London

I started my British journey on Friday morning out of Shannon airport. I suffered a minor panic attack after news that the bus dropped us off less than an hour before the flight. This didn't end up being a problem, as I checked in, got through security and arrived at my gate in literally four minutes.

The flight was standard. As my travel partner Brendan put it: "RyanAir never disappoints. In disappointing." The flight was delayed but too nothing crazy. I took out POUNDS, got railed by the exchange rate, and boarded an Express train from the Gatwick Airport to center city.  We arrived at Victoria station and I got my first taste of the Tube, the Subway system in London, and my best friend for the weekend. Everybody always raves about how "efficient" and "easy" and "clean" the Subway system in London is, and it certainly lived up to the hype.

Ana Luna, my friend/host/ personal chef/tour guide for the weekend and Brendan’s buddy Karl met us at the station and chauffeured us to the only natural first destination upon arriving in London: Chipotle.

I had been craving Chipotle for a few weeks, ever since I found out that there were some in the city. I got a burrito with half chicken-half beef (a scientifically proved way to get more MEAT), and chips and guac. To say that Chipotle was my favorite meal abroad would make me sound like such an American scrub with no sense of culture or any shred of a sophisticated pallet, but Chipotle was my favorite meal abroad. I was STARVED at this point in the day and for the love of God just look at these pictures.

After Chipotle we went to Ana and Karl’s flats (Flats?!!?! Sew trendy #London  #Abroad ) to drop off our bags. After settling in and regaining feeling in my toes and fingers, we went to Westminster station to meet up with Bridget. Westminster Station was straight out of a post card, as soon as we stepped onto  the street we were met with the image that I'd say most associate with London, the London Eye and Big Ben.

Me and Bridget

Me and Ana Luna

Big Ben

London Eye

We walked over to Westminster Abbey and all of the tours had ended. However, there was a choir service at 5:30 that was free admission so we attended that. The music was nice, although the real star was the building itself. The ceilings are absolutely MASSIVE and every single wall or corner is carved with such insane detail. There were like five separate churches inside and it was just a breathtaking view. I was amazed that they could have build something so massive back in the 1200’s. No power tools? No cranes or trucks!! 

ALIENS.

It was amazing to be in this space where the likes of Henry VIII had been coronated or where Kate and Prince William got married (Ladiesss). Mom, you would have loved this. We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside, but this may give you an idea.

Westminster Abbey

After Westminster we grabbed dinner at the Blackbird for some traditional British pies. We intended to watch the Villanova game at a sports bar but the place we went to wasn’t playing the game. We hung out there for a while, laughing at all of the freshman abroad students in their Nova Nation shirts attempting to start chants/socialize with us. After a fleeting NCAA basketball fix (my Bracket has been bent sideways and f*$&#D) we went to meet some of Ana’s friends. We ended up at this ridiculous Japanese themed tea place called Opium and couldn’t leave there fast enough. A presumably Serbian promoter then got us into another club but we were all exhausted and had big plans for Saturday, so we closed the books on a successful Day 1.

Commence the warmest, CHEAPEST night’s sleep in all of London. Ana Luna you are a SAINT.

Saturday I woke up and braved the snow, took the tube all by myself (Mom/Dad you’d be so proud of my travelling skills. I think I could drive to Wendy’s now. Ugh Wendy’s) and met Bridget at Buckingham Palace for the Changing of the Guard.  I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew that at the very least I’d get to do some prime time Asian tourist people watching. Some of the best in the World.

Perhaps we missed it but literally all that happened was one of the Royal guards (red shirts) stepped out of his little guard shack and a new guard took off his black jacket and stepped in the box. Pretty anti-climactic. As we were leaving, a bit slighted after that pathetic display of national pride, about 20 guards on horses marched right in front of the palace, putting on quite the show. No Queen sightings.

Bridget and I wandered through St. James park in search of the infamous London pelicans, but none were to be found. There were so many gross birds and weird ladies feeding the beasts, all in all a hilarious stroll through a park if I’ve ever had one. We hopped on the tube to the London Bridge and I got my customary instagram of the Tower Bridge. We then went to the Borough Market. This experience requires its own paragraph, holy shit was it awesome.

The Reading Terminal Market has found its competition. Borough market was a massive outdoor market under a bridge with so much food. As soon as you think it ends, a whole new area will reveal itself. I ate an Argentinian empanada and the best sandwich I have ever enjoyed. A Pork Belly with Crackle and Apple Sauce sandwich from this small counter called Roast. Scott would have died. Even Guy Fieri would have been impressed with this culinary accomplishment. It was basically a mound of pork fat with deep fried pork skin? Ears? Testicles? It doesn’t matter it was so amazing.

