The Parting Glass

As I finish packing my room, the memory of first moving in seems so distant. The past five months have been more than I could ever have dreamed of. It's hard to think back on my time here and not get teary eyed at the fact that I have to leave early Sunday morning.

It's not just hard goodbyes to friends I've made or the even harder goodbye to the country I love so much that I can finally call home. It's saying goodbye to this once in a lifetime experience. Sure, Cork will always be here for me to return to and nothing is stopping me from visiting friends, the world's not big enough for that. I'm saddened that my time here can never be replicated no matter how hard I tried. The experiences I had were made even fonder by the people I was with. To be honest, it still hasn't quite hit me yet that in a day I will no longer be here. It's even harder to leave not knowing when I'll be back next.

Packing takes longer when almost everything I have in my room conjures a memory with it. The maps of the cities I visited throughout the semester lie next to cards from home. It's strange to see the two together, the sharp contrast leaves me with mixed feelings. I wish I could stay longer but I'm excited to go home and be with the people I've missed.

I cannot even begin to describe how thankful I am for the people who have made these past 5 months the most memorable. The API family- the great times we've had travelling around Ireland and to Edinburgh, for Deborah organizing the best excursions and making us feel as much at home as possible. The Family of Weirdos- From the Ring of Kerry, to the Brog and Chipsy King... It's been one hell of a time and I can't even imagine life without Chipsy King! Maggie and Ally... and Rebecca!- for being the best travel companions a girl could ask for. You'll be in every country I visit no matter where you are in the world. Leila- thank you for being the most amazing roommate and always being there for me, and Sini for being the best Finnish I know :) love you and your bargain shows :P Every single one of you lovely people.... it's ben great craic like! Let's do it again :)

And to Ireland: Slán go fóil ach is le hÉireann mo chroí; Goodbye for now but my heart belongs in Ireland. You've had a hold of the most important piece of me since the first day I've stepped on this ground back in june, 2011. Two years later, I've come back and felt truly complete for five whole months. Now it's time to leave, but you can be sure I'll be back.. maybe for a short visit maybe for longer who really knows. All I can say is... I'll be back and never forget.

I really can't believe how much has happened this semester. I'm leaving you with this lyric from one of my favorite songs, The Parting Glass. Raise a toast to new adventures and be thankful for the time we've had together.
"Of all the money that 'ere I had, I spent it in good company..... so fill to me the parting glass, good night and joy be with you all"

The API family

Family photo

The best roommate 

The Top of Ireland

From the south of Ireland to the north of Ireland... 6 hours. This weekend Maggie and I took one last trip and packed our bags for Belfast. Not just Belfast, in particular the Giant's Causeway. We left early sunday morning and arrived in Belfast mid afternoon. Since we had some time we hopping a taxi and checked out the Titanic Museum. There's a new museum built in the location of the shipyard where the Titanic was built.

The museum seemed to be shaped like an iceberg...

It was cool inside, there was a ton on the actual building of the ship and the process that went into creating such a state of the art cruise liner. But the thing that stood out the most to me were the messages from the morse codes that the Titanic sent out in distress. It all seemed a bit too real at that point reading the pleading messages for help from near by ships. It really makes your heart go out to these people that lost their lives that day.

We walked around for a bit then rounded the day off with... a burrito. Yes. It was probably the best part to the day. I like to think of the place we went to as Chipotle in disguise, it was almost the exact same thing.

The following day we took a Paddywagon tour up to the Carrick- a- Rede Rope bridge and Giant's Causeway. The day started off rainy and disgusting, typical Irish weather. But the further we got from Belfast the better the weather turned out to be and I had high hopes for the sun staying out while we crossed the bridge.

At the rope bridge we had to walk down a pathway to get to it which had spectacular views. You could see the Irish Island of Rathlin, the Scottish Isle Islay, and even Scotland 20 miles away. On our ten minute walk to the bridge it started to downpour on us, catching us off guard. That's Ireland for us i guess.

Just as we got closer to the rope bridge the sun came out and the rain moved out to sea. At that point, this place became truly spectacular. The water glistened and sparkled, the grass shone with the wet droplets and the sea glowed a magical blue- green. Its places like this that make me never want to leave Ireland.

You want me to cross THAT?

