amazing family for the Christmas season!

With love, from Ireland!
Biff

There are only two places in the world where we can live happy: at home and in Paris

If you're anything like me, you may have wondered why all the ex-patriots move to Paris. So many of the greats moved there. Not only American greats, but many of the best minds from England and Ireland moved to Paris as well. 

I've been to Paris before, but it was only for a day and about 5 years ago. I was excited to make my return to say the least! Unfortunately, I barely got two days in this glorious city this time around. However, I fell back in love with Paris just as quickly as I fell for it the first time. 

Unfortunately Jacqui and I were down one musketeer this weekend as a marketing project kept Mary Jo from joining us as planned. However, we decided to trek on. We left for Dublin Thursday night and spent the night in preparation for an incredibly early flight on Friday. We landed in Beauvais and took the bus into the city. We hopped a couple metro trains and arrived at our hostel on Montmartre. As it was already noonish and we were very tired from a day of travels, we decided to explore around Montmartre for the day. We walked up to Sacre Coeur, which has a stunning enough view itself. We went up in the dome to take in an even more breath taking view of the city. 

The plaza just in front of the church seems to be someone of a haven for street performers. One of the performers we saw was truly incredible. He started off juggling a soccer ball on a platform, which was normal enough. However, when he started doing it on a railing, we were more impressed. THEN, he went on to climb one of the iconic Parisian light poles and do tricks with a soccer ball while hanging off the side of it. Everyone on the steps was in awe! It was truly amazing. 

We then decided to make our way to Pere LaChaise Cemetery. This cemetery holds the graves of many famous people including Gertrude Stein, Oscar Wilde, and Jim Morrison. Unfortunately the cemetery was closing as we were making our way to Morrison's grave, so we never saw any of the specific graves we set out to. But we still saw tons of beautiful monuments and the crisp fall air added something beautiful to this somber place. 

As it was finally after 4pm, we headed back to our hostel to finally officially check in and see our room. At some point we were switched to a private room (which ended up being pretty nice) and we even had our own little balcony! 

By this point, we were EXHAUSTED. So, we had a quick dinner up the street from our hostel, took in a bit of night air on our balcony and headed to bed!

Day two we were ready to go! And of course we found one of our favorite modes of travel - the hop on hop off bus. Our lovely receptionist helped us get tickets and find the closest stop - whoever said all the French are rude, must be really picky about how people act. Of course, not everyone we met was the nicest, but all of our waiters etc. never made me feel unwelcome. When I stirred on the crowded metro, I had a woman ask me if this was our stop and politely shift around so we could get out (by the way she asked me all this in French and I understood & replied in French - so hey AP French wasn't so much of a waste now was it!). 

Now after riding the bus around a bit, we decided to get off at the Louvre and ended up spending a good deal of time in there. Of course, we didn't see even close to the whole thing but we did see a lot. I got to see a few Carravaggios (one of my favorite artists) and a TON  of really famous works. 

A Renoir that I fell in love with.

After visiting the Louvre, it was time to wander off to a late lunch. We ended up hopping off the bus on the Champs-Elysees. We were on a part of the street that does not normally have stores, but this time of year is covered in little white booths. Some were selling soap, others jewelry, and others food. Here we grabbed some fresh off the stone crepes and ate them while we strolled around and waited for the next bus. We took the bus to the Eiffel tower of course! Unfortunately we didn't get to go up in it. The lines were so long and we still had a lot to do! 

We were off to Notre Dame and the areas around there. Now along the way on the bus, we saw the Arc de Triumph, the Gare du Nord, and many other landmarks that we unfortunately did not have the time to jump off and see. 

We went in Notre Dame as soon as we got off the bus. Unfortunately, the sun wasn't bright enough to really get the Rose Window, but it is still one of the most incredible churches I've ever seen. After going inside, we wandered around Notre Dame and the banks of the Seine.  We found some nice shops and a nice place to grab some dinner - after all we had to stay around Notre Dame until nine. 

At nine o'clock we hurried back to the square in front of Notre Dame to see my friend Steph and a couple of other friends from Syracuse. Steph, Lorne, and Veronica are all studying in Madrid and happened to be in Paris the same weekend! Of course, Steph and I found this too good to be true and arranged to meet! 

We all talked and walked back towards our hostels together. We weren't together all that long but it was so nice to see another familiar face from Cuse after so long! After bittersweet goodbyes, Jacqui and I headed back to our hostel. Another exhausting day had us sitting and chatting on our balcony taking in the Parisian night air before quickly crashing into our beds. 

