The End.

Last day in London today...

Dublin tomorrow...

Home on Monday!

It's been a FUN 3 weeks... but I feel as if I am in some sort of limbo world right now. We don't have a home here anymore, and we are ready to be back in the US now.

It's going to be very strange to leave Europe, but there are so many people that are already home in the US that I hung out with over here... I will probablly cry on the flight home. This is it now. It's just a strange strange mix of feelings. Happy and sad all at once.

So this is it. I hope you enjoyed reading about my adventures over here, and I can probablly tell you tons more when I see you in the states, because this is only the tip of the iceberg. This has been the most amazing experience ever. Definitely changed my life, the way I look at the world, and changed me as a person. : )

Well, see you state side then!

Harry?... Harry Potter?

Today we went to Buckingham Palace and watched the Changing of the Guards. It was pretty neat to watch, and oh wait!- The band played music inside while the changing was taking place... but what was one of the songs they played? Sweet Caroline. Ya, prolly one of the Queen's favs or something. (That'd be my guess.)

Umm then we went to Victoria Station and had ourselves a picnic in the sun. From there we went to Old Bailey and St.Paul's Cathedral. (I wanted to sing the song and feed the birds... but I didn't want to be judged/my friends threatened to leave me so that did not occur but) Then we went to the British Library which has a very impressive collection of various things. Some Shakespear's original works, Jane Austen's diary, origianl Beowolf, Alice in Wonderland, the Magna Carta. My fav section was the music... they had the original 'Messiah' handwritten by Handel. Some Mozart... and a BUNCH of scraps of paper and even a birthday card which the Beatles wrote the lyrics to some of their songs on. The best was for 'Help' where they wrote some lines, scratched them out and wrote over it. It was sooooo cool!

From there we went off in search of Platform 9 3/4 in King's Cross Station. So the other night when we came back from Wicked, we went past it and it was actually at Platform 4. When we went there today it wasn't there and people thought I was making it up... I was sad. I knew it was there (because it was kind of a strange place to put 9 3/4 and it was sticking out a lot, but fenced in at the time...)

Why was it no longer there and there was actually a smaller version than what I had seen by Platform 8 today? It was the set for filming for part of the movie. We could have seen Harry Potter for reals yesterday...

Then we had some dinner. Played some cards. And now Katie and Lizzi are heading to Scotland. Allison and I have one more day left in London, and then we head to Dublin. And then HOME on MONDAY!!!

london calling.

Hmmm currently I am in a lot of pain.... starving yourself for 3 days and then eating a normal meal is not a good life plan.

Venice was beautiful. City on the water... it was really fun. Our hostel was a little meh... there were a ton of Dutch children running around and screaming all night, so we basically didn't sleep for like 3 nights.

I am now in London!!!!

Yesterday we went to teh National Gallery- saw some Van Gogh and Monet. Then we met up with some of Katie's friends and then we walked around Parliment/Big Ben/ the London Eye/ Westminister Abbey. Then we chilled in Trafalger Square for awhile... took some pics by some big lions. Then we met up with our friend Alex. We went to Hyde Park... chased some pigeons, and then we all went to Wicked!!!! It was AMAZING!!!!!! : )

Today we went to the British Museum. It was pretty cool, there is a lot to see, but it was almost sad at the same time. They have taken sooo many things from around the world and brought them to the museum, but that means that for example- the Partheon in Greece does not have anything anymore. It's ALL in London. Sooo mixed feelings about some of that but... We then went and saw Henry VIII in the Globe Theater. Sooo good! We were groundlings though, and so we stood the whole 3 hours. Then we went to Covent Gardens and then bought stuff and made dinner. Busy busy busy!!!

Florence!

Florence is beautiful... which I am starting to think that it is just an Italy thing. I love it!

We went to the musseum and saw Michaelangelo's 'David' today. Very cool! It is a really really big sculpture. I mean we saw 'The Pieta' in St.Peter's in Rome, which is absolutely gorgeous and in my mind the most beautiful sculpture ever. But David was huge. It is crazy to think he carved it... and yet was able to make it so smooth but yet detailed. So that was sweet.

We also bumped into our friend Tanner from our program in Valencia in the museum... so random. Once again the world is not as big as I thought it is.

The streets here are really fun to just walk down and have a stroll. Today we hiked up a hill to see a lookout point over the city as well.

Yesterday the rain from Rome followed us here, so we went in many churches to shelter us through the storm.

Our hostel here is the best one yet. I know I keep saying that 'this one is the best', but I'm for serious this time. It is the best. We have a computer in our room. We each have a wardrobe. We have free breakfast consisting of either Scrambled/fried eggs, an omlete or french toast. And they have dinner here for super cheap. 2.50 euro for a pizza or big plate of pasta. And there is a terrace that lights up at night. We can write on the walls... ya, it's really cool.

Tomorrow we are off to Venice. We have to take the 'water bus' to get around the city though since it's actually an island. I'm excited! I don't know if our hostel has internet though, so hasta luego!

The End of our Roman Holiday

Last day in Rome. We are currently waiting for Lizzi's sister to meet up with us. She's been traveling since Sunday morning now and had to deal with a bunch of delays\missing her flight to Rome because of the volcano...

We will be in Florence tonight though!

Prego.

Today I was blessed by the Pope in St. Peter's Square!!! Sooooo cool!

We've done and seen everthing really... we toured the Colosseum, the Palantine Hill, and the Forum. We've seen the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Stairs, and the Pantheon. Yesterday Erik, his roommate and I toured the Vatican Museum, and saw the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's--- it was AMAZING!!!

We've done a lot of walking around the city. Last night we found ourselves on top of a huge building that has some government stuff in it, but we looked over the Colessuem\Roman Ruins and St.Peter's at night. It was gorgeous.

It was also 'Night at the Museum' night last night. So all the Museums were free from 8pm-2am in Rome. We hit that up as well then.

It's been raining like the whole time though, so we have some really sad feet right now...

And the starvation diet hasn't really been working. We've been living on pizza, pasta and gelato, which is delicious! We're in Italy though, so...

So, I've basically found another city I absolutely love. (Well maybe 2 since the Vatican is techically another city\country?)

FINAL NOTE: I feel like I should be heading back to Valencia anytime now... but I'm not. And that makes me soo sad. I really really really miss Spain. I mean I am loving Italy, but I really miss Spain, and speaking Spanish. There's a girl in our room in the hostel who's from San Sabastian tho, and I chatted in espanol for awhile tonight with her. It was really nice! I haven't lost my Spanish yet! (She actually complemented my Spanish! : ) Yay!)

Roma

Allison and I are in Rome! It is gorgeous!!!

We flew out of Malta, and then took a bus to the city center of Rome. We found our hostel pretty easily... it's really close to the train station, and also the Colosseum.

So we had a nice leisurly stroll about the city. We grabbed some cheap pizza and then sat down for awhile in front of the Colosseum. Then we walked by the Ancient Ruins... and then sat in front of the Trevi Fountain for awhile and ate gelato.

Rome isn't as big of a city as I thought it would be... we are in walking distance of everything really.

Our hostel is pretty sweet. We are getting a free pasta party tonight, and free breakfast! Sooo we may not starve after all. : )

Tomorrow Lizzi and Erik get here, super excited.

We're planning on doing the Vatican on Sunday and everything else in between that. We have 5 days here, so Allison and I might do a day trip to Pompei on Monday...

I just can't believe I'm in Rome right now. So much history... and it's a beautiful city. I love this!

Gozo and more...

Yesterday we went to the Maltese island, Gozo. We took a ferry boat to the island, which was really cool and fun. Then we walked around the main city of the island, Victoria. We went to the top of this lookout point where we could see the coastline of the island is all directions. It was really pretty.

The water here is the most beautiful I've seen of the Mediterranean yet. Aqua. <3.

I think one of the things I am going to miss the most about Europe here is seeing the Mediterranean all the time.

Today we went to Valleta, the capital city of Malta. We met up with one of the guys who was in our program in Valencia, Rob. So we went to a market, walked around a bit. Saw the parliament.

Then we went to Mdina which at one point was the capital, but then they switched it to Valleta. So now they call it the 'silent city'. But, it was far from silent, it was actually pretty happening. The city is completely fortressed in, which was SOOO sweet. (Reminded me of LOTR.)

So we chilled in Mdina, had some lunch. Then we made our way back to Sliema where we are staying with the Luther peeps.

Malta has these bright orange janky buses... they are so funny looking. They're kind of famous for them though I guess...

Tonight we made the flat dinner as a thank you for letting us stay here for free. We made sweet and sour chicken, with veggies, and rice and then fruit pizza for dessert. It was pretty good. : )

Tomorrow we leave Malta and are headed to Rome to meet up with Lizzi Emery and Erik Halvorson! I'm excited!!!

Malta

We are now in Malta, hanging with the LC peeps. It's really really fun. Just chillin in their flat.

Malta is a really small island, 18 miles wide apparently.
They speak English and then Maltese, which is basically Arabic.
(It looks like if you slammed on the keyboard or something "jdjfdifiodfndjfhudgfiueyhfuidjkcnsdskjfhmkfdidhjnfdjnfuiehpfdi" very difficult to read.)