Made it!

 

On the Island of Carrickarede

The bridge was surprisingly sturdier than I had anticipated it to be and much shorter. The island of Carrickarede really has nothing but grass on it. I'm not really sure why its so popular, maybe its just for the view point. Either way, I think I found another favourite place.

Then it was off to the Giant's Causeway! The causeway was only about 15 minutes west of here conveniently. We had to take another little walk to get down to the honeycomb causeway. The rocks were so cool shaped so geometrically and fitting perfectly together. It's a wonder how nature can create something so... perfect. The sun stayed out the entire time we were there. I ended up bouncing around the funky shaped rocks like a kid in a play ground. It was calming to sit out on the causeway and watch the waves roll in. The rocks created such a sharp contrast to the water; the black uniform six sided rocks   against the blue free flowing water.

After the tour we got dropped off in front of City Hall. Since it was a holiday that monday, there was a market set up on the lawn of the city hall full of food vendors, jewelry stalls, and beer tents. We wandered around a bit until we got caught in an absolute downpour and had to run under the beer tent for cover.

To end our trip, Tuesday morning was spent wandering around Queens University. It's a beautiful campus... they even have a botanical garden! Belfast took me a bit by surprise this time. I really enjoyed it, better than Dublin even. I'm even more happy that I was able to get up to the Causeway before I leave.

Spring Break pt 8: This World is Full of Mysterious Beauty

Edinburgh- April 18

The last day in Barcelona we spent hanging out in the hostel, and for me... a tiny bit on the beach. We were waiting around for our flight to Edinburgh. We arrived in Scotland around midnight and walking up towards the Royal Mile I was glad I made a second trip back. It was fun to be back here shortly after leaving and it was a nice way to get back into the dreary northern weather compared to the Spanish weather we were in for a week.

The first day there we spent walking around the Royal Mile and venturing into the Elephant House for tea. We climbed Arthur's seat which was a feat. Arthur's Seat is basically just a large hill, but the wind that day was amazing. We nearly got blown off! And not just once. I loved being able to go for a hike though, it was a different change of pace compared to all the sight seeing we'd done. The city looked so small from the top, we could even see the sea. The wind added a bit of comic flair to the hike it was so strong. As Ally and I described it along the way, it made you feel alive. That scottish air was all around us and blowing right through us. It was an incredible feeling, it was almost like the city couldn't be tamed. That whole day made me love Edinburgh even more than I already had. I loved it even more because when I first visited I never imagined going back so soon and regretted not being able to do some things... like hiking.

Getting blown away in the wind

The following day we took a tour of part of the highlands on the Hairy Coo tour. It was probably one of the best guided tours I've ever been on. It was so much fun and we got to go to places we never would have gone to. We got to see Wallace's Monument, Forth Bridge, beautiful loch's and even feed a hairy coo! For those that don't know, they look like this.....

I'm not going to talk about everything that we did on the tour, it was a long tour. But we got some great views and were able to experience so many different parts of Scotland. I think this was one of the best days we had on the entire trip! Here's some pics :)

Forth Bridge

Wallace's Monument

Biking Loch Katrine

We ended the day by going to Nando's!! I'm still wicked excited about this even now. It was so good :) Then desert at The Elephant House, of course. I had the best cup of hot chocolate ever, there were so many mini marshmallows!

The last full day in Scotland, we thought it would be a good idea to take a 12 hour tour of the highlands. Once again, I'm not going to talk about everything we did that would be too long and boring. But, I did really enjoy going up to the highlands it was incredible. I never knew anything like this existed in the world. The views were spectacular and almost breathtaking. It still boggles my mind even today that there is a place on Earth that could be this pristine and this dramatic.

About midday we took an hour cruise of the Loch Ness. It was pretty, but to be honest it got dull real quick. The scenery was the same the entire hour and there really wasn't anything too exciting about the Loch Ness.

We ended the day by yet again, going to The Elephant House. This time for dinner. I think they were getting to know us by this point.

The flight back to Dublin was welcomed after three weeks of non-stop travelling. And the bus ride left time for me to reflect on the entire trip. It made me realize how much I love coming 'home' to Ireland. I missed it so much while I was away. The whole ride back to Cork I kept thinking of all the people we met and the cool places we'd been. But mostly, I thought about how much Cork was beginning to feel like a part of me. If I had the chance to come back here and live for a while I would do it in a heart beat.

