The Adventures of Big Red in Ireland!: May 2015

I am currently ten thousand feet in the air as I write this on my way back to Ireland from Rome! What an amazing weekend I had. Megan and I planned this trip two weeks ago and man was it a good idea!

We flew to Rome on Thursday and our flight got in at about half 8. We then had to take a shuttle bus that would take us into the city of Rome and that took about half an hour. Megan and I were super worried about finding our hostel but it ended up being right around the corner from the 'Termini' station which is where the bus dropped us off. We checked into the hostel and then found that there was a great restaurant downstairs so that is the first time I had food in Italy! I got the four cheese pizza which had a white sauce on it and surprisingly enough Brie on it to feed a host of families. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love me some Brie, but only in small portions. However, it was still one of the best pizzas of my life. Megan got a pizza that had 4 toppings on it and it came out with each topping separated on different portions of the pizza. AND they accidentally put hard boiled eggs on her pizza. Surprisingly tho, we found out that's a really popular thing in Italy. That night, we got to bed semi early because we had to be up the next morning for our first tour of the weekend!

Friday morning rolls around and the sun is shining so we figured it was going to be a lovely day. It was time for our tour of Vatican City. We had to take the metro to get there which was more crowded than a church on Easter Sunday. Then we walked what seemed like miles to get to the meeting point with our tour group but we made it. At this point, we're both sweating because you have to be completed covered up to get into the Sistine Chapel and the Basilica. So the tour takes us through the Vatican museums and we learn so much history. We see paintings by Michaelangelo and Ferdinand and are then overwhelmed by the magnificent ceiling in the Sistine Chapel. To imagine that Michaelangelo hung upside down for 4 years to paint that ceiling is just overwhelming. It was such an amazing experience so be in the presence of such greatness. We then got to see the tombs in the Basilica and see where s few popes bodies lie as they are just covered in wax so you can still see what they look like. After the tour was over , Megan and I went back into the church to pray and man was that such a spiritual experience. It was an amazing morning to say the least.

The tour in total lasted around 3 hours so, you can imagine we're pretty hungry by the time it is over. We start walking around to find somewhere to eat and then get lost inside a park that only has 2 entrances. We finally escape the maze and find a lovely little cafe with a view of Vatican City where they sit us outside in the beautiful weather. I had been craving spaghetti bolognese since the second we landed so naturally, that's what I ordered. The flavor was very sweet and the sauce a lot more red than what I would eat in Ireland or America but it was fantastic! All of a sudden, it starts to rain. No. POUR! So Megan and I decided we would get desert to see if the rain would settle any time soon, and of course, it didn't. Luckily there were loads of men running around selling umbrellas and ponchos so we grabbed a poncho and speed walked to the metro station while our feet got soaked!

When we got back to the hostel, we finally met our roommates who were both traveling alone. One was from The Netherlands and was taking holidays from work and another was from California who works in Alaska on the oil rigs and goes traveling on his time off. They were both pretty cool guys so we went to get gelato and dinner with them and then we planned a roommate outing for that night. We went to a bar full of tourists and met babies of the tender age of 19 from Notre Dame who were studying abroad for the summer. We didn't meet many Italians that night but we did have a pretty good time. It's funny, some random guy said that Italy isn't like America where you can just haul a taxi and next thing you know, I wave one down. Then when we were getting in the taxi he said he didn't like me and I was like good for you, I don't even know who you are. He was from Pennsylvania apparently so I won't be visiting that state if they apparently don't like redheads. Megan and I came back to the hostel to get some rest because we had another busy day ahead of us.