We didn't have much time before we had to head to the bus stop in the morning. So, we grabbed some more fresh crepes and did a little bit of shopping around Sacre Coeur. 

And then we were sadly off the airport complaining that we didn't have nearly enough time in this wonderful city. 

Now I can't speak for Jacqui, but I know I can't wait to get back to Paris. Rome was nice, Edinburgh was amazing, but Paris is indescribable. As the French say, it has a certain Je ne sais quoi. 

Maybe someday I'll end up like Gertrude Stein (other than the whole living with a lesbian lover thing) and be saying, "America is my country, Paris is my hometown." 

With love, from Ireland!
Biff

Roam Around the World

Oh we English majors love our homophones, don't we :)

Well this weekend it was off to bella Roma for our lovely pack of weirdos. So, the adventures of Cartographer Barbie (Mary-Jo), Baby Barbie (Jacqui), Tour Guide Barbie - Auzzie Edition (Caitlin), and Tour Guide Barbie 2.0 (me) commence!

 We landed fairly late on Friday night and after hours of traveling were content to have a quick dinner and crash. We hit the pavement pretty hard on Saturday. 

First stop was of course the Vatican. Luckily, it was a straight shot on the metro and we didn't have to walk the 5k, as we would do plenty of walking later in the day. 

After wandering the Vatican, we had what was probably the most expensive lunch of our lives. We thought we'd be safe on prices by not actually eating in the Vatican cafe, but it seems the places surrounding it charge even more. We learned our lesson on that one and remembered to look for a sitting fee everywhere after. Then, we literally walked around an entire country. Yup, we walked around the entire Vatican and ended up in St. Peter's Square. 

After a quick break back at the hostel, we headed out to find the Piazza della Repubblica. Of course, we wouldn't be us if we didn't do some accidental wandering on the way! But we eventually found it - and it happened to not be far from our Hostel at all.

Then we headed onto the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps - both of which were absolutely mobbed - so we made our way back to them Monday morning. 

 

 

After giving ourselves a tiny bit of extra sleep, we were at it again for Sunday. We visited the Colosseum, the Forum, the Pantheon, and the Piazza Novona. 

                                  

We ran into the Maria Maggiore and the Musei Capitolini on our way as well. Needless to say, after a day that busy, we were all ready to crash. 

We were all exhausted by Monday (to say the least!). So we decided to take it easy and go back and see the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain during the day! Then it was a leisurely lunch and off to the airport! Of course, traveling back was no fun. We didn't get back to UL until 4am. All delirious with exhaustion, we had never been happier to hit our beds! We're so glad we went to Rome, but again, we were so happy to get back to Limerick where we could all have our own showers and our big beds!

All in all it was a great trip!  We were only really followed by boys once, and no one was pinched (which is more than I can say for the last time I was there). 

Off to Paris in a few short days! Don't know how I'm gonna hold up here! Hope all goes well!

With love, from Ireland!

Biff

They may take our lives, but they'll never take our FREEDOMMMMM!!!!

So this weekend we were off to Edinburgh, Scotland! After a 3 hour bus ride to Dublin and a plane delay for Mary Jo, all four of us made it to Edinburgh! From the minute we stepped outside the airport, I was in love. I can't quite put my finger on it, but there is something about this city that makes it feel like it could easily be your home.

Hmmmm maybe the large sign saying 'This is home' has something to do with it.... I'm not sure. But I can say that this is the one city I've been to so far that I could actually see myself living in! We arrived in Edinburgh fairly late on Thursday, so we headed to our hostel. Maybe we were just in an amorous mood, but we quickly fell for our hostel too! The atmosphere at the Caledonian was fantastic - a bit of a hipster haven actually. The hostel had it's own bar, a chill out room, and a 'bean bag cinema.' And a first for our hostels.... the beds were SO COMFORTABLE! We didn't do too much exploring that first night as we were all shattered - it takes quite a bit of effort to get to anywhere from Limerick. 

But Friday morning we were up and ready to go! We found the closest stop for a hop on hop off tour bus (after Dublin this seems to be our favorite mode of transport and exploration). 

We hopped off on Royal Mile and commenced with our favorite activity - popping in and out of all the little shops! Of course, we did this while making our way up to famous Edinburgh Castle! 

