Spring Break: Part 2, more Roma

Day 2
Saturday, March 6th

Saturday morning came pretty early for us, as we wanted to get up and see as much as we could. We started the morning with breakfast of cappuccino and croissants at a cafe a few doors down from our hostel. I learned that morning that nutella is huge in Italy, which is great for me since I love this delicious hazelnut and chocolate spread. First stop: Vatican City. We toured the museum and spent over an hour staring at beautiful artwork. After another quick cup of cappuccino, several of us headed in to see the Sistine Chapel. The build up of large hallways filled with gorgeous floor-to-ceiling paintings made the long anticipated wait well worth it! Meghan and I found a seat along the side of the chapel and sat for a solid 25 minutes just staring at the ceiling. I even snuck a photo!
Colleen's friend from school, Catherine, who happens to be studying in Rome for the semester met up with us before we toured Vatican City, and showed us a great place to get gelato! Gelato #2: pineapple, coconut, and nutella.We also walked through the area around St. Peter's Cathedral, and headed inside to check it out. The inside was absolutely breathtaking!
Later in the afternoon, we wandered through Roman Forum. It's incredible to believe the structures that are still standing after thousands of years.
We visited the Victor Emmanuel Monument, and rested at a outdoor cafe to grab a late lunch. I managed to get a great photo of the Colosseum just before the sun began to set.
Meghan and I opted to grab dinner a small restaurant near our hostel while the other girls slept. We tried mozzarella balls (fried rice, tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese), bruschetta, and split a small tomato basil pie. While the pizza wasn't Mac and Manco's, it was pretty good in comparison. We stopped at an internet shop to send emails to our parents, and met a guy from Canada who was in Rome visiting for a few days. We wound up meeting up with the four girls also in Rome from our program and our new Canadian friend, along with one of his new friends. All 11 of us headed into a new section of the city and sat for a few hours at a small bar. It was great to meet new people and to grab drinks with the other girls!

Spring Break 2010: the first of many posts

In an attempt to sum up what has been such an incredible trip backpacking through Italy and France, I'll be posting frequently over the next couple days to update everyone! While it's important to include photos of what and whom we saw along the way, many of the next few posts will also include documentation of the food we consumed as well: gelato, pizza, wine, pasta, paninis, croissants, cappuccino, crepes, croque madams, orangina, baguettes, kir and much more!


Day 1
Friday, March 5th

Caroline, Colleen, Meghan, Tara and I left campus around 4:45 for the airport. An early morning for some really excited girls! Despite minor luggage/carry-on size issues, we made it to Rome smoothly, 25 minutes early. I bought new sunglasses before leaving Dublin, but managed to break them before even getting to the gate, of course. Here's a pre-departure photo:After nearly an hour ride from the airport to Rome via bus and train, we arrived at Termini Station in need of food and a map! We found our hostel, Hostel Termini/Stargate after a short walk and settled in before heading out for a full day of sightseeing. I was able to meet up with two friends from home, Ben and Andrea. It was great to get the chance to catch up some with them!
First stop, FOOD. We stopped at a small pizza shop along the way to the Colosseum. I had a delicious slice of margarita and a spinach calzone (unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of these, but don't worry I made sure to document everything else I ate over the past week!). Pizza in hand, we made our way to the Colosseum.Just before we got inside, it started to rain. But as excited as we were, a little rain wasn't going to stop us!
We walked around near the Colosseum for a few hours before heading back to relax for a while before dinner. The five of us had our first real Italian dinner at Ristorante "La Tavernetta." Turns out the owner's brother has a restaurant in Boston's Italian district, The North End. I had incredible beef lasagna, and yes the pasta truly melts in your mouth!
The Trevi Fountain was next on our long list of things in Rome to see. As the legend says we each threw in three coins to ensure our return trip to Rome, a new romance and marriage in the future.



We end the night with gelato, the first of many! I chose banana and nutella, so good.

We wandered around the winding streets with our gelato, checking out some of the local shops. Overall, a great first day in Rome! We all slept well, full of pasta and gelato and so happy to finally be in Italy!

Home Sweet Dublin

I'm a few hours behind in reporting, but I'm back in Dublin after what has been the most incredible spring break! Traveling with four other girls through Italy and France couldn't have any more fun. Sightseeing, walking (and climbing lots of stairs!) and laughing so much our stomachs hurt! What an amazing nine days it's been!

I'll do my best to update you on our adventures over the next couple days, and the start of my internship on Monday! But for now I'm off to bed for some very much needed sleep!

"Literally, Backpacking through Europe"

At 12 o'clock today, we turned in our Contemporary Society exams and said so long to lectures, reading and homework. That's right: We're officially on SPRING BREAK!

Honestly, I couldn't be more excited! The weather was absolutely beautiful in Dublin today. I spent the afternoon running around the city centre picking up last minute things before I leave for our 8-day excursion tomorrow. Caroline, Colleen, Meghan, Tara and I will be leaving campus at 4:45am tomorrow morning to catch an early flight to Rome. We'll be spending the weekend exploring the beautiful city. I'm looking forward to meeting up with two of my friends from home, Andrea and Ben, who will both be in the area over the weekend. Ben is studying in Viterbo, just outside the city and Andrea's flying in from South Carolina to visit! On Monday, we'll leave Rome and head north to Florence for two days. My old roommate Katrina is studying in Florence, so hopefully we'll get a chance to catch up and grab dinner or coffee! Wednesday we'll head north again, this time to Venice, where we'll spend the day exploring the city before flying to Paris on Wednesday night. A long weekend in Paris will bring our break to a close, as we fly back to Dublin on Saturday night.