I thought it was an Italian island... but it's actually it's own country.

Last night we went out on the town... men creeped on me a lot though... and tried playing with my hair? = /

We went to the 'beach' today, which actually isn't really a beach because it's all rocks and not sand, but it was super cool. We chilled in this pool of water surrounded by rocks. It was nice.

It's one of the girl's birthday's here tomorrow, so we made all of her favorites. Walking tacos. French fries. Brownies. It was yummy.

Then we went to this music fest thing tonight for charity.

Yes, I am really loving Malta. It's a blast! We're just going to explore the island some more the next few days! : )

Goodbye Valencia... I will miss you!

Just kidding, this is my last post before I leave. I sent a bunch of things home today. And now all I have to worry about is my backpack… crazy.

I had to go to the center today to try and change traveler’s checks… I couldn’t actually exchange them. But… it was weird. I had like 10 different people ask me for directions… and I could point them in the right way every time. Yep. Just when I really start to know this city… now I’m going to leave. : (

It was raining earlier today. Valencia was crying for us.

Well, this is it. Leaving Valencia… sooo strange.

Now backpacking through Europe for the next 3 weeks. It’s going to be some good times!

Hasta luego!

It’s come down to this…

Anne left already. Our room is pretty empty.

I have to ship my luggage home tomorrow. =/ Allison and I didn’t think we would have to worry about that, since our “friend” told us he was going to take it home for us about a month and a half ago. And kept saying it wouldn’t be a problem and he’d take care of it for us…

2 days ago he backed out on us. Sooo these past 2 days we’ve been freaking out trying to figure out what we’re going to do with our stuff now.

We tried to change our flight from out of Dublin to Madrid, that way we could store our stuff at the airport in Madrid and then bring it home. And we wouldn’t have to worry about the stupid volcano cloud and being stranded in the UK.

Well they said that if we could have changed it before May 3rd no problem… but it’s too late now and they can’t reroute the flight. So I’m really glad he told us this… oh wait May 4th. > : 0

So I’m throwing things away/donating clothes/fitting as much as I can in a box and spending a ton of money to send it home…. And then Anne is coming back here at the end of her travels, so she’s going to put her suitcase inside of mine and bring that and my computer back home for me. : ) <3 her!

Nonetheless, this is not how I wanted to be spending my last days in Valencia, but what can we do?

I’m really going to miss this city, and we’ve all been crying already. So the bus ride to Madrid tomorrow night is going to be ridiculous…

But now it’s going to be me, my backpack and Europe.

Here’s the itinerary:
Malta- May 8-13
Rome- 13-19
Florence- 19-22
Venice 22-25
London 25-30
Dublin 30-31
Then home. : )

I’ll try to write a bit on here if we by chance have internet… but I’m not going to bank on it!

But this has been the most amazing experience ever and I can’t believe it is coming to an end… :(

Well... see you all when I’m state side!

It's the Final Countdown!

Right now is a whirlwind of emotions. I want to go home. I want to stay in Valencia. I’m freaking out, because we’ve been here for so long now. But I am officially done with class and the realization that we are leaving is starting to hit me a bit. It’s not going to be easy to see this chapter of my life come to an end… while I want to go home, I want this to go on for just a few pages more…

I think one of the things I’m going to miss the most is the fact that I have Spanish all around me. I know I’ve improved a lot here… Someone will say something to me, and I honestly don’t know what language they’re speaking sometimes. It’s the same in my head. I don’t have to think about it anymore, it just happens and I respond without thinking in Spanish now- same as English. I don’t have to make an effort to practice my Spanish here, it’s all around me. When I go home… that’s a different story.

Don’t get me wrong, I have a whole list of things I want to do at my homes:

Mosinee:

-There’s a whole list of foods I miss and will be eating within due time of my arrival:
•Real milk that doesn’t come from a freakish box and doesn’t need to be refrigerated
•Carrots and dip
•Spaghetti
•Marinated chicken with peppers and pineapple on the grill
•(It’s about to get American on you now) Hamburgers!
•Steak
•Spinach salad
•Cottage cheese
•Normal cheese (for example Mild Cheddar or Wisconsin cheese curds)
-I think you understand now… haha. I’ve basically been living on white bread and oranges here… I could honestly go without eating white bread for the rest of my life now. Give me the 7 Whole Grain bread I know and love! And my first meal upon arrival in the United States will be at the Olive Garden in Eau Claire, Wisconsin where I will be eating chicken marsala with many of their tasty breaksticks! : ) And oh wait, I can try the free wine samples there now too…
-Other things… going for nature walks.
-Going running on the back roads on the farm
-Brewers games!?
-Family gatherings, like my brother’s graduation party where we will be playing kick ball.
-The Wisconsin Valley Fair
-Nordic Fest in Decorah
-Being able to curl up on the couch and watch TV/movies with my fuzzy blanket
-Whoa! Driving my car!
-Reading all of the Harry Potter books as usual this summer…
-Going to church at home

Then Luther:

-Nature adventure walks
-Tubing in the Upper Iowa
-Whippy Walks
-Walmart runs that turn into not Walmart runs. Sword fights in the toy section. Emily Rixen pretending to have a gimp leg and limping around the entire store for an hour. ..
-Choir!
-And many other things…


It’s been a blast, and I love traveling soooo much. But I think after backpacking for 3 weeks in Europe and basically starving myself, I will be ready to come home. To enjoy the simple things in life. : )

Futbol game

I love my friends. :) Emily and Janielle took me to a Valencia CF futbol game tonight for my birthday. It was sweet... and Valencia won 3-1!

Mi cumpleanos... y la resaca

So, my birthday was pretty good... once class was over with we went into the rio and sat and ate lunch by some fountains. It was nice! We chilled there for a couple of hours, just chatting.

Then I came home. Anne and I ate dinner. Then we went and Anne bought some stuff for us to go out and botellon with.

So we botelloned in the park. And Eve, Kelsey and Zarah had more stuff for me... and we sat on a bench. In the rio and drank.







Then we went to this place called Cafe New Orleans, and more of my friends were there! A couple Robs, and Chris.



One of the Robs bought me Agua de Valencia, which is really good.

Then the place played 'Happy Birthday' to me. : )

Then someone bought a bunch of shots...

And then we went to Donner Kebab where Kelsey and I split a kebab as always, and then we made the trek home.

The next day however... that might go down in history as one of the worst days...
I was really sick. And I couldn't keep anything down. I was worried that I'd have to go to the hospital or something and have an IV stuck in me...

Finally at like 6, Elvira gave me something, and my stomach calmed down. And then a little later she gave me the equivalent of chicken soup without the chicken or the noodles.

I think I am more or less recovered now, but there is nothing worse than being sick in a foreign country. I've never wanted to be home so bad in my life...

Mi cumpleaños y el último fin de semana en Valencia

Soo I am oficially 21 now…. Though I can’t really tell the difference yet. Maybe when I get back to the US and buy my first drink I’ll be able to? Idk.

Umm we were going to go to the beach, but sadly it is cloudy out. So now we are going to hang out in the rio, maybe play on Gulliver (big playground) and see where that takes us.

I had 2 classes today, one was just people giving their presentations, and the other was getting our tests back from our History class…. =/

I did pretty well, like he said, but there were a lot of people who didn’t do as good, and the worst thing was that as he handed back our tests, he would say our grade out loud, and then say if it was a good or bad test. The people who did well, he wanted to know where they are from in the US. So the Midwest represented with Minnesota, Wisconsin twice, and Illinois.

It was incredibly awkward though… and the people who didn’t do as well he asked what they are studying in the US. Then he spent a good majority of the time dissing the US and there are a lot of people who are really upset. It is not good! (It was a pretty difficult test; he gave us the packet to study for it 2 days before the test, and he graded it pretty harshly.) Idk…

But in other news, the other day we had the most interesting class in Grammar. We discussed legalization of drugs, border control and the image of the American President. I enjoyed it!

Yesterday was Anne’s birthday (my roomie). She turned 22. She told me that this will be my last happy birthday (Oh dear!) Probably because our madre told her that she’s old and needs to start having children! =0

And last night I spent some quality time with the Italian girls. They are really funny- we chatted about HP, Twilight, and random other things. One of them is seriously got to be the Italian twin of my cousin Heather… it is ridiculous how similar they are. Love it!

Anyways, I’m going to go celebrate my b-day now! ‘Sta Luego!

The beach failed me today.

I got there, and after 10 min the weirdest thing happened...

it got super foggy and the wind picked up.

And then everyone on the beach left... including me. Sad day!


I had 2 of my finals yesterday. I rocked my History one (the prof said I did really well on it after class..? There were a lot of people who didn't study and were freaking out on him so... idk) and I think I did well on my Women Writers one too. We'll see.

We had a presentation to do for Women Writers tomorrow, and then I have a paper due for my History class on Friday, and then a test for my Grammar class on Monday... otherwise I'm basically done!: )

We have some Italian girls living with us for the week. They're so little though- only 15. Their Spanish is difficult for me to understand through their Italian accents though... and they complain to me about the Spanish. And then I have Elvira complaining to me about the Italians... good grief!