I have about a week and half left of being in Cork and I can't bear the thought of leaving. Don't get me wrong, I AM looking forward to going back home but at the same time I'm leaving another home behind for who knows how long. It's been great craic Cork, and I'm looking forward to spending my last few days getting the chance to say goodbye for a while.

Spring Break pt 7: It's the Friends You Make Along the Way

Getting to Barcelona was a bit of a hassle to say the least, but in the end we found a bus and made our way north in about 4.5 hours... its like going to Dublin from Cork (almost). The views were beautiful of the Spanish country side with the sea making a cameo every now and then.

Once in Barcelona we learned very quickly that this city was not walkable. At all. The metro was going to be our best friend I could tell. We got to the hostel after getting a bit lost but that's to be expected right? Dinner was delicious, but the tapas was even better. So much better in fact, that we went to another restaurant after just to get a few more tapas. We came to realize that the best tapas is hands down Potatas Bravas. I could eat that forever and be okay with my life.

We also met our roommates... three lovely Irish guys that go to UCC. Couldn't have been any better :)

I was excited to find out what Barcelona had to offer, and I was super excited our hostel was right near the beach.

Our first whole day in Barcelona, we tried to get into the Sagrada Familia (a modern church still being built). But, being a Sunday, the had a special mass at 2 and weren't letting people inside. So plan B meant that we were going to spend the whole day in Park Guell. As it turns out, this happened to be my favorite place in Barcelona we visited. We spent hours walking around this park, looking at the mosaics and getting great vantage points on the city.

We called it a night and made our way back to the hostel... when we got another great surprise. Franco turned up in our hostel! He was headed to Barcelona after Valencia and it worked out that he could meet us at our hostel. Ally and I went out for late tapas with Franco as a great way to end the day.

Day two: We laid on the beach for a few hours and then walked around Las Ramblas. The day was pretty much spent wandering the area and taking in the sights. Las Ramblas was a ton of fun. It's pretty much the center of Barcelona and had anything you could possibly want.

Day three: We went to Mountjuic with Franco, where there was a cool fort at the top that looked over the city. We do love our vantage points! The way back down was a bit nerve-wrecking. Again, we got lost and almost walked straight out of Barcelona. Thank god Franco was with us to ask locals for directions to get back to the metro. It was fun exploring though, and what fun would it be if we didn't get lost.

The night ended in us going to a cooking lesson on Las Ramblas. Dinner, learning to cook Spanish food, and endless Sangria what could be better? We had seafood paella, lots of tapas complete with Potatas Bravas, and great company of new people!

It was interesting to see how they cooked paella, I never knew it had so many ingredients. It tasted so incredible. I think may favorite part of the night had to be meeting our two New Jersey friends Johnny and Steph. They were so entertaining and had such a great vibe, it was hard not to enjoy being around them. This night was a bittersweet end to our stay in Barcelona.

potatas bravas

giant pan of seafood paella

I came to realize in Spain that it's not just the places you go that make travelling so great, it's the people you meet along the way. I was hesitant at first about staying in hostels. I've never really experienced it before and didn't really know what to expect. But it turns out it was one of the best parts about the whole trip. We got to meet incredible people, each with a story of their own. I think the best part is that most everyone we met had that same thirst for adventure. We met some really amazing people on our trip, and keep in touch with a few still. I can't even begin to describe just how much I have enjoyed getting to know these friends we've met.

Spring Break pt 6: Sunshine

It was 5AM when we had to throw ourselves out of bed and get ourselves ready for our flight to Valencia. There was a shuttle bus we had to catch at least 3 hours before our flight. It was strange being up so early since most of our travelling up 'til then was done in the afternoon.

I checked into my first Ryan Air flight and nearly had a heart attack in doing so. They were making everyone check their bags to see if they fit the correct dimensions otherwise you would have to check them in and pay a whole lot. Ryan Air is a bully. We were all freaking out praying our bags would fit. We had them stuffed full and thankfully they didn't weigh them... I can assure you at this point they were no where near 10kg anymore. When it was my turn my bag thankfully slid right through and I was free. So were Ally and Maggie.. Rebecca was staying in France for another week while we headed off for Spain.

