Spring Break

After 8 full days of traveling, I am happy to say that I am going absolutely nowhere today! With that said, this past week has been incredible! I think it is amazing that within 8 days I left Ireland, flew to Rome, Italy, took a train to Venice, flew to Berlin, Germany, and flew back to Ireland. Traveling around Europe is a lot of affordable than traveling about the United States. The airline  we used is called Ryan Air. They have incredibly cheap flights throughout Europe. You have to pay for any bags you choose to check-in, but are allowed one free carry-on bag. Of course there are size and weight requirements, just like any other airline. I managed to pack a week worth of clothes, an extra pair of shoes, a towel, and toiletries in a backpack. It was actually extremely nice not having to check a bag and having everything you need just on your back. Ryan Air does not assign seats unless you choose to pay for them. Nobody chooses to pay for their seat, so it is a mad dash when people start boarding because everyone wants to sit by their friends or family members. All of our flights went smoothly though!

First stop - Rome, Italy

On Saturday, March 30 we left Galway and took a bus to Dublin. From Dublin, we flew into Rome, Italy. We were able to find our hostel, which was actually pretty nice. The six of us stayed in a room together and it had two bathrooms. That night we went out to eat at a restaurant down the street. Of course, I had pizza. It was delicious! Jay's friends from New York were in Rome the same time we were there. We met up with them and went out for a couple of hours. They were able to show us where a lot of younger people went out at night. It was a lot of fun.

This crazy drink Jay's friends had Jay and
I try! It kind of tasted like black licorice. 

In the morning we got up early and explored Rome for the day! I was kind of the tour guide for the day since I had been to Rome before. It is crazy to think I have been to Rome twice already! How lucky am I!? We visited the Roman Forum, the Colosseum, the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, Vatican City, and St. Peter's Cathedral. The weather was beautiful in Rome. It was nice not having to wear my purple rain jacket that you see in all my pictures. We were in Rome on Easter Sunday. We did not even realize that we would been there on Easter Sunday when booking the trip. Being in Vatican City and St. Peter's Cathedral  on Easter Sunday was incredible. There were so many people! We chose not to attend the service in the morning because we knew there would be millions of people trying to do the same thing. Even though we did not attend the service in the morning, when visiting St. Peter's Cathedral, the nightly mass was taking place. We attended part of the nightly mass. The mass was in Latin, therefore nobody knew what was being said. Either way, it was really neat to be apart of. Of course, I had gelato in Rome! I actually brought everyone to the first place Colin and I had gelato, Flor. I had banana and chocolate gelato. My favorite! Yummy! Everyone was very pleased. the next day, we took a train from Rome to Venice. We chose to take the cheapest train ride, so it took 6 hours to get to Venice. It did not feel very long though. 

Colosseum in Rome, Italy

Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy

Jay, Nicole, and I

Our hostel in Venice was outside of the city itself. This wasn't the greatest place to stay but it was affordable. We had to take a train in order to actually get into Venice. The train only took about 7 minutes. Everything is a little more expensive in Venice due to the fact it is a group of island. There are no cars on Venice (or at least very, very few). Venice is actually made up of 118 small islands. We visited a couple of different islands and traveled by taxi boat to get there. My favorite little island was Burano. Burano was a pretty little town and known for its lace factories. We did not actually see the lace factories but there was definitely a lot of lace items being sold. Burano was also a great place to take pictures. All the houses and buildings are different colors. It looks beautiful with the canals running between them too. Venice was a pretty city but spending only one day there was plenty. The food was terrible and the friendliness of the people was even worse. For dinner, we had the worst food and terrible service and it was our most expensive meal. Very disappointing, especially when you are on a budget.

Burano

Burano

Loving the gondola ride in Venice

On a more positive note, I went on a gondola ride! This was totally worth it. The gondola ride we took was owned by a family business. The guy who brought us on the ride had been doing it for 21 years and had only fallen in the water 7 times. I thought that was pretty impressive. It was very peaceful and relaxing. It was exactly what we needed after our terrible dinner.