Packing wasn't as much of a challenge as I expected. I think the weekend trips we've been taking have definitely helped me to learn how to pack light! I invested in a travel towel that folds up into the size of a small book, which is great for conserving space. I also found a great pair of tall, brown leather boots today, which will be perfect for walking around during the day and spending nights out in each of the cities. I bought a nice, warm black pea coat that I'm sure will be plenty warm enough for the week.

Purchasing my huge red-orange hiking backpack was definitely a good idea! Everything fits perfectly (as of right now), and I still have a little room to spare, in case I pick up some souvenirs along the way.

Several of the people in our program have already left for break. Here's a list of the countries which the 40 of us are covering over the next week:

- Amsterdam
- England
- Netherlands
- Belgium
- Czech Republic
- Germany
- Greece
- Spain
- France
- Italy
- U.S.A.
- Ireland

Check back on Sunday, March 14th for a complete update of my travels in Italy and France!

One Down, One To Go

Today's history final went well. I'm happy to be finished with the first one at least. I realized after arriving a few minutes early for the exam that the Irish take their exams very seriously. There were about 10 or 12 of us waiting outside the classroom when the program director came into the hallway to ask us to wait a few minutes until the appropriate time to enter the room. We were instructed to put our bags, notes, etc. in the back of the room, pretty standard for test-taking. Our exams were only to be written in pen, and we had two hours to write two essays.

After our exam, I spent part of the afternoon relaxing before heading to the library to study and print off my boarding passes for Italy! It's hard to believe this time tomorrow I'll be packing for break. I'm excited to visit Rome and Florence, and hope to get a chance to meet up with some of my friends studying there. I've heard Venice is beautiful, and a weekend in Paris should be a lot of fun! I'll be sure to report back on the packing tomorrow, but for now I should get back to studying!

Last Day of Classes

It's hard to believe we had our last day of classes today! Here's the breakdown of our program:

- For the first six weeks, we've been taking three courses: History of Ireland, Contemporary Irish Society and our electives (I'm taking Mass Media in Ireland)
- Spring Break for a week
- The last six weeks we each will be interning Monday - Thursday, and continuing with our electives with class on Fridays

Once we get back from Spring Break, I'll start my internship with the Marketing Network. This marketing agency has worked on campaigns for Pepsi, 7-Up, Magner's Cider and many other European beverage and food products. Jack and Lauren, two others from our group are also interning with them, so we'll all be traveling into the city everyday together. We haven't been told exactly what we'll be doing just yet, but they promised to move each of us around a little bit so we get a feel for all aspects of the field. I'm starting to get excited about interning with them, and getting a chance to be in the city centre more during the week!

We have our history midterm tomorrow, and the sociology one on Thursday. Each of the exams consist of two essay questions, based on topics covered in class. We'll be given a list of questions and can choose which two to answer. I'm in the middle of juggling the Great Famine, Charles Stewart Parnell and the troubles in Northern Ireland, and am hoping for the best tomorrow!

Galway & Inis Mór

What an awesome weekend! Our trip to the west coast started around 7am on Saturday. Two of my suitemates had friends coming to visit for the week, so we headed to airport to pick them up and catch the bus to Galway. Smooth bus ride, we got to see some beautiful scenery along the way through the window. The sun was out the entire way there, and decided to stick around for a while after we arrived. We stayed at the Kinlay House, the same hostel where we stayed a month ago with Caroline's tour. The six of us walked through the downtown, stopping to check out the farmer's market and eat a few homemade doughnuts (yum!) before venturing to the pier to check out the bay. We walked along the small beach, and even played fetch with a black lab wandering along the water. Of course, we are in Ireland, so it did sprinkle a little, but the views were spectacular regardless.I decided to buy a Claddagh ring at the Thomas Dillon Claddagh museum. It's the only place in the world where each ring is engraved as a "TD Original." Family friends gave me a Claddagh necklace before leaving for Ireland (Thanks Aunt Donna!), and I thought it was a great purchase to commemorate my time spent studying here. We ate dinner at Monroe's, another one of our favorite spots in Galway. Dinner was great, and I think we were all happy to have a hot meal after a day of traveling and exploring. We went to two of the local pubs, the King's Head and Taffe's, downtown. We had a great night in Galway and heard some of the most original Irish music since we've been here (including spoons!).After grabbing a quick breakfast on Sunday morning, we bought tickets for the ferry to Inis Mór, the largest of the three Aran Islands. The bay was pretty rough, and we had a fun time walking on the ferry's deck checking out the views.
While it's the largest of the Aran Islands, Inis Mór only has a population of about 800. I'd say it's safe to say everyone knows everyone. We checked into the Kilronan Hostel, dropped off our stuff and then headed to the only grocery store on the islands to grab sandwiches and snacks. We'd been told the best way to see the island is to rent bikes and ride along the coastal roads: it's true. I think we figured out that we probably biked close to 10 miles, stopping along the way to take photos of the landscape and water. While stopped eating lunch, it started to drizzle and we saw thick, gray storm clouds heading our way. But after thinking about how far we'd come and how much more we wanted to see, we kept riding and eventually the sun broke through the clouds again. Kilmurvey Beach Look closely: I'm on the edge!

Dun Aonghasa and one of the many rainbows we saw! While looking for the wormhole, someone found this cut out in the cliffs where the waves hit the coastline and cause a huge splash. Fearful of getting hit, here's a picture of me running away from the water. Another rainbow Here's proof we made it back to return the bikes before dark.

We ate dinner at the American bar, one of three or four bars/restaurants on the island. After dinner and a drink each, we were all completely exhausted and headed back to the hostel. We caught the 7am ferry this morning back to Galway. Below is the gorgeous sunrise we got to on our way back to the mainland. We hopped on a bus around 10am and made it back to DCU with time to spare before our 2pm history lecture. All in all, it was another great weekend and I'm completely exhausted!