A little bit of London in my life

* It literally was a little bit of London considering we were only there for 24hrs.

So this weekend is my longest trip yet. My three friends and I decided to go to Iceland! I know it sounds really strange to you all but there is more to do then you think... If you go to this website you will see!

But what does Iceland have to do London you may ask? We decided to have a 24hr layover in London Gatwick before flying to Iceland. Mostly because it was cheaper... We thought we may be able to brave staying Thursday night in the airport but we failed miserably. After being in the airport for less then 3hrs we decided to get a cheap hotel near by. It only was about £15 each for the night between the four of us. Honestly though we thought it might be smarter if we were well rested to see the city the next day since we only had a limited time.

The Gatwick area actually turned out quite nice and the hotel was really cute it was like a little b&b and the owner was very helpful. Also the airport was one of the most officiant airports I've been too in a long time. We finally made into the city of London Friday morning after taking the tube in (aka their version of the Metro). It was a nice day out which was a plus. We ate at a place called Giraffe whose slogan was "Love, Eat, Live". I definitely recommend it, it was so funky and the food was really good too! I don't know why some people say England doesn't have good food! We then made our way to most of the tourist destinations... Big Ben, Westminster Abby, and the London Eye. It was pretty crowded. London is also actually quite big so if you plan to tour around the city give yourself more then a day. Me and my friend Lindsay tried to walk to the famous London Bridge but we then realized by the time we got there we would have to rush back because its easily an hour walk. Lastly on our short time in London we saw Buckingham Palace... No Queen sightings though or William & Kate haha. It was very pretty lit up at night. I would definitely come back here in a heart beat and hopefully will in the new future. London definitely deserves more then 24hrs time!

(walking towards Big Ben)

(Me and Lindsay in front of Buckingham Palace)

Ancestral Adventure

This weekend me and my three friends venture

d to Leitrim County Ireland. To give you some geographical background information – Leitrim is located in the North West portion of Ireland close to west coast actually. It was a

very last minute trip, which sometimes are the best kind because they are not planned. Why Leitrim you may ask, well before coming to Ireland my Aunt Joan told me this is where my grandmas past relatives came from. I was very interested in seeing the area…so we went! It took us about 2hrs to arrive by train. I was very impressed with the Irish rail system, the train was very clean, on time, and even had bathrooms. We arrived in Carrick-On-Shannon a town probably as big a Manchester, VT this was the closest stop to our final destination. The town was situated on a waterway with lots of boats and to my surprise some really cute shops and restaurants. We wandered in and out of places just exploring for the day. I think my favorite place we went was a rare bookstore – they had all old postcards and maps from t

he area and it was neat to see what it was like back all those years ago. We then ate at sandwich shop called Crumbs, everyone was very friendly inside and the portions were huge definitely a good choice. Even though it was rainy we still got to explore the rest of the town before getting our cab to the hotel which was about 20mins away in Drumshanbo. On our way we got to drive through Leitrim Village and I wondered if that was where my ancestors were exactly from...

I booked one night for the four of us at the Ramada which was probably the nicest place around. It was nice to live in luxury for a short time. The staff was super helpful – she even knew it was me when I called to ask a question. We had a great dinner at the hotel as well as our included breakfast in the morning. We then wandered

around the town of Drumshanbo which was much smaller then Carrick-On-Shannon. The rain persisted but we made our way to the library, the pharmacy, and then to a nice hole in the wall pub where we got desserts and soup. We then made our way back for our horseback riding trek. It actually even cleared up for us. The women running the barn Karen was extremely accommodating and nice. She gave the four of us some tips for riding and then brought outside on a trail ride. She even offered to take pictures for us. Getting to see the country side was beautiful. I rode a horse named Euge he was very stubborn but overall we al

l had a lot of fun. Karen even gave us all a 5euro discount. I would definitely come back. We then headed home making our way back to Carrick-On-Shannon and going to a nice Chinese restaurant which was a recommendation from the cab driver. It was very good Chinese despite not having lo mien =(I got chow mien though. We made it back to Dublin last night and I would say it was a very successful Irish adventure (despite not finding any of my relative’s haha) Leitrim County was the real Ireland!

Irish short films!

In my Irish Fine Arts class we are learning about all different types of creative art forms especially that are prevalent in ireland and film is one of them.

We watched this short film is class called Deep End Dance my professors husband is actually the cinematographer and I thought it was excellent there is just so much you can take away from this 6 minuet film. Please watch its very interesting! Also another interesting film we looked at was Once - a low budget romantic comedy /musical it took place in Dublin and won an Oscar so check it out too!