The next day we flew up to Berlin, Germany. Berlin reminded me a lot of home. It was cold, dry, and snowy. It was the kind of dry cold I am used to, unlike Ireland's wet cold. Berlin was probably my favorite part of the trip. The city is full of so much history. I would love to go back and spend an entire week explore more of Germany. The first night in Germany we went to an Italian restaurant by accident (whoops). They actually had some traditional German dishes though and I had the most amazing stew (I do not remember the German name for it). I ordered the stew with tomato broth and Brittney ordered the stew with a mushroom type of broth. They ended up bring both of us the ones with the mushroom type broth. I didn't want to tell them that I got the wrong dish, so I just thought I would try it even though I do not like mushrooms. My mom and Colin would be very proud of me because I ate it all and it was delicious!

The next day we visited the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. This was a very moving experience. Sachsenhausen became a training ground for the execution of the Holocaust and ultimately the center of the whole concentration camp system. It is hard to put into words what went on there. I did not take any pictures because it did not feel right to do so. It is hard for me to grasp the crewel things that took place there and at other concentration or extermination camps around the world. I bought the book "Night" at Sachsenhausen. It is written by Elie Wiesel and his personal experience with his father in the Nazi concentration camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald. I only have about 15 pages left. It has been a difficult and touching read.

After visited the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, our tour guide brought us to this delicious restaurant. I had schnitzel and German beer. The schnitzel was so good! Nate and Jay had a smoked bacon flavored beer. I tried some and it was okay. They loved it. The next day we took a free walking tour with the same tour guide that led our tour through the concentration camp. The walking tour brought us around Berlin and gave us some history of Berlin. The history of the Berlin wall was most fascinating to me. The Berlin wall completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. I learned so much within this 3 hour walking tour it is hard to recap it all. I will be back to Germany in the future! That night we flew back to Dublin and bused it back to Galway. I think everyone was happy to be home. 

Yesterday, we took a day tour to the Kylemore Abbey in Ireland. The abbey is beautiful and the drive out the the abbey was beautiful as well. 

Beautiful mountains near Kylemore Abbey

Kylemore Abbey

Mitchell Henry and Marget Henry lived in the castle. When Mitchell and Marget were on their honeymoon, Marget fell in the love with the surrounding area and Mitchell surprised her by building her a castle. What a man. They castle was built in 1867. Unfortunately, Marget only lived in the castle for 4 years. She died in Egypt when the family was on holiday. In 1923, the Kylemore Abby was a boarding school for girls and just recently closed in 2010. The school was run by nuns. There are currently only 10 nuns that are apart of the Benedictine Community today at Kylemore. 3 of the nuns live full time in the Kylemore Abbey and 7 of them live in the surrounding  area. Kylemore was beautiful. I think it would be even more beautiful when all of the surrounding area bloomed with greens and flowers. 

And finally it is Sunday! A day of rest! So far the only thing I have done today is eat breakfast and this, update by blog. Today I plan on doing nothing but write lesson plans, get read for my week back teaching, do laundry, and relax. I have a bit of a cold so it will be good for me to rest and be lazy for one day.

Some more exciting news:

• It was my baby sister Kelsey's 17th birthday yesterday! I can't believe she is 17! I hope she ate an extra piece of cake for me since I wasn't able to celebrate with her.
• I received a lovely Easter package in the mail from my family!
• My parents arrive in 27 days!
• I get to see Colin in 39 days! 
• We are planning a trip to Barcelona for the last full weekend in April!

I think that is everything. I still can't express how lucky I am to be able to have this opportunity! It does not feel real still to this day that I am living in Galway, Ireland. I couldn't do it without the constant support from my mom and dad, my sisters, my grandparents, Colin and his family, and all my other family members and friends. I love you all! Okay now it is time for laundry and lesson planning.