And of course, when we saw these we couldn't help but be the corny tourists we are: 

After taking in the amazing views of the city from the hill we wandered down to Waverly Bridge for some cheap lunch and then back to the hostel for a quick rest before wandering out for a Ghost Tour of the underground vaults! 

Jacqui & Mary Jo preparing themselves for a fright night:

Of course, the tour was not nearly as scary as we were expecting and we all made it out alive with no paranormal experiences!

Saturday morning rolled around and again we were up and ready to get on our lovely hop on hop off bus! We started out with a visit to the Royal Botanical Gardens! We were all happy to finally see some lovely fall leaves as the trees in Limerick don't seem to turn like the ones at home. 

After the Gardens we were off for lunch by the sea and a quick look at the Brittania Yacht. Then a quick stop off to see the royal family's palace in Edinburgh. We were all pretty beat at this point, so we made our way back to our hostel and enjoyed a quick film in the bean bag cinema before heading out for dinner and drinks! 

We attempted to call it an early night - our flight did leave at 9am after all and we still had to pack up and get to the airport in time to board. However, it seems that when all 4 of us are in a room together, that's not an option! Just like in Galway we all lay in bed reduced to fits of laughter and talking about the oddest things. We even got a lovely preview of Mary Jo and Jacqui's Australian accents - a noise I'm sure made Caitlin want to cover her ears and cry for her country. 

We woke up in the morning all bitter at having to leave Edinburgh so soon! I'm not sure what it is about this city, but it is definitely my favorite city so far. Maybe it's the history, the wonderful views when the sun is going down, maybe it's just the accents :) Who knows? All I know is that I cannot wait to make my way back to Edinburgh someday!

Till next post!

With love, from Ireland

Biff

In Dublin's Fair City where the Girls are so Pretty....

Well hello everyone!
So this past weekend Mary Jo, Jacqui and I made our way to Dublin! After getting off the bus we went on a mini-adventure trying to find our hostel. We wandered the streets of Dublin for nearly an hour before we came across Four Courts Hostel. We checked in to our 8 person dorm and after a few minutes of getting settled in, two of our roommates wandered in. We soon found out that we meshed quite well with  Conor and Taylor and they became our new exploration buddies! After hanging out with them for a couple hours, we girls noticed something about their relationship - it's a total bromance! And we're talking on the levels of Cory & Sean (Boy Meets World) and Turk & JD (Scrubs). This Canadian bromance is one for the books and quickly became one of our favorites!

Friday night, while our new friends were recovering from jet lag, Mary Jo, Jacqui, and I found out why a pub crawl is called a pub CRAWL. We even got to go to Wheelan's - a pub that a scene in PS I Love You was filmed in! But don't worry we didn't go too crazy. We were up and at 'em on Saturday getting tickets for a 'hop on hop off' bus tour. The five of us went to some of the biggest attractions Dublin has to offer. We had lunch at the Temple Bar, took a brief stop at Trinity College, and hopped off the bus for a stop at the Guinness Storehouse. 

We enjoyed a 'free' Guinness at the gravity bar on top of the storehouse. It has a 360 degree view of Dublin city - a truly incredible view! 

Then it was back on the bus for a quick stop at one of Dublin's nicest parks and back to the hostel to get ready to go out for Halloween round one!

Well we had to be up and check out of our room pretty early. The thing about staying in a hostel is you can meet people who'd be great friends, but after a couple of days you may never see them again. After a sad goodbye to our awesome roommates, the three of us headed out for some more exploration of Dublin. We started off the morning going to the Jameson factory. Now on every Jameson tour 4 men and 4 women are chosen to do a whiskey tasting at the end of the tour. Now this tasting is made up of 3 different whiskeys. Add that to the free drink you get at the bar and you've got about 4 shots. Only one woman had volunteered to do the tasting (it was only about 1030 or 11 am after all) so the three of us figured - Why not? Unfortunately the meager breakfast of toast we had had did not hold up so well against all those drinks - So we figured it'd be prudent to head back to Temple Bar to grab some food. But now according to the Jameson factory, we are all three official Irish whiskey tasters. 

After a lunch, we headed to St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin Castle,  and made a quick visit to the zoo before we headed back to Limerick.

 We had a truly amazing weekend - definitely one of my favorites so far! Despite how much fun we had, we were all ready to get back to Limerick and our own beds! Needless to say, we were exhausted. We hope to see our Canadian friends again as they travel around Ireland. But if not, we'll always have Dublin! 

Until next time - With love, from Ireland!

Biff