I'm sad the beach failed me today, and tomorrow I can't go because of class, so hopefully Thursday the beach will redeem itself for me.

Bittersweet Symphony

Not even 2 weeks remain.

At this point in time, my sentiments of coming back to the US are mixed. I was talking to Emily, and we both agreed that it is a very strange thing. You wake up and you don’t know if it’s going to be a day where you want to go back to the US, or a day where you wish you could just stay in Valencia…

I have fallen in love with this city, and I think the thing that breaks my heart the most is that unlike my “homes” in the US, I can’t come back here whenever I want. It doesn’t work that way.

Sometimes I just wish I could move it to the other side of the world, or bring everyone I know and care about over here. But… it doesn’t work that way.

There is no other city like Valencia. It’s just that plain and simple. The rio. The beach. FALLAS. The plazas. Guardia Civil (my favorite road). Colon.

I also realize however, that the thing that makes this city so much fun is the fact that I’ve made many great friends here from my program. The thing (other than leaving Valencia itself) that is going to make this difficult is the fact that unlike Europe where I can go to another country for a couple Euro, it is expensive to travel around the US. Flights are not cheap. I can’t go to Philadelphia or Colorado whenever I want. It’s going to be rough.

It’s very strange, because the first weekend here I spent crying because I wanted to be back home in the US. Everything comes full circle though, and I think it’s going to be harder to leave this city than it was for me to come here. I don’t know when I’m coming back. This is the problem. Coming here I had it in my head already. May 31st, that’s when I return to the US. I have no idea when I get to come back here… and honestly that little thought freaks me out.

I’m excited to travel around afterwards, but it’s going to be different. I know that when I leave Valencia I’m not coming back. All I know right now is that May 7th is going to be a very difficult day... = (

I love my life here. It’s amazing. I get to travel a lot. Go to the beach. Hang out with my friends all the time. I don’t have real work (usually- this week is an exception). My life in the US is not so fun and luxurious. It is a rough world compared to here… and I feel like it’s going to be difficult to adjust back. I have to adjust to being back home, and then when I’ll finally be adjusted to living back at home, I will have to leave and go to Luther. Which is going to be another adjustment… a lot of work. No real fun time. Depresses me just thinking about it…

This weekend I have spent the majority of the time working on final projects and studying, but on Saturday we went to La Albufera, a nature reserve. We took a boat ride around the lake. Watched waterfowl. Then we all went to the beach a little outside of Valencia- “El Saler” and we ate lunch and soaked in the sun for a couple of hours. It was nice : )

Since it is getting down there, my life now revolves around classes and the beach. This week looks like this:

Monday: Class all day (lame)
Tuesday: Skip class? (I gave my final presentation already and everyone already skips it all the time and I have yet to miss) Beach day.
Wednesday: Morning classes. Afternoon beach.
Thursday: No class. Beach day.
Friday: Morning classes. Afternoon beach. Then celebrating my 21st birthday Valencia style… going out. (Maybe staying out late enough to watch the sunrise on the beach?)
Saturday: Going home and eating some breakfast, and then sleeping on the beach?
Sunday: Beach day.

Empieza el fin

I presented my project for Mediterranean Society today... it went well, even though it was far to early in the morning for my brain to normally function like that.

In my culture class we watched a Spanish opera. The thing I like about music- it can transcend languages, cultures, it’s the same no matter where you are. It was nice. But we have an intense exam on Monday.

It’s weird because I’m really feeling the crunch here... and the thing I don’t like about the education system here- our finals are our grades. = /

Anyways, Eve and I are writing our song "Our Last Valencia" which we will sing/play next year at Luther when we are missing our lives we have here. And we are creating a bucket list for next year as well... it is going to be good.

Furthermore it is sunny. I’m going to take advantage of the sol now...

Sardinia

On Thursday Eve, Kelsey, Zarah and I ventured to the Italian island of Sardinia. (This was the random 5E flight we purchased awhile back.)

Our Grammar teacher was the one who actually told us about the island, and before we left, she gave us a book with everything there is to know about the island... which was nice!

We flew into Cagliari, the capital and then we went to our hostel. It was really nice. It had an open courtyard below, and our room had an in-suite bathroom, a terrace, and a loft for the beds. It was by far the fanciest hostel I've stayed in.

The first day we wandered around. Tried to find a grocery store. Failed. Ate gelato though.

Then the second day we went to a GORGEOUS beach in Chia, about an hour outside of Cagliari. We sat in the sun. I did my first real swimming in the Medditerranean. I've been waist deep before, but in Chia we went under the water. We played in the waves--- they were huge, so we would try and jump up as they came. (We were dominated by the waves a couple of times though... haha.) It was such an awsome day though, and we had the beach basically to ourselves. There was one other group there, studying in Germany- but they all were actually from Spain or Brazil. So we spoke some Spanglish with them.


















Then before we left we climbed up this tower looking over everything. Then we went back to Cagliari, ate some more gelato. Found a pizza place and had a nice meal.





It was a little strange in Italy though... we were stared at even more so than in Spain. The men made kissy noises as we walked past, and we even had some guys follow us around and saranade us for awhile... so that was interesting... = / haha!

Our flight back was super early in the morning, so we had to wake up at 4, and take a cab to the airport. We're just lucky to have gotten that early flight though, because when we landed we noticed that flights all over Europe are cancelled...

oh wait, there is a volcanic cloud hovering over us... so I'm just happy to be back in Valencia and not stranded on the random Italian island.

It's a little strange though... we went on our last excursion from Valencia. Next time I leave I won't be coming back... we have 3 weeks left in the program. Mixed feelings right now-- happy, sad, nervous, anxious, excited! So now we have to crank out some final presentations and actually do some work for once... study for finals... we're feeling the pressure a bit, but I think we'll be good!

Just going to embrace our last days in this place we now call home...

My Heart is in Ireland...

Ireland is my homeland. It was a struggle getting there though…

So a couple of days before we are supposed to take our train to Barca, we got our student identity cards for the Universidad de Valencia. (SOOO BA) anyways, then we look at our tickets and notice that they gave us the 2 tickets for the 21st instead of the 31st… so went to the train station. The jerk working there tells us that it’s our fault. It’s past the expiration date… (ya, because we are leaving tomorrow- not the 21st obviously) and then we had to buy 2 new train tickets. Then since our friend Angela had bought them with her joven card instead of an ISAC card, he made us pay the difference for this, including our ticket that was already correct. And we were not happy campers.

Then they day comes to leave. We arrive at the train station early, because we want this trip to go as smoothly as possible. We’re sitting there waiting when all of a sudden our train says “Cancelada por Huelga”… hmm. Is our train cancelled? What does Huelga mean? Then the whole screen goes crazy and all the departures say it… they can’t all be cancelled? Then a lady from Edinbourgh, Scotland comes up to us and tells us that ‘huelga’ means strike. So… this really sucks!

We look at our train tickets once more, and then realize that the guy made 2 of our tickets for Barcelona Sants, and one for Barcelona Franco… Well people are getting pissed everywhere. No trains are leaving. People are stranded. Camera crews are rolling in and start filming everything going down. We are not going to get to Barca, and if we do, someone isn’t on the right train. There are huge long lines for everything since people want their money back now, or information about what’s going down. It’s just not a good situation. After a bit though, our train to Barca is no longer cancelled.

So we get in line for Customer Service, they had a lot of people working, and the line was moving faster. We needed to know what would happen if we were going to 2 different train stations. We finally got to the front of the line, and the guy seemed happy to give someone some good news. He said it’d be no problem and we’d all just get off at Barcelona Sants. Whew!

We anxiously waited a little longer. Hoping our train wouldn’t be cancelled again. Then we boarded. Then the train started moving. We were good.

5 hours later, we arrive in Barca. (After pretending we were in Harry Potter on the Hogwarts Express : )

Then the fun began… = /

We had to get to our airport Barcelona Rues (thank you Ryanair) which was 2 hours outside of Barca.

So we ask this guy in a green suit jacket how to get to Rues… he tells us to go to Plaza Espanya. Which at least we know Barca, so it was a 15 min walk. We get there, ask the police. They tell us it’s a stop a couple over. We ask the bus driver, she says it’s the next bus over. We go into a 5 star hotel… they look some stuff up online, confirm with each other, give us a metro map and tell us to go the Central Bus Station. Good thing I know how to work the metro… so we get to the Central Bus Station. (Let’s see, we had arrived at 10pm, and it was now around 1ish.) There was one window open. The guy tells us we need to go to Girona. But isn’t that a different airport? No, they’re the same- the window opens at 3am and bus leaves at 3:30. (Our flight is out of Rues at 6:10am… if it’s an hour and a half ride, we’re cutting it close, especially since we don’t think Girona and Rues are actually the same.)

We ask a janitor. He says they are the same… We still don’t believe it.