Landing in Spain was a complete turn around in terms of weather for us. We had been in cold and rainy / cloudy weather all week it was a nice break to finally see the sun and no clouds! The downside was that we were wearing all our thick warm clothes in order to keep the bags to a minimum. Walking around the streets of Valencia trying to find our hostel in 80 degree weather was not a fun beginning. But once we there we quickly changed into shorts and a tee shirt and were out the door again. It felt so weird to be wearing clothes that wasn't a rain jacket, rain boots, and jeans. I felt so light! :)

Our first stop was to find lunch. We were starving and ended up going across the street to some little cafe. And it was there that we started our Sangaria-every-day trend. With a pitcher of Sangaria between the three of us and the sun shining down (afraid we'd burn!) it was the perfect relaxation from a busy sight-seeing week.

The rest of that first day was spent just wandering the city and not looking at the map once... it was a small city. I hadn't realized that Valencia was so full of shops! We were planning on going to check out the beach the next day.

Dinner that night was unbeatable. We ventured down some cute streets lined with restaurants. We found one restaurant down a side street that looked like it had potential. We decided to splurge a bit and get one tapas to share while we were waiting for the chicken and veggie paella. Now, I've never had paella before, but I was a bit skeptical as to if I'd like it or not. I don't normally like spanish rice and didn't really know what paella was. As it turns out, I took one bite and fell in love. It was incredibly delicious and flavourful. We cleaned the entire pan and were left stuffed with just enough room for gelato on the walk back to the hostel. I'd call it a very good first day in Spain.

Beach Day

The Plan: rent a bike and bike to the sea

What actually happened: We ended up meeting a girl from Australia, Francis, and our lovely Chilean friend, Franco. Turns out Franco heard of a really nice beach to go to near a lagoon... which we were planning on watching the sunset from.

We set out in search of bikes to rent, the 5 of us. Long story short, after almost an hour of waiting around we were still bike-less and losing beach time. So we jumped on the Yellow Bus and took it straight to the National Park where the beach was.

The town we ended up in was really tiny, nothing more than a little store and a couple pubs... and lots of forest. We soon made it to the beach... and it turned out to be nearly deserted. I guess the people in Valencia didn't think it was beach weather yet (most of them were in long pants and sweatshirts in 80 degree weather!!). The day was warm, not a cloud in sight, and the sand felt so nice between my toes. Taking a nap on a beach in Spain was just what I needed to regroup. Spring Break at it's finest. I now can officially say I've swam in the Mediterranean Sea even though it was freezing.

After a while, we headed in search of the lagoon Franco told us about. We walked for what seemed like forever on a path that was partly in the sun and partly in a forest. We came upon a clearing with some kind of pond that we miss took as the lagoon. It was beautiful regardless, and we sat on a bank overlooking the pond and the sea. It soon got too cold for us to stay any longer, and we decided to forgo the plan of watching the sunset.

It was once we got back to the main road, we realized that the lagoon was across the street and we had mistaken the pond we were at for it. The sun was beginning its descent in the sky just as we arrived. So, as we waited for the bus to show up, we accomplished our goal of watching the sunset over the lagoon. Along with watching the crowd of people on the dock taking family photos/ communion pictures. The sunset was beautiful and it felt a bit surreal to be standing in Valencia, Spain watching the sun set over such a peaceful lagoon.













The whole day would have been perfect if the Yellow Bus came just after the sunset. It was getting cooler really quickly after the sun set and we were still waiting for the bus. Panicking, I was convinced we were stuck in the middle of no where for the night, freezing and starving. It wasn't until about 9:40 when Franco saw the bus' headlights coming around the corner and started jumping up and down. I don't think I've ever been so happy to see a bus before. We made it back to the hostel to find that they were serving paella and a drink for only 5 euros upstairs. So for the second night in a row, we had paella.... I was content to say the least.

Our stay in Valencia was supposed to be a quick visit in a city we knew nothing about. In the end, the city had this homely feeling, it was busy but quiet. It had character that I wasn't expecting. The streets were so fun to explore and the city was so easy to understand. The beaches were fantastic the weather was better than I could have imagined. Not only did I love the city, but we made a great friend along the way.