After lunch we went to the Churchill War Rooms. This decision was initially a means of escaping the cold, but it was my best decision of the weekend. Life? Unbeknownst to me prior to yesterday, the war rooms were a SECRET bunker underneath London where Winston Churchill conducted and essentially ran WWII. It was fascinating. The staff worked and lived down here for the duration of the war, working an average of 16 hours a day. We got to see the Conference Room where all meetings and decisions were made. The tour also takes you through the Map Room, left just as it was after the War ended, which tracked the Allied forces on maps using push pins and yarn. I was absolutely fascinated that they could conduct a war without any computers or real technology.

Since London was continually bombed throughout the war (to divert attention on civilians’ needs and not the war effort), this secret compound was build with a 6 foot steel and concrete reinforced ceiling. The war rooms were never hit.

My favorite part of the tour was a room with an “Occupied” lock on it, leading every person in the camp to believe that it was a restroom. Only Churchill knew the room’s real function, a direct phone line to the President of the US, either Roosevelt or Truman at the time. I thought that was so cool, and just one of many amazing stories regarding the LEGEND of Winston Churchill.

Jeez he’s babbling about these, what are they, war rooms? I don’t get it….It was so amazing to be in the space where decisions were made that literally changed the course of history. They spoke of the pressure that these men were under on a daily basis and I could really sense it, tough to explain. I’m switching majors and becoming a history teacher. I didn't take many pictures, but this should give you an idea of a sample room.

ALSO best part of the War rooms was running into Nygren’s friend Carys. 2 Points.

I'm serious guys, it was so cool.

Saturday night we all went out and met some of Bridget’s friends at a club called Foundation. They serve drinks in tea pots and mason jars, which was pretty awesome. Saturday was definitely the wilder of my two night’s in London. See facebook. It was a great night to end an awesome weekend.

I flew back today with no issues. I didn’t have to pay 70 pounds to print my boarding pass or get stuck in Paris due to a gay marriage rally, forcing me to book a new flight and get back to Galway past 3am. I am counting my blessings.

London was an awesome city, but the company definitely made the weekend. I’ve gotta thank Bridget and Ana and Karl for everything, you all rock!

I’m back in Galway for two days now and then my Spring Break begins. Don’t expect to see a blog from me for quite some time, but I can assure that my next post will be pretty epic. Well enjoy the NCAA games I envy all of my American readers, and Go Shockers!

Listened to this song about 41 times while writing this post. The Lumineers album is unreal.

Cork

This past weekend I traveled to Cork, the second largest city in Ireland.

While Cork may be the second largest city, it is by far the ugliest, grayest, saddest, rudest, and to be honest, dirtiest city that I have see abroad.  Despite the following reaction when I got off the bus, I somehow managed to have an enjoyable weekend.



One of the kids in my program named Anthony had a friend in Cork, or was it a loose acquaintance, let's just assume somebody he met on Craigslist, who offered us her apartment for Saturday night.  Disregarding a background check or even a facebook confirmation that they were actually friends, a group of us jumped on board and headed to Cork, the vast unknown.

We boarded a CityLink Bus in Galway at around 8:30 and arrived in Cork just before noon. We were met with rain and cold and a housing situation that was far from confirmed.  Our host, Allie, met us near the bus station and took us to her apartment to drop off our bags and inspect the floor that we would be sleeping on.

Our first stop in this eutopian paradise of Cork City Ireland was the English Market.  This is one of the biggest attractions in Cork, and advertised as one of the "Best markets in all of Europe."  It was a decent sized market with more raw meat and fish than potentially anywhere else in Eurpoe, I'll concede that fact. However, the cooked food selection failed in comparison to the sensory and emotional overload that IS the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia. Different League. Nonetheless, I had a delicious apple and chicken sausage with onions and peppers. I started warming up to Cork.

After lunch, the other 5 Villanovans went to the Blarney Castle, about twenty minutes from the city. Since I had recently gone with my family and Erin plans to visit with her Mom in May, we decided to take a train to the Fota Wildlife Park.  That happened. This place had great reviews and was essentially a zoo, but with no actual cages.  You can think of it like walking thorough a wild safari, except the animals are all fenced off.  You can walk right up to some of the animals though, which was definitely very cool.

Penguins

Up in this Kangaroos grill

These? These are meerkats

Cheetah, wait until you hear about the CHEETAH RUN

Wait where are the animals. This is stupid.

If you need a caption for this picture, it's a lost cause

The Wildlife Park was a great surprise. The train dropped us off at the opposite end of the main action, so at first inspection it actually looked pretty anticlimactic.  I was so ready to give up.