Then a younger security guy comes up the stairs, slightly out of breath, sees us ladies, decides to come over and chat. He’s like “My job… up and down, up and down, all night…” We reply, “We have a question for you…” He’s like, “The first one’s free, the second- 10,000 Euro.” (Dear lord)

We ask him if Girona and Rues are the same… then he laughs at us and says “No!” We then show him our plane tickets, he takes them and disappears for 5 min…
He comes back and then says that we can do one of two things… 1. Buy a new plane ticket. 2. Go to Barcelona Sants, and there should be buses there going to Rues… but the metro is closed and since it’s a ways away, we’ll have to take taxis but since it’s now 1 something in the morning, it’s going to be expensive.

So we tell him our whole ordeal so far… including a “JODER!” (bad word in Spanish) He lost it! Haha. And then some girls come up to him and ask him if he speaks English… (we have only been speaking in Spanish to all these people mind you) He gives them the hand, and tells them to hold on.

Then he continues talking to us only to tell us that he’d go along, but he’d still be working at 6 in the morning… (We then dubbed him ‘Best Friend’)

The metro was closed like he said. (I thought Barca was the city that never sleeps…) Then we took a cab to Barcelona Sants. It wasn’t as bad as we thought it was going to be, and we rode past the Gaudí house again.

We get to the train station, and they are closing down. (It’s almost 2 now) So we run in, ask another security guy--- (they seem to know what’s actually up.) He tells us that yes, go to the left and then around the corner a ways there are buses that take you to Rues. (We dubbed him ‘Smart guy that knows things’)

And he was right. We went in to this little room, and the lady said that the bus for Rues would be there at 3:45am.

We go outside to sit around a bit--- there was a waiting room, but it was all full. Ya… there were like 5 security guys walking paces around the place. There were fights going on left and right. Creepers everywhere. (It’s Barca.)

Then the waiting room opened up, so we sat in there. Then two guys that looked like they were up to no good came in and sat behind us…

Then a security guy (whom we dubbed “Papa Barca”) comes in, asks them where they are going, what they’re doing here… they had no answers and then Papa Barca kicked them out. He then returned and asked us which bus we were catching… we told him Rues. He’s like you’ve got awhile then… guard your belongings well. (Keep it secret, keep it safe.)

Then 10 min later he comes and says “sorry to do this to you, but I’ve got to kick you guys out… we’re closing down- I’m really sorry.”

Soooo we are now homeless on the streets of Barca. And we have only 2 hours before our bus comes….

Jenielle suggests we go into a bar to stay warm. So we coffee and sit and put on our layers. It is closing in a few minutes.

There is a couple in the corner, and they sound Irish. I tell Jenielle that she should strike up a conversation with them when we officially get kicked out. They were layering up too.

We get kicked out, and then Jenielle asks them if they’re from Ireland. They say yes, they’re from Cork, and that they were imagining a Romantic trip in Barca, and instead were spending the night on the streets… we then told them that’s Barca for you. And then that we were studying in Valencia, which was way better, that Barca is really touristy and the people aren’t very nice. We told them the good things to see in Barca during the day, and then they told us about Ireland. : ) It was making us really excited!

So we chatted for an hour and a half with them on a street corner, and finally it was time to catch our bus. We bid them farewell and started walking…

So there are these metal things on the sidewalks to cover man-holes, and it was 3:30 in the morning. (I had almost been up for 24 hours straight now) and the metal things can be a little unstable sometimes, but nbd. Well as I walked across this one, I thought it was going to shift a little, but be fine…

Next thing I knew I was walking through the ground. Face planting it. My hand hurt like a mother. I didn’t even want to look at my shin. I didn’t know if my shoe was on my foot or in the ground. My foot was tangled in wires. It was a breaking point. We had made it this far… and this happens.

Emily and Jenielle help me out, and they half carry me across the street to the bus. Papa Barca is there, and with a smile tells us that we can get on our bus now…
We get on, and go to the cool kids seat in the back so we can sit and dump our backpacks next to us.

Then Dr. Jenielle gives me some pain killers or something. Tells me to eat something- all I had were sour straws, an orange, and trail mix- I went with the trail mix. And then I dozed in and out of sleep for the next hour and a half until we arrive at Rues.

(So the whole walking through the ground thing is actually hilarious now, and there is an indent in my shin from falling- prolly chipped off some bone- and I have a beautiful bruise, but at the time it was horrible. I just laugh about it now… makes a good story even better.)

At Rues we booked it through security. I ate my orange for ‘breakfast’, and then we went through customs? These guys looked and looked at our passports. Stamped it. And then we boarded the plane.

Note: Ryanair is so cheap because they have advertisements every 5 min. food. Beverages. Smokeless cigarettes. Perfume. Over and over again. It’s obnoxious.
But we all zonked out, and woke up over Ireland! : )

When we got to the airport, we went through customs. Got a green stamp! : )
Then we took the bus into town. When we got there, we walked around the streets a bit and then decided to start our trek to Killarney.

The bus ride was pretty long, and I slept for most of it. When I wasn’t sleeping, I was gazing out the window at the green splendor before my eyes. We had an hour break in Limerack where Emily and I each bought a liter of REAL MILK and downed it in less than 10 min in a park filled with daffodils. (I really want to try the gallon challenge now upon arrival in the US- haha.)





Then we got back on the bus, and rode on to Killarney. We got to Killarney around 5ish I think, and after making an emergency run to McDonald’s for the bathroom, we set out to find our hostel. (We were really smart though, and Google-Maped everything, so it wasn’t too difficult to actually find it.)

We were staying at a place called ‘Paddy’s Palace’ in a 14 person room… Jenielle and Emily booked this, and not going to lie, I was a little nervous for this p(a)lace.
We get there, and the guy at the desk seems pretty cool- an Aussie. We were in room number one.

So we go into our room and low and behold there are quite a few people in there. I claim my bed and not even a minute later, a girl from across the room comes over and says, “Oh my God! Do I know you? You look really familiar…” (I was confused.) “Do you go to Luther College!? This is going to sound really weird but freshman year did you have really long hair and then go with Madeline Allen to chop it all off, and then she put the pictures up on Facebook? It’s really weird, but I remember you had really pretty hair, and I remember that and recognize you… “

And that I how I met a fellow Luther student in Killarney, Ireland at Paddy’s Palace. Her name, Sonja Arneson-Ecklund! : )

Then after that went down, all of us girls in the room decided we were going to go for a walk in the Killarney National Park before it got really dark. So we did, and played the whole get to know you game. It was fun. Besides Sonja, I also met Britney who goes to Concordia Moorhead- (the two of them are actually doing the Luther Malta program this semester--- Oh wait! That’s the first place I’m going once my program is done in Valencia, and now I have new friends to hang out with!!!) and we also met this girl Haley, who is a very nice sweet girl who doesn’t go to a real school with majors or GPAs and is spending the year learning to play the Irish flute and speak Gaelic which oh wait, only 3.2 of the Irish population can even speak. Ya….

Nonetheless, we had fun wandering around the wilderness.



I was happy to be in nature again. VERY HAPPY.

Killarney reminded me a lot of home. Small town. Nature. I could walk down the middle of the streets until a car came (granted it was coming from a different direction- which was confusing at first but…) It was cute. It was quaint. I loved it.

Then it was dark out, so we found our way out of the park, and then went to a store and bought food for dinner. Emily and I split a pasta thing for 2E, and then I split a thing of white cheddar cheese with Sonja. And once again, Emily and I bought REAL MILK! : )

We all went back to the hostel, and then told our Aussie friend that we all wanted to do the Ring of Kerry tour together the next day. So he booked it for us. Then we cooked dinner and watched a Paddy Wagon get tipsy watching Monster House. It was fun.

Then we went to our room- there were more people there now, but it was all good. We all somehow went to bed at relatively the same time… and had no problems with the bathroom. It was nice.

Day 2: Ring of Kerry Tour

So we woke up earlyish and got ready. Went and ate our free breakfast. Toast with real butter. Jam. Mardrine. Nutella. Corn Flakes, and you guessed it… REAL MILK! : )
(The wonderfulness of Paddy’s Palace was just growing. I didn’t mention above, but we only paid 11 Euro to stay there for 2 nights. Buy one night, get the second night free…5.50 Euro a night… and we ate/stole that much in food….)

Sonja brought her bag down to breakfast, so by the end we had about a loaf of bread in there… it was our lunch.

Then after we all ate about 2 bowls of cereal and 4 pieces of toast, with 3 glasses of REAL MILK : ) for Emily and I, we headed downtown for our tour.

The first stop on our tour was a place called the Red Fox Inn. Famous for their Irish coffees. Jenielle, Britney and I each had one. They were delicious…





Then we stopped a little ways up the road to take some pics.

Drove on through the beautiful countryside with the tour guide adding some information every now and then. When he didn’t feel like talking, he would play Irish music. My favorite song he played? “My Heart is in Ireland!”

Then we were by the ocean… I ask a guy that is sitting across from us to take our picture. (He’s in our hostel too.)



Then we stopped in a town called Waterville (I believe) for lunch. It’s on the ocean, and since we had our stolen bread and cheese we decide to eat lunch by the ocean instead of going into the restaurant.