Here is the link to Deep End Dance- http://www.rte.ie/danceonthebox/films.html#watch

ENJOY =)

Heading North

This past weekend I went on a school trip to Northern Ireland. What some of you may not know is that Northern Ireland is a separate country from The Republic of Ireland (which is where Dublin is located) Northern Ireland is run by Great Britain. This also means they use pounds as their currency and sadly it has a worse exchange rate for us American students. Our first stop was Belfast which was once a very troubled city with a split of the Catholic and Protestant religions. The city now has much changed. But being Catholic myself it was very interesting to hear about. There was even a wall there separating the two communities that still exists today. The wall was filled with murals, graffiti, and there was even a part where the public could write on (I did of course). Belfast also had a great shopping center called Victoria Square (if anyone is every heading up that way- I recommend it). We also went by the most bombed hotel in Europe: The Europa Hotel.

We then proceeded to spend the night in Ballintoy a small village on the north eastern coast of Northern Ireland. It was beautiful and much different from the west coast we visited only a month earlier. I saw the sunset down on the rocky beach and then later that night in one of the two pubs the town had everyone from our group gathered to see traditional Irish music (which in the end we ended up taking over) the guy who was the paid entertainment encouraged us to get up and sing. It was a wonderful experience and it gave all the locals a good laugh too. The next day we headed back to Dublin but stopped at numerous other Northern Irish land marks including Giant’s Causeway (a cool rock formation on the ocean) a castle and we even went over a rope bridge which was 90ft above the crashing waves! Overall Northern Ireland was neat to see and I’m so glad we got to go. Despite my camera problems (my chip broke- but it got a new one) It was a great weekend!

(me, nick, and lindsay singing I'm a believer in the pub and a cool picture of the sun down by the harbor)

Ciao from Milano, Italy!

It's been a very hectic week between my two trips. Being a jet setter is not as easy as it looks... But getting to see a new city every weekend has been pretty cool, I must admit. This weekend I stayed with my cousin Loredana in Milan and my two roommates came along too. She has the cutest 5mo old son who had a smile that made you melt. The weather was amazing, a balmy 30c which was like 85f! Its the summer time we are use to in the states and it was a nice change. We ate good, having authentic Italian meals twice a day. I don't think I've ever eaten that much in my life...ever! My favorite was Loredana’s homemade Gnocchi but the gelato everyday was a treat too. Also Note to self whenever traveling back to Milan dress very nicely because everyone there seems to be into high fashion. The Dumo is also there which is the 4th largest cathedral in the world. Avoid the men selling bracelets there. There is a practically a Dolce & Gabbana on every corner not that I could afford it but it was just neat to see.

It was also the start of fashion week so there were many models out. I probably bought more the I should have but it was all gifts. My family was wonderful to me here and I hope to repay them one day when they come and visit the US. Although the culture is so different then what I'm use to I still feel some connection to my Italian side here. I definitely plan to return Milan one day hopefully when I have more money haha... It's hard to resist when you are In the fashion capital of the world. Until the next city.. I will blog sooner though don't worry next weekend is my relaxation weekend!

(first picture: me an Loredana's son Pasquale, second picture: too much shopping?, third picture: The Dumo)

Catching up 9-19-11

Sorry I have not blogged sooner a lot has been going on with school and roommates and just life... plus the Internet here is not very reliable.

The past 2 weeks have flew by...which makes me think before I know it will be going home which is sad to think about after a month of living here it's starting to feel more homey! This past weekend me and my two roommates Allison and Lindsay all went to Paris, France! It was a blast and for three under 21 year olds I think we did relatively well in a city that seemed about five times bigger then Dublin. I was able to navigate my way around a city that uses a whole different language. The metro in Paris felt easier to use then NYC to me! But after being in France it makes living in Ireland so much less foreign, which is crazy. The pastries in Paris I would say hands down were the best part. If any one ever goes please get lots of Macaroons!! (Chocolate and Carmel are the best.. they even sell them at the McDonald's there)

(Me, Allison, and Lindsay in front of the Eiffel Tower)

I also was in the western part of Ireland one weekend ago which was the 9th,10th, and 11th of Stept.It was a truly beautiful part of Ireland and what the locals call the real Ireland (which everyone in the states has seen in the movies) The Cliffs of Moher were spectacular which means everyone who is reading this needs to go. Galway was a great college town and was very lively. In my opinion had a lot more local character then Dublin does. We stayed at two hostels which weren't bad at all and very clean. Overall the past two weekends have been a wonderful traveling experience for me. Even though it keeps me constantly busy and getting around can be overwhelming at times I wouldn't trade it for anything. Milan is next weekend! I promise I will try to blog more in between... sorry Heather!! But in the meantime I will send more postcards!

(me at the cliffs - the sun came out just for us)