"If we don't get there today, we'll get there tomorrow..."

As cliche as it sounds, it's tough to believe that this whole thing is over, and has been for almost a week. We had a fantastic America-themed party on the Wednesday night at Downey's, and a going-away party at Merry's the following night. It was really a great time for all involved, but I'm sure I wasn't the only one that had a hard time saying good-bye.

The Wonderful West

On our trip to the West, we were able to see some really fantastic natural wonders.

The Rock of Cashel was on the way to the Galway. The church was built on a hill, which gives the surrounding areas some amazing views.

 Harry and Dumbledore have a scene here in the Half Blood Prince movie! It looks a bit different in the daylight... Although I've been to the Cliffs once before, it was very different to see it with friends (as opposed to family), and we walked much farther out along the path to see more. Eventually there were no more barriers between us and the edge, which got a bit nerve-wracking.

We also saw the Cliffs of Insanity from The Princess Bride. After we got home from the trip, I sat down and rewatched the movie with Mary, her mom, our friend Cormac, and some of the other roommates. It was really funny to see how many lines of the movie I remembered after not seeing it for a couple years. It's still fantastic of course.

The Rock of Cashel was on the way to the Galway. The church was built on a hill, which gives the surrounding areas some amazing views.

On our second day in the area, we headed to the Aran Islands. I didn't know much about the area, but I'm very glad to have gotten the chance to learn! We took a tour in a van/bus around the island and learned all about everyday life there from our tour guide, who's family has lived there for six generations! The main island has a gorgeous beach, and an ancient stone fort built around- you guess it, more cliffs. These ones had even less protection, which was a bit scary, but allowed for some seriously gorgeous views. It was really tough to leave!

The Dutch know how to do salad right:

• Goat cheese
• Spinach
• Arugala 
• Walnuts
• Red Apple
• Lemony dressing
• Pasta noodles

For less than 5 euro in a grocery store. Amazing. Gotta try it at home!

"Can we just move to Cork?"

A few weekends ago I was lucky enough to travel to Cork with a few friends and stay in a B&B overnight. We took the bus out to the city and got to explore the English Market, which reminded me a bit of Buffalo's Broadway Market, except about three times the size.

 The city itself is really gorgeous. It's busy and fast paced, but not overly crowded or tourist-y. We had a lot of fun exploring side streets and checking out the different shops!

I found this little guy in an Asian market and originally bought him as a souvenir to bring home for my boyfriend Scott, as part of an inside joke. We spent a big chunk of the weekend putting Panda in funny places and taking pictures of him, and the joke has snowballed a bit... Anyways, he's a world-traveler now!

 Saturday morning we visited Blarney Castle and kissed the Blarney Stone! My roommate Kelly was probably the most excited out of our group, and it was great to see her get to do something she'd been dreaming about for years. (Don't worry, Panda kissed the stone too.)

The castle grounds/park were honestly a bit more appealing than the castle itself to me. The stairs to get up to the top of the castle (where the stone is) were really tough and a bit scary to be honest, so I was happy when we got back on solid ground and got to explore the park.

The White House! Our B&B in Blarney, the town just outside Cork. We were able to walk to the Castle, and to the local pub, which was a lot of fun. There was a fantastic band playing and we all got to hang out with the locals for a bit.

All in all it was a fantastic weekend with a lot of bonding time among the girls. Definitely made some great memories to take home!

The Amsterdam Adventure!

This time I'm actually going to try to keep up with blogging as a trip goes along! I have a lot of back posts to get to, but I'll work on that eventually... For now- Amsterdam!

This week I'm traveling with two friends, Lindsey and Sarah to the Netherlands. My roommate Mary is unfortunately not with us, but we're making as many memories to bring back to her as possible! We started out journey yesterday afternoon, leaving Dungarvan for Cork (about an hour away by bus). Our friend Daragh met up with us and was nice enough to stay over before our way-too-early flight this morning. It was fantastic to see a bigger city in Ireland from the perspective of a local, even if it was only for an evening.

This morning when we got to the Cork airport security wasn't even open, which is something that I've never experienced. The three of us were still pretty exhausted, so it was a very quiet plane ride. We had great luck getting a shuttle to our hotel, which is a bit outside the city, but completely gorgeous. We're in a corner room on the thirteenth floor and have an amazing view!

We took a tram into the city center this afternoon, and happened to get out at the stop closest to the Anne Frank museum which was a fantastic mix up. We got to wander the streets and see some really pretty canals and ended up in a tulip market somehow, which was a nice surprise. We ended our day by meeting up with Sarah's friend Maaike, who is from the Netherlands and will be staying with us! It's really exciting to be able to city with a new friend, especially someone who speaks the language.

We're all calling it an early night in order to catch up on sleep and be ready for a full day tomorrow, hopefully we'll get to the beach!

Eire to Erie

Realizing that we've all got less than a month here was pretty tough this week. I know how lucky I am to be a part of this whole experience, and I've really been doing my best to make the most of it. I spent a lot of time thinking about how great this whole thing has been, and will continue to be, but also how completely excited I am to come home. I know that once I get home I'll miss this place more than words, but I also know how exciting being back at Mercyhurst/being in Buffalo this summer will be! I don't think I've ever been more aware of how fantastic my friends and family are, and how gracious I am to have them around.

Berlin part 2 (only a week and a half late...)

 This is the Berlin Cathedral, which is absolutely massive. We took a self-guided tour and ended up climbing 500 steps to walk around the outside of the main dome of the Cathedral. It was the ultimate panoramic view of Berlin, and completely worth the climb!

 We also went to see Sachsenhausen, a concentration camp that was used in WWII and later as a camp for political prisoners. Many parts of the camp have been turned into museum style exhibits, and the sheer size of the place is stunning. It was tough to see, but I think most of our group would say that they're glad to have seen it.

 This memorial was built at the camp in the 1960's. 

 Myself and my friend Lindsey at the graffiti wall. Thursday afternoon, our last day in the city, we had a great time exploring and goofing around. 

After accidentally taking the S-bahn (subway/rail system) in the wrong direction, we ended up at Alexanderplatz. There's a huge open air market, with clothes and food vendors, and even a mini petting zoo with goats! We ended up having dinner in a beirgarten, which was a great way to have one last real German meal!