We start to make our sandwiches… and then it’s sprinkling. I put on my sweatshirt. Then we walk towards the ocean some more. All of a sudden it is POURING rain. We are getting doused in water--- and my sandwich is pretty sad looking. So we sprinted back to the restaurant. Jenielle decides to go inside (Britney and Haley had gone in to eat) and Sonja, Emily and I sat in the porchish area.

I ate my soggy sandwich. : (

Then I decided to go and use the facilities… there was a fire inside, so I planned on saying hey to the girls afterwards.

When I came back from the bathroom, there were two guys sitting with them too (it was a cool kids booth) and one of them saw me, moved over, and told me to come in and sit down. (This is our photographer from earlier)

They ask me where I was… I explained the ocean. My soggy sandwich. And why I was shivering so much. Then they introduce themselves. The one guy was Rueben, he was from the Canary Islands. The other was Rob, he’s Irish.

They all had ordered food, and then Rob asks me if I’m going to get anything. I said no, I ate my sandwich and I was just there to dry off a bit. He then asks if we’re on a budget. Yes, yes we were.

So Rob then proceedes to make me eat his fries. And his fish. And more fish. (It was really good too!)

Then everyone was done and the guys wanted to see the ocean. So Jenielle, Britney and I went with them. We started to walk to the ocean, and then decided we wanted to visit Charlie Chaplan (when he was kicked out of the US apparently he spent the rest of his days in this village). It started pouring again though.

So we ran in the rain. Down the middle of the road. Rob took some pics of us and Charlie with his fancy camera. (He said he’ll send them to us.)

Then it stopped raining. The sun came out. We walked to the ocean. And then we were just chilling there. At one point we saw a lady from our tour running back towards the restaurant direction. We take a couple more pics. Oh wait, what time are we supposed to get back on the bus? Ya… we ended up running back to the bus. Apparently everyone watched us run the stretch there and the all waited for us…. Whoops.
Then we drove on. Stopped to see a fairy circle. Creepy. (For those of you who don’t know your Irish folklore, fairies are bad- like banshees. Mess with fairy circles, don’t be surprised if you die soon after…)





We saw some other spectacular views, and then stopped in the village of Sneem. I bought my claddaugh ring there. We once again were missing some people and waiting for them… who were they? Rueben and Rob. They went and got ice cream. Emily and I gave them the slow clap as they came on the bus- haha.

Then our last stop of the day was a beautiful view called “Lady’s View”. I took some pics, and then was taking my mental picture (It was raining, so everyone else had gone onto the bus)when a voice out of nowhere goes “What do you reckon?” What? I was confused… and I did not know what he was talking about… As it turns out, he was asking about the view, which I thought was gorgeous (hence the mental picture). But that was my first lesson in Irish vocabulary.

Then I spent the rest of the bus ride laughing, because over lunch Rob and Rueben told us their theory about how our tour guide was actually German due to the way he said his “r”s. So they were critiquing it across from us. Sooo funny. Haha.

Then we got back to Killarney. It was after 5pm and we left at 10, so it was pretty dec.

We asked the guys what they were doing, and they were going back to the hostel, and then prolly going to have tea. We were going food shopping.

Another reason Ireland is wonderful—they had my Rhubarb yogurt. When I got back to the hostel, I had to explain my odd obsession with Rhubarb yogurt to the guys… while Rueben was awkwardly showing Rob some stretches on the floor. (Rob is spending his break biking around Ireland- hence the stretches)

Us girls lost it then though.

Then Rueben left. Rob was reading a book. Emily, Jenielle and I decide to play Erase Una Vez since we didn’t get to play it in the airport as planned. Haley played with us as well- in English, so we kept translating things back and forth. Sonja just watched us from her bunk bed.

(She was really nervous for her race that her and Britney were running in a couple of hours. Ya… they ran a race. On Good Friday. In Ireland. For the Special Olympics. Very very cool!)

Then we went down and made dinner. There were some Aussies in the kitchen making fun of our accent, so Janielle being Janielle tells one of them that he looks like a Jonas Brother… it was so funny. I was literally on the floor laughing. He did look like Nick though, and then he asked if it was a compliment or an insult. Then Jenielle explains that all the girls in the US are in love with the Jonas Brothers…. Well the girls that are under the age of 15. So Emily adds in “So… if you’re a pedophile.” Then all of his Aussie friends lost it too then, and started calling him a JoBro. It was great… especially since we then learn that they are the new group in our room for the night. Haha.

Janielle then tried speaking Spanish with Rueben across the room… haha. It didn’t work so well…. but Rueben invited us to a concert later.

Then we went up to our room after dinner. Rob invited us to a concert later.
He was going to make dinner, and would be back.

Then he came back and said they didn’t know about the concert, but there was a rugby match on. Rueben stayed in the hostel, there were a bunch of people watching a Willie Nelson concert on TV for some reason. But Rob took Emily, Janielle, Haley and I out to find this rugby match on TV.

The problem was that being Good Friday none of the pubs were open. We went to like 7 different places, and then Rob was kind of down and out. But he did teach us some more Irish slang… “how’s the form?”

Then he suggested ice cream. (This was his second time getting ice cream… haha). Jenielle and Rob had Guinness flavored ice cream. Emily had vanilla I think. I had Bailey’s. and Haley drank her milk and Bailey’s in her Nalgine bottle. It was some good times though. Then we went back to the hostel, and we asked Britney and Sonja how their race went. Then after the Aussies left to do who knows what, we all went to bed.

Day 3: Blarney Stone!

So we woke up, got ready. Went down, ate breakfast. Chilled and chatted.
Then we convinced Sonja and Britney to forgo their plans Dublin and come with us to Cork, which they did!!! : )

We said goodbye to our friends, and then headed on our way.


Paddy's Palace!!

The bus to Cork was pretty short, and the five of us sat in the cool kids seat. Hecks yes! (We pretty much rocked it this trip)

When we got to Cork we found out how to get to the stone, but the bus wouldn’t be coming for awhile, so we went to this place called O’Conails that had the most amazing hot chocolate that I think I will ever drink in my entire life (unless I return there). It was SO good. Rob suggested it to us.



Then we went and got on the bus to take us to Blarney. On the bus we talked to some cute old Irish ladies. They told us where to go once we stopped. And then one of them decided to just walk with us and show us the way anyways. So cute! Gotta love the Irish! (So much nicer with their directions than the Spanish = /)

We got to the Blarney castle. And there was an Easter egg hunt going on. How cool would it be as a child to go Easter egg hunting in the Blarney castle grounds!? I can only dream now…





Well we got to the castle, and there is a sign for the dungeon. Seems cool. Let’s go inside!

Well after a certain point you had to climb on your hands and knees though the mud to get to the actual dungeon. We all had our backpacks on too…. =/. Emily and I backed out just fine. Sonja came out with mud all over her leg! It was bad news bears.

Then after Jenielle and Britney escaped (slightly covered in mud) we decided to find the stone.

We meandered through the castle, and then we got to the top, to the stone.
Since the guy that holds your feet wasn’t back from his break yet, we had to wait. (He kind of has an important job.) What was only 5 min seemed like forever as we were waiting, looking down at the stone, and how we would kiss it without plummeting to our death.

You have to hang upsidedown backwards to kiss it, while the man named Dennis holds your feet. It was terrifying. But we all did it. So I should now have the gift of the gab.




Then we wandered around the castle some more. Met a couple from the US of A. Chatted with them for awhile. Then we went outside and sat on a bench to eat our stolen bread and cheese lunch. Good times.

After that, we talked to the couple some more, bumped into them again. Then we wandered around the grounds.

Did the wishing steps. Walked down and up slippery stairs with my eyes closed concentrating on a wish… it should come true in a year’s time.

Saw a fairy circle. Played on a tire swing. Walked through fields of daffodils.
Through a woods. Past a lake. Past the Blarney house. And then it started storming, so we found our way out of the grounds, back to the bus, and headed back to Cork.
We found our hostel. Went and got food. Then we made dinner. Sonja and Britney took theirs to go. They still had to get to their hostel in Dublin for the night, so they were catching a train. We hugged it out, and bid a sad farewell to our dear friends.



Then we ate our dinner, and the lady that owned the hostel, Tracy, started chatting with us. She told us she was making a cake. Janielle asked her if we could have some. She said it was for her brother. She leaves. 5 min later she comes back with three chocolate baskets for each of us.

Were there other people eating and making dinner? Yes.
Did she offer them any? No.
Did she really like us? Yes.

Then we went to our room. Took nice hot showers. Waited for Brian and Jill to arrive.
We get a text from Brian saying he’s on his way. We asked him if Jill was with him. He said no and he’d explain when he got there.

We tried waiting up for him, but we failed and fell asleep. Awhile later Emily gets a phone call from Brian saying he’s at the front door… Emily didn’t have pants on (thought she packed her leggings but accidentally packed her tights instead. HAHA) So I had to go get him. Slid down the bunk bed. Got another beautiful bruise on my leg.

So we all had our first sleepover with Brian Doudna. It was some good times. He told us about Morocco a bit, his adventure getting here, that since Jill booked her flight to Dublin from the wrong airport in London, she missed her flight and would be flying into Cork the next day.

Then it was lights out.

Day 4: Easter Sunday!