Saturday was the day we got to tour Ancient Rome. Our tour started at about half one and we didn't finish until about 5. It was a very long walking tour and we got stuck in the rain a few times. Megan brought her poncho but I didn't want to cover up my cute outfit so I just sucked it up. I was dry by the time I got back to the hostel because it eventually stopped raining. The tour started at the colosseum and was pretty sunny for us so we got loads of pictures. I learned that gladiators were actually owned by people so they were technically slaves. I also learned that most people didn't actually die because it would cost too much money for the owners to buy a new gladiator. Don't get me wrong, there were a few people who were killed, but more often than not, the owners wanted their players to live. Next we headed to 'El Foro' and got to see some ruins of "the real Caesars palace" and a garden that used to be a really gigantic fancy pool. We then walked to the Trevi fountain that was closed for construction and then Pantheon which was closed for mass and then we saw the fountain that was used in the movie "When in Rome" with Kristen Bell. By the end of the tour we were hungry again so we went to get food and then decided we would walk to the Spanish Steps. Unfortunately, we weren't too impressed with them but it was nice to say we've been there. We took the metro back to our hostel and got some more Gelato. 5 scoops for 4 euros. Pretty amazing. By the end of the day we were exhausted so we got into bed and fell asleep at about half 10.

That brings us to the current moment. On my flight home awaiting to land in Dublin, not ready to be back from holiday yet. That's ok because Megan and I are going to Lahinch next weekend and then I'm going to Germany only 3 weeks after that!

I have 3 months left of my time over here and while I'm ready to get home to see all my friends and family, I am not ready to leave the family I've made over here. At least I've got 3 months left with them. I'll try not to let them go to waste!

Ciao!

Hi! Sorry it's been a few months since I've posted a blog but the Irish lads and lassies are keeping me busy over here!

You probably want to hear about how St Patrick's day was celebrated in its home country. Well, I think I was expecting a little more to be honest. I went to Dublin to watch the Parade but there was hardly any Irish culture in it. Loads of bands and color guards from America were in the Parade and a few random people and things whom I had no idea what they were. Temple Bar District was more packed than Halloween in IV so I was kinda not into it. Basically, dublin is full of tourists and high school girls dressed in crop tops and shorty shorts (in the rain mind you) trying to get free drinks from the older lads. Do it once, don't need to do it again, but how many other people can say they were in Ireland for St Patrick's day!?

Now the highlight of my time over here so far was when my mom and grandma came to visit for two weeks! We seriously had the best time ever. They arrived on Thursday April 23rd even though their flight left America on Wednesday! We got a rental car and my mom made me drive he whole time since I was used to the roads. She kept telling me to stop driving into the ditches but she didn't realize how dang small the roads are! She got to meet both of my host families the first day and it was probably 70 degrees outside so mom had a lovely photo shoot with the kiddos.

The next day we drove to Belfast and they got to see the northern part of Ireland through one of the hop on hop off bus tours. We visited 'Crumlin Road Gaol' and saw exactly how 17 men were executed: it was a very intense experience. The next day we drove to Dublin and did another bus tour in the rain! Mon and grandma got to see all of Dublin in like 6 hours. We got stuck in traffic on the bus for awhile so I accidentally fell asleep. We stayed at Bewleys hotel by the airport and met the Irish Paralympics soccer team who were staying on our floor. It was an early night for us because we had to be up early the next day for our flight to London!

Our flight left Dublin at 7 in the morning and we arrived to London at about 10. We took a taxi to our hotel and found that it was within walking distance from Kensington Palace! So we went and did the tour of that and saw where Queen Victoria grow up and we believe that Kate and William were in residency whilst we were there since she had her baby only a few days after we left. That evening, we took the tube to Westminster and saw Big Ben! Mom and I took a ride on the London eye and were in awe of the beautiful city! After that, we found a lovely place for desert and then headed back to our hotel. We got up the next morning to catch the hop on hop off bus and met a lovely lady from Virginia. We went to see the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace and then went to St Paul's Cathedral! Mom and I walked over 500 stairs to get to the top and boy did we feel accomplished! It was another early night for us since we had to be up at 4 in the morning to catch the Euro Star to Paris!