So I for some reason woke up really early again. Got ready. Put on my dress for church. Crawled back in bed, listened to my iPod.

Then everyone else woke up, got ready.

Our hostel didn’t have free breakfast, so we made some peanut butter toast.
Then just as we were going to leave for church Jill showed up, so we all went to church then.

We went to St.Patrick’s. It was bright. Cheery. Had lots of flowers. And a priest with a sweet Irish accent of course. (That was the only thing that kept reminding me that I was in Ireland and not at home.) Mass was absolutely lovely.

After mass we were all given Cadbury Eggs! : )

And then we met a famous man, Rorie O’Brian, who escaped from a concentration camp. We had our picture taken with him. Such a cute old Irish man. Walking around with a big grin on his face and a cane in his hand. Just like you’d picture a little old Irish man to look like.

Then we went back to the hostel, picked up our stuff, and then decided to head to Galway.

It was a long bus ride. Brian sat with me. Told me more about Morocco. Showed me his pics. Then we fell asleep. I woke up in Galway.

It was later when we got to Galway, so we found somewhere to buy food on Easter Sunday. We got these pasta things again, and then we found our hostel.

It was pretty cool. Fancy. It’s ranked like 7th in Europe or something like that. Pretty much like a hotel- key cards. It had a huge kitchen with 3 stoves, a ton of counter space, 4 fridges. Free coffee and tea 24/7. A TV room with leather couches. 5 computers with wifi. It was a nice place. And we had a 5 person room. It was some good times.

So we settled in. Emily and I made dinner. We ate in the TV room. Watched the movie ‘Teen Wolf’. Love those 80s movies. You know, M.J. Fox wins the basketball championship without turning into a wolf… pretty epic.

Brian, Jill and Jenielle went out for a drink. Emily and I watched the rest of the movie. Did the dishes. Went back to our room. Went to bed.

Day 5: Exploring Galway

We slept in a bit since we had all been traveling a bit by this point. We went and made breakfast, and then set out to explore Galway.

We walked around the streets and then did some shopping. I bought a present for Brenna (I can’t say what it is, but I’m excited to give it to her!) and I bought myself a 15E sweatshirt. It’s a girls 14 too? Idk, maybe I’m shrinking away here…
Then the group was split up and Emily and I decided to go back to the hostel and make lunch. We ate our PB and J with some cereal we found in the ‘take food’ pile. Chatted about life.

Then we set out to explore more, ran into the other three on the streets, we all went together to buy food for dinner.

Then Emily and I played on a street with a wind tunnel for about 20 min. We’d just see how far back we could lean with the wind without falling over. Then we’d try to walk into the wind. It was some good times.

Then we wandered along the river. We went into the cathedral to dry off a bit. It was GORGEOUS inside. I loved it.

Then we decided to see the ocean. So we walked there… but it was pouring out. When we got to the tip of the bay, I was trying to keep my camera dry/still take pictures. The ocean water was being dumped on us… and then the zoom on my camera broke. Sad day. : (

Since it was now cold out, we were soaked, and my camera zoom was officially broken we decided to go back to our hostel where we put on clean dry clothes, drank some hot tea, and took some Airbourne.

We sat downstairs with Brain. Chatted. Then after awhile Jill and Jenielle showed up, so Emily and I made dinner- grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup. It was a perfect evening for it too.

We ate in the TV room again. This time we watched the Jersey Shore. Made some more Aussie friends. Haha.

Then Emily and I spent an hour and a half in the bathroom drying our shoes/sweatshirts/jackets with the had dryer so we could wear them in the morning. When we went back to the room craziness was going down.

Brian was talking in a Batman accent, and we played 20 questions until we all fell asleep.

Day 6: Cliffs of Moher

We got up early. Ate breakfast. Emily and I ran to a store to buy more PB and bread for lunch.

Then we met up for the tour, hopped on the bus, and the adventure began.

This tour was interesting. I think our tour guide really liked his head set, or the sound of his voice or something, because he talked the WHOLE time. And it usually wasn’t about what we were seeing out the window either. It was more about his childhood and random things like that.

So the first stop we could either pay to climb a mountain or pay to go in a cave… we had already paid to have this tour… we didn’t want to pay more, and many people were with us too.

So he took us to an Abbey instead. It was really pretty. A little wet though…. There was a lot of flooding that we came across.

Then we drove on… he told us more randomness. And then we stopped at mini cliffs where we could go right to the edge and look down. It kind of freaked me out a bit…. It was windy, and I felt like I could blow off the edge or something.

Then we stopped in the village before the Cliffs of Moher to eat. Emily and I ate our PB and bread on a street corner…

Then we got back on the bus and finally arrived at the Cliffs of Moher.

It was probably the most beautiful landscape that God has created that I have seen in my entire life. I wandered around by myself for a bit, so I could take my ‘mental picture’ and remember everything. The sun. The ocean. The waves. The sound of the waves as they crashed against the cliffs… it was so beautiful. Beyond gorgeous. One of my favorite moments in Europe hands down.

So we walked to one end, and then turned to see the other side of the big big cliff.
There’s a stone fence that you can climb over, onto private property, and then go past the ‘do not go beyond this point’ sign until you’re on the other side of the big cliff. This was the best view of everything too, because there were no barriers keeping you from going to the edge to see it.

The path was dirt. Well… mud. From the rain.

I fell once. Grabbed onto the fence so I wouldn’t slide off the cliffs. (Luckily it wasn’t the section with barbed wire!)

Then Brian Doudna comes along. He falls 3 times… he really doesn’t care. (I’m freaking out… it is 700 feet to plummeting to your death.) He starts taking a video… and doesn’t watch where he’s going. He is on the edge. Falls. Is LESS THAN one foot from falling off of the Cliff of Moher. Nearly gave me a heart attack. Dear lord.

So we carefully made our way back after that. (walked past the memorial for all of those who have lost their lives at the cliffs- I imagine many people fall by accident, and then many people commit suicide there too…. There were many suicide hotline signs there… = /)

We got back on the bus, and then Emily and I really couldn’t take much more of our tour guide, so we listened to my iPod until we got back to Galway.

When we got back we went and bought food for dinner. We made it. Ate. After we did the dishes, we all went out for a drink together at a bar called Kennedy’s- apparently JFK stopped there once. I had Bulmer’s. The rest had Guinness.

Then we went back to the hostel. Played 20 questions and went to bed.

Day 7: Welcome to Dublin

So we got up early. Ate. Checked out. Then took the bus to Dublin. Brian sat with me again… I listened to my iPod/slept/journaled.

When we got to Dublin we immediately set out to find our hostel. We had directions, but they really weren’t the greatest. We walked back and forth down the street for awhile until we finally found it off of a side street.

We checked in. This place had free coffee/tea/hot chocolate 24/7 plus free breakfast! We ate PB+J for lunch… then walked around.

We wandered to St.Patrick’s Cathedral, and then Trinity College. Then we did some shopping and whatnot…

Then we went back to the hostel. I took the coldest shower of my life. It was horrible. Then we had a family dinner.

We decided to go out to eat for our last night together in Ireland. So we went to this restaurant called the Dandelion- we got fish and chips. (Nom nom nom. )
It was a nice way to spend our last night though…

Day 8: Guinness!

So we woke up super early. Got ready. Enjoyed the free breakfast. Then we went to the Guinness Storehouse. Saw St. James’s Gate. 250 years! We learned about the beer that is older than our country… and once the tour was over we got to drink our pint at the top in the 360 degree view Gravity bar. It was good times.

Then we went back to the hostel, picked up our things, took the bus to the airport and then flew back to Valencia.

It was such an amazing trip though. I loved it so much. I love Ireland. My heart is in Ireland.

Ireland. was amazing.

It was everything I thought it would be and more... it really was the trip of a lifetime. Saw some beautiful sights, made new friends around the world... it was great.

I will tell you more about the trip in due time. We got back last night, and I am trying to catch up on things/adjust to being back in Spain again.

I will leave you with this though, which sums up everything right now...


"My heart is in Ireland, it's there I long to be.
Her hills and her valleys are calling to me.
Though born here in this land, my heart is in Ireland.
The land of the old folks is calling to me."

Spring Break #2?

Day 1 of Spring Break number 2:

This day was fully dedicated to walking the rio (river that once ran through Valencia, but when it flooded the whole city, they diverted it around the city and have now made the old river into a gorgeous park that has many attractions). I met up with Emily in the courtyard as usual, and then we met up with Kelsey Leppert and Jenielle on Puente de Aragon.

We walked a ways, and then sat down in the grass and watched some people do a thriller dance for awhile. Then we pushed on until we came across some fountains. We decided to sit in the grass and eat our lunch… which we did. Then some people sat around by us… they had dogs. We played with two of them. One was a small fuzzy white one, and the other a beagle. They were cute. We also watched a little girl push her dog into the fountain… that was funny.

After a couple hours of sitting in the grass/eating/playing with dogs/soaking up some rays, we decided we better continue on if we were going to accomplish what we set out to do.

So we kept walking on… and made it to one end of the river. There was a pond with geese. (They call it a lake, but it is definitely a pond… haha.)
Then we turned around and started walking back the other direction.
We stopped for a minute and watched some kids play soccer, and some adults play rugby.

Then we pushed on, even though our feet were killing us.
We made it to Gulliver, the playground. It is in the shape of a huge man… stuck to the ground. Like Gulliver’s Travels… It is super guay. We sat on a bench there for approximately 10 min.

Then we pushed on towards the other end…
Finally we arrived at the City of Arts and Sciences.
So, we climbed out of the rio, and went to the mall to get ice cream.
We went to Carrefour, which is basically like Walmart, and we bought a box of Kit Kat drumsticks for 2E. They were delicious and we ate them as we walked back to Puente de Aragon.

Then we made it. We walked the rio… twice actually. Emily google-mapped it, and it was approximately a 20 K. Basically we walked a half marathon today- NBD.
Then we had to walk back home. My feet were pretty much crying, but with a quick stop at Mercadona to buy aloe lotion and sun block, we made it home.

I can now check ‘walk the rio’ off of my list of things to do in Valencia… and I walked it twice. In one day. Can you say accomplishment? (I have 5 blisters on my feet too from today, so I definitely powered through that.)

Then when I got home, put on some aloe to sooth my slight sun burn… it’s not too bad, which surprises me since I was in the sun the whole day. Then Ricardo made me dinner- sweet peas, steak (or some form of meat that I really don’t know what it is, but steak is the closest thing to it that I know of soo…) and bread. Then I let my feet take a break. They are really hurting.

Tomorrow is fully dedicated to lying on the beach. I’ve got my sun block ready so I don’t burn anymore, and my swim suit is out.

I’m excited. This is why I love Valencia…

Day number 2:

Emily and I met up at 9:30 am in the courtyard. We then walked to the metro station… bought a card for multiple trips on the metro (it’s way cheaper than buying a ticket each time you use the metro) since we are going to be going to the beach a lot in the near future. I mean we could walk, however, the neighborhood right before the beach is super sketch. A girl from our program almost had her purse stolen there… luckily another guy in our program, Brendan, threw his backpack at the guy’s head. (It’s a pretty funny story when he tells it.) Nonetheless, by riding the metro we are: a. maximizing our sun time and b. avoiding creepy neighborhood. It’s a win-win situation.

So we took the metro and arrived on the beach.

It was a little brisk yet, but within the hour we were down to the swimsuits. We soaked in the rays (I remembered sun block.) We watched the sail boats in the sea. Did some reading. Ate some lunch. Chatted about life. It was a beautiful way to spend a day!

After awhile, Kelsey Leppert met up with us too.
Then it got a little breezy, so I searched for my sea shell. (Each time I have gone to the beach, I have taken a sea shell… we’ll see how many I have when I come back home.)

Then we decided to call it a day.

I am most likely at a month-of-tanning-at-home level right now. Or ten shades darker than yesterday morning… this is good. I just might reach my full tanning potential in Valencia. : )

So you know, just another day in Valencia- sitting on the beach… in the Mediterranean… no bigs…
I love my life right now!

Day number 3:

Emily and I met up at 10:00ish. We went to the chino store and I bought a beach towel for 4E. (Ya, all I had on Sunday was a hand towel. I was quite sandy once the day was done, but there wasn’t much I could do about it. Nothing is open on Sundays besides Open Cor.)

Then we headed to the beach. While it was supposed to be warmer today than yesterday, there was a stronger breeze today which made our first hour or so really chilly.

The sun and the wind battled for awhile. Finally the sun came out on top.

We basked in the rays for a couple of hours… then we headed home.

We showered, ate, and then met up with Jenielle. We walked to Finac (bookstore similar to Barnes and Noble back home—but with electronics as well). Emily bought a game for us to play while we are waiting in the airport forever in Barcelona. (We are going to get to Barca at 10ish… our flight leaves at 6 something am. Soooo we’re staying up all night and kicking it in the airport. Haha.)

The game is “Erase Una Vez” or “Once Upon a Time”. You have a bunch of cards that have different words or phrases which you must use to create a story. Then there are cards that have sentences that you can use to end the story if you don’t like where it is going… we don’t understand how you win though, so we’re going to figure that out on the trip. Haha.

It’s a good teacher game though! I have to start thinking about what I’m going to get for my classroom someday. I do know that we will celebrate fallas, and make paper mache fallas. And then we will burn all but one of them. And they will listen to the “Valencia en Fallas” song all week… until they are sick of it. (If that’s possible.) Oh, and Emily and I want our classes to be pen pals… and then we’re going to tell them their pen pal is from Spain even though the letters are coming from Pennsylvania and aren’t in very good Spanish. HAHA. Yes… this is what we come up with in our spare time…

Anyways, I did some hand wash tonight so I have clean dry clothes for Ireland. And Elvira commented at how clean and perfect the room is when it’s just me here. And I said, that’s just how I am… I organize things… even Anne’s mess. Then she said that Anne’s just childish and I’m obviously more mature. Plus I got brownie points for buying her bread today, and she has been giving me kisses on the cheek because I’m so tan… haha! Soo… I really don’t think I’m the favorite or anything.

This will be the last entry until I come back from Ireland. Tomorrow I have to pack, and we are getting the European version of the Student Identity card (which is cheaper and more legit than the US version- that’s right LC study abroad office). So, hasta luego.

Did you know?

There are 5 ways to properly cut an orange... (and no peeling it with your hands doesn't count. That's considered barbaric... haha!)

Oh, and P.S. I am offically on Spring Break number two now! I'm going to Ireland next week. Come back a week later- the 8th of April. Then I'll chill around Valencia for a couple of days, we will still be off for Holy Week. The 12th we will still be off of school for Fiesta de San Vicente... then I will have 2 days of class. Then I will be going to Sardinia for a couple of days... I will come back. Have two weeks of class- finals, final presentations, etc. Then one week bumming around Valencia, then three weeks traveling afterwards- Malta, Italy (Rome, Florence, Venice), London, Dublin, and then I come home. Soooo crazy!

And I am working on getting pictures up, but it takes awhile, and I don't have much internet access here... they will get up eventually though.

Going to the Homeland

In a week I will be in my homeland... Ireland.

For once I will fit in over here!!! : )

Fallas Week.

Fallas was amazing. I just cannot believe it. It really was the coolest thing I have ever seen in my life. There are no words to describe it….

Day 1: Shiny Pants

I kind of already said what we did the first day, but we went to the Mascleta. We were pretty far away though.


Mascleta.

Then we went to the bullfight. Guay guay.


bullring



Later that night we met up, had some chocolate con churros, watched the fireworks. Good times. Then we came home and went to bed after that.




falla.


chocolate con churros


watching the fireworks

Day 2: Search for the Holy Grail… fail. Be in a Parade…. Success.

So Emily and I met up later on Tuesday. We slept in.

After comida, we decided to search for the Holy Grail. It’s in the cathedral in Valencia, and apparently it is the only cup that the Catholic Church recognizes. So, pretty cool.

We met in the courtyard as usual and then made our way to the cathedral… we crossed the bridge and then came across a parade of falleros. (girls in fancy dresses, men dressed somewhat like pirates, with a marching band following them around.)



We decided to follow them.

The police stoped traffic for them, and they just kept marching along. At one point we came across another fallero parade… we were then somehow in the parade? Haha. We just kept walking and ended up in the plaza de Ayuntamiento.

Then we decided to meander to Plaza de la Reina to find the Holy Grail.
We walked all the way around the cathedral. We saw St. Vicente de Martir’s arm behind the alter. Interesting.



We continued the search for the grail…I knew it was in a side chapel but not sure which one. Then we finally asked someone where the grail was.



searching for the grail...

Turns out they lock it the chapel for the grail after the morning hours… so that was a bust. We’ll have to check it out some other day not during fallas when a million people aren’t around.

Then I went home, chilled, ate, went to bed.

Day 3: Wait… St. Patrick’s Day?

Wednesday Emily and I met up really early in the morning to go to the book fair. It’s on Grand Via, and the book stands go on for blocks.

We spent well over a couple of hours looking at books. I was in heaven. There were new ones. Pretty ones. Kind of ugly ones. Old ones. Ones with really pretty old covers and ribbons. I was happy.

I ended up buying the complete set of “El Señor de los Anillos” (Lord of the Rings) and El Hobbit. Sooo excited to read them in Spanish.
(Also it is apparently my “goal/assignment” from Jenielle and Emily to memorize the little prologue saying before Ireland…)

“Tres anillos para los Reyes Elfos bajo el cielo.
Siete para los Señores Enanos en palacios de piedra.
Nueve para los Hombres Mortales condenados a morir.
Uno para el Señor Oscuro, sobre el trono oscuro
En la Tierra de Mordor donde se extienden las Sombras.
Un Anillo para gobernarlos a todos. Un Anillo para encontrarlos,
Un Anillo para atraerlos a todos y atarlos en las tinieblas
En la Tierra de Mordor donde se extienden las Sombras.”