The Euro Star was a fun experience even though we slept nearly the whole way to Paris. The hotel we were staying at was gorgeous and we even got a purple room! We had a tour booked for the Eiffel Tower at 12 so as soon as we got in, we headed there. We had the best tour guide, Roman who was cute and funny. Hehe. Then we decided to get lunch so mom could have her Croque Monssiuer. After that, we took a cruise down the Siene river and got to see all the lovely bits of Paris. Mom and I realized that we were a walk away from Notre Dame so we went and checked it out. It was magnificent! Then we found a lovely place for dinner where we each had a glass of wine and I had steak! Omg yum!! The next day, we went back to Notre Dame after having the best quiches ever for breakfast and then we headed off to the Louvre Museum. It was so overwhelming but it was great to see the Mona Lisa and Napolean III's apartments. Our flight was that evening so we didn't get back to my house in Tallanstown until about 1 am.

The next day started our adventures in Ireland! I made mom and grandma a FABULOUSLY Irish breakfast and we headed off to Roscommon for the first of two castle stays. We landed at Kilronan castle and were overwhelmed by its beauty. I finally felt like I was where I belong as a future Queen. There were lovely walking trails we could take and just gorgeous scenery. Too beautiful to explain. We headed off to Conemara the next morning which took us on a long drive up The Wild Atlantic Way. We finally decided to end our tour at Kylemore Abbey to see what used to be a famous girls school. There was a huge garden as well that mom and I only walked half of. Unfortunately, on the shuttle ride back to the parking lot, a girl threw up so we got out of there as quick as possible and laid our heads down in a hotel in Galway that night.

The next day was one of my favorites as we headed to the famous "Cliffs of Moher". It was raining when we left but when it was time for our Cliff Walk, the rain had subsided and we just had the wind to worry about. Grandma decided that a three mile walk would not be appropriate for her so she got a ride into Doolin to wait for us. Mom and I and a group of Germans were lead by Stephen through the Cliffs down to Doolin which took about two and a half hours. We were then escorted to the pier where we waited for a boat that would take us on a mini cruise to see the cliffs of moher from the bottom. It was pouring down rain but mom and I decided to stand outside to get some great pics and we ended up talking to the crew men the whole way. When we got back to the pier, there was a car waiting to take us back to the parking lot and we were so overjoyed. The driver ended up being the father of one of the crew men so we had a few laughs on the short drive back while mom tried not to have a heart attack from the crazy driving. Our night ended with a lovely dinner in Ennis and a stay at our first Bed and Breakfast.

Breakfast the next morning was home cooked by the B&b owners and we were still not sick of traditional Irish breakfast! We headed to Blarney Castle to kiss the stone and even got grandma to do it! We stayed in Portloaise (port-leash) that night and once again had an amazing dinner. Our final drive was up to Monaghan for our stay at Castle Leslie. We arrived before check in so we walked around the castle a bit before I got hungry. So we found a little pizza place that was set up in a house like estate. It was quaint and cute and the owner's girlfriend waited on us because apparently all the workers were too hung over from the May bank holiday to show up for work. Typical. We got back to the room about 4 and all of us fell asleep til about 6. Mom and I went to go pet the horses on the estate and I grabbed a drink at the bar whilst she had some coffee. Then I went and got grandma and we had dinner in the bar. Not too shabby I must day.

The next day was their final full day in Ireland. So I took them to dundalk to do a little bit of shopping and then we headed to my second family's home for yet another home cooked meal! Niamh made us steak and garlic bread and chips and loads of the best stuff which was by far the best meal we had this entire trip! It was so nice to enjoy our last meal with everyone there and just being able to remember all of the great things I got to do with my mom and grandma.

They left me the Wednesday morning and it was quite bitter sweet but now there's only about 3 months until I see them again! I officially got bit by the travel bug and have booked a trip to Rome with Megan next week and a trip to Germany in June where Helena will be joining me!

I seriously have been so blessed these past 9 months and won't know what to do when I have to leave. For now, I'm living every second as best as I can and not leaving with any regrets!

check out photopaige.smugmug.com for more pictures of our trip!