Then Emily and I ate lunch on a park bench. Soaked up the sun. (I definitely got some color on Wednesday.) Then Jenielle met up with us and we went to the Mascleta.
After the Mascleta we went to Plaza de la Reina to watch ‘La Ofrenda’. (The offering of flowers to the Virgin Mary.) The falleros walk for a couple of hours with flowers until they get to Plaza de la Virgin. Then they offer the flowers to Mary, and they use all of the flowers to form her dress and decorate the Basilica.





















It was really pretty, all of the flowers, but it kind of surprised me that for something so sacred- bringing flowers to Mary- they just tossed the bouquets of flowers up to the top very nonchalantly to make the dress…

After watching the Ofrenda for a couple of hours we decided to make our way to the other side of Grand Via.

We decided to go to Portland’s and have a drink since, “Oh wait… what? It’s St. Paddy’s Day?” Right. Kind of forgot about that in the midst of Fallas. Nonetheless, we celebrated two holidays on the same day…. Nbd.

There was an Irish band playing in Portland’s though, and Mike was grilling some hamburgers outside. We asked him about them, and he said they were 6E with chips, but he also said that we could probably split it three ways and he’d bring us a knife. So that’s what we did.

It was the best hamburger ever, and the first ‘American’ food that I’ve eaten since being here.



how much would you pay for a hamburger?






we demolished it.

(Almost everyone I know has broken down already and gone to McDonald’s or Burger King for a meal… I still have not. Thank you Mike.)

We spent quite a bit of time in Portland’s, and then decided to grab some chocolate con churros and get a spot to watch the fireworks. We sat on the divider in the middle of the road on the bridge. Ate our churros. And then an hour later the fireworks started. (The first night the fireworks started being shot off at midnight… after that they started at 1 or 1:30 in the morning.)

So we watched the fireworks, and then Powerwalk Sam and Weaving Emily made it home in approximately half the time it normally takes to make it home. Then it was bedtime.


the street by our apartment... yes, it's all from petardos.

Day 4: Night of fire.

So Emily and I met up. Then we came across Angela and her boyfriend. We chatted with them. They were waiting for Julieta. So we waited as well.

Then we started towards Ayuntamiento to watch the Mascleta. We were about a block away when we heard it going off… so Emily and I decided to go to the park nearby instead then.

We sat and ate lunch. Then discovered that there was a Mercadona on Colon near Corte Ingles…this surprised us.

So we went in, checked it out… we didn’t really like the setup. Then we decided to walk to our home Mercadona instead. We wandered around Mercadona for awhile. I bought this cereal that has dark chocolate in the middle.

I really have been missing cereal this past week. So now even though I don’t have milk to go with it, I have been eating cereal. : )

Emily is like me, and drinks at least 2 glasses of milk with every meal… we severely miss milk. We discussed what it’s going to be like to go back to milk… and what we think our bodies would do if we attempted the gallon challenge upon arrival to the states. Haha.

Then we went home. Took a nap. We had plans to meet up and follow her family (who are falleros) to the Plaza de la Virgin.

I was waiting in the courtyard below, as usual, when I received a text that said she had been kidknapped by her family--- shoved in a car and not told where they were going.

So Julieta’s German friends were sitting down there waiting as well… We then decided to go to the Plaza de la Virgin and see if our friends would eventually make it there…






So I hung out with the Germans for awhile, and then Emily called me to tell me that she was in the fallero club’s building and she didn’t think she’d make it to the plaza anytime soon… so I made my way home.

Then Jenielle called me. We decided to meet up. On the way to meeting her, I ran into Marli and Nikki. They said they were going to look at the lights, and see the street that won.







So we met Jenielle, and all of us went together. It was pretty cool.
Then Jenielle and I were going to meet up with Emily, so we said goodbye to our friends, got some banuelos (like churros but doughier- many Valencians like them better than churros, and they are made with pumpkin- quite tasty…)

Then we made our way to meet Emily. It was super crowded… we were going to meet her on the other side of the bridge. We got trapped halfway across. We could not move.
The next 45 min Emily struggled to find us. Right before the fireworks started she found us. She was about ready to cry though… had been jabbed in the ribs a couple of times, been stepped on, stepped on some people, had people not let her through, shove her. It was not good.

Once the fireworks started we were all good though. They were hands-down the best fireworks I’ve ever seen in my life. They actually call them ‘Castillos’ here, because the fireworks are like a castle. They were perfectly timed. We even saw some that went up, came down a bit, went back up, came down a bit, and then went back up… how do they do that? It was amazing.

(I just wonder. There is a lot of sponsorship for Fallas- mostly alcohol and then Nestle- but who funds everything. Who pays for all the fireworks and explosives???)
Anyways, after fireworks it was crazy. Lot’s of people, and lots of people setting off borrachos. (There are petardos, which are your common firecracker. Then there are borrachos which are firecrackers that go off in every which direction… very dangerous. In fact, borrachos are the only thing the police here attempt to control. They don’t care about the massive amounts of people drinking, or smoking whatever it is they are smoking, or the petardos. Only the borrachos...)

Day 5: The burning. Why am I covered in flour? It is raining fire.

So it was the last day of Fallas. The day everyone has been waiting for. The day they burn everything. I woke up, ate some breakfast, and then met Emily in the courtyard. We then walked across town to meet Jenielle.

From there we went to the Mascleta. We arrived an hour early. There were so many people there already. We played ‘never have I ever’ a couple of times while we waited… I always lost.

Then they gave the 10 min warning. Then the five.

Then it started.

May I add that the last Mascleta is the biggest, and that this was the closest I had been to one yet.

The windows were shaking. Your whole body is pulsing with the explosives. I am almost positive that I suffered severe hearing damage. It was crazy. I recorded almost the whole thing. At the end it was SO loud and I was struggling to protect one ear with my shoulder and subsequently pushed the button to turn it off a little soon, but wow, way cool.

After this week, I am pretty sure I know what it’s like to be in a war zone--- minus the blood.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REWO18QkSkk (This is the Mascleta--- watch it!!! It's CRAZY!!! and I was standing by the fence...)

So after the Mascleta we loitered underneath the awning of a building to eat our sandwiches. It was raining.

Then Emily and I went to La Alba and had some café con leche. We chatted. Watched the replay of the Mascleta on TV. We were amazed at how close we were to it. Haha.
Then I came home and took a nap and then ate dinner.

After that, Anne and I ran an errand for our madre and then met up with Christina to have one last look at some of the fallas before they were burned.






We first watched an infantile (little one) get burned. I thought it was pretty cool.



Then we grabbed some cream filled churros for a change and sat on a bench/ waited to meet up with Jenielle and Emily.

So Christina had to go to the bathroom and she went off in search of one. Anne and I remained in the park on the bench. It was good meeting point for everyone. All of a sudden these guys come out of nowhere. One is wearing a police hat, one a skirt, the rest are wearing black fro wigs. They are all really drunk. They come up and sit by/on us. I was soo confused. Then out of nowhere appear Emily and Jenielle. They are like ‘what’s going on?’ and we are like ‘we don’t know….’ Haha. So we just stay sitting on this bench (we are still waiting for Christina to come back). All of a sudden another guy comes and starts throwing flour on us shouting ‘bonsai!’

Emily and I lost it. I was laughing sooo hard at the situation. Random guys sitting on us. I am completely covered in flour. And I don’t know why.






Finally Christina came back. We then left them… and we were doused in flour. Haha. As if I don’t look out of place enough on the streets over here…

So we continued on our way. Then we found a big falla to watch burn. We were in the front row. I took a lot of pictures, and then Emily recorded it. It was so BA.
They string it up with explosives. Litterally blow it up and set it on fire.















(So I am sitting on the balcony as I am typing this. Ricardito just came out, asked me to help him set off some petardos. Haha. I lit them, and then he threw them at the courtyard below. Good times with the little kids.)

Anyways, after we watched a big one burn to the ground, we proceeded to the Plaza de Ayuntamiento. This is the mother of all fallas. The big one.

There were again many many people. I don’t really know how many people can fit into the Plaza de Ayuntamiento… but I bet many people didn’t make it into the plaza. We were lucky. We were on the one side, right across from it.

The lights all went off in the plaza. It was completely dark. Then there was a fireworks display. Then it started on fire. It was really cool.

All of a sudden it starts raining chunks of fire. Like softball size chunks of fire. People are running out. The girl’s purse in front of me caught on fire. It was crazy!!!

I recorded most of this. Haha.

So Anne, Christina and Jenielle bolted out of there. Meanwhile Emily and I (being the pyromaniacs that we are) watched it a bit longer. (I’m fine. Didn’t catch on fire or anything…)

The best thing was that while it was raining softball size chunks of fire all around us, they are playing the epic “Valencia en Fallas” song. Great intense instrumental music, (they play it almost everywhere.) We sang along even though we don’t really know the words.

That was the coolest thing ever. Watching the falla burn with intense instrumental music and raining fire around us is actually the reason I came to Valencia. The most BA thing I’ve seen in my life.

Eventually Emily and I made it back home. We walked on Guardia Civil (the pedestrian road that lies between our apartments.) I showed her the garbage can that someone blew up. Then we played on the playground. And then went home and to bed.


Best night ever. So much fire. We officially survived Fallas 2010.