But after we ventured over towards the main entrance the action started picking up.  There were bigger animals and zebras and red pandas and we made it just in time to catch the Cheetah Run, arguably the most thrilling thing that has ever happened or will happen at a zoo. Ever. If a small child falls into a lion pit and befriends the beasts, escaping without a scratch, the cheetah run would still be more exciting.

At 3:00 every day, a zookeeper ties dead rabbits to the bottom of a zip-line.  Yes. He then controls the zipline to whip around an enclosed cheetah area where 4 REAL cheetahs run full speed in pursuit of the dangling meat, eventually ripping it down with their claws or jaws and eating right before your eyes. Now I can't honestly say that I saw a cheetah running this fast, but they came pretty close. Scooter could have died.



After a train ride back to Cork, we went to another famous stop in Cork called O'Conaill's chocolate shop.  This place makes all their own chocolate and is well known for their hot chocolate. This hot chocolate.

We grabbed a light dinner, 4 pieces of sushi each, and met up with everyone back at the apartment. We hung out in our hosts apartment and then hit the town. Our night out in Cork was one of the most fun and absurd I've had abroad thus far. What Cork lacks in charm or sunlight or any signs of a sanitation department, it certainly makes up for in a decent nightlife.

Vod. Aftermath of an evening in Cork.

After a brief stint in Cork it was already Sunday and time to head back to Galway.  We grabbed lunch at a place called the WoolShed Baa & Grill. This was the closest thing I've seen to an Applebee's in Ireland, and nothing was more perfect. We shared a monster app platter which cured any demons anybody had from the night before.

We got back to Galway late on Sunday night, and it's been a regular week of class thus far.  I am taking the next few weeks to get ahead on some work, as I plan to be travelling a lot in the next month or so.

St. Patrick's Day is on Sunday. I have never really gotten too excited about St.Patty's Day, but I'm positive I will have my best one ever on Sunday. Apparently 80,000 or so people come to Galway for the Parade. "I'm feeling...I'm feeling like I wanna rage. Right Now."



Anyway, I'm excited to watch the final Big East Tournament and March Madness can't come fast enough.  I have been doing a bit of research in my spare time so I have some sleepers ready. Watch out Ellen Russo.

Most importantly: HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARY BETH! I'm sure you'll read this is a few weeks when the hangover subsides.

You'll hear from me after London next weekend, or possibly St. Patty's Day. Enjoy day dranking at the QUARTZ, bitches!

This is my favorite DMB song at the moment. I've started listening to them more. Big Boy, Matt Mahoney: Let's see a concert this summer.

Aran Islands

This past Saturday I travelled to the Aran Islands. This is definitely a hidden gem of Ireland and was one of my favorite days abroad thus far. The Aran Islands are a group of three small islands off the western coast of Ireland. You can see these jagged, sparsely inhibited rocks from the Cliffs of Moher, and they are only accessed by ferry or plane.

We woke up on Saturday and headed into town to pick up our tickets and catch a bus to the ferry dock.  There were 7 Villanova students from my program and Megan's entire ISA group so it was a big group of us.  The bus ride to the ferry took about an hour, and before we knew it the ferry was on it's way towards Inis Mor, or the "Big Island," which is by far the most populated and touristy, if you could even call it that.  We made everything on time and were off, so far so good.

As soon as we got off the ferry, we were bombarded by different men trying to sell us on a horse and carraige tour, or a bus tour, or better yet bike rentals.  We decided on bike rentals and this proved to be an awesome idea. The bike cost 20 euros, and you got 10 back when the bike was safely returned.  Without any real sense of direction or idea of what there's to do on the Aran Islands, we started riding and followed other bikers.  About 5 minutes into the bike ride these two dogs, presumably strays, ran up to all of us on the bikes and essentially shepherded and herded us down only road towards one end of the island.  These sheep dogs would be everywhere throughout the day, right until we boarded the boat and went home.  I wonder if these dogs greet a pack of lost tourists on bikes every day and show them around their neighborhood? Bosses.  They were insanely kind and definitely made the day.  The dogs, and the weather made the day I should say.  For the first time abroad, I felt hot in Ireland.  I was sweating on the bike! I was shedding layers!

First encounter with Dog #1

Puppy Pictures?!? WHEN DID YOU TAKE THAT PICTURE?!?!?

Dog #2

 The first stop we made on the bikes was a random cemetery, good for nothing else really than this picture. One of my prouder abroad pictures to date, if I may say so myself.

After taking more pictures and playing with the dogs on a beach, we back tracked to the small town area where the ferry dropped us off. Apparently we had gotten lost, on an ISLAND. An island that has 1 road, and is all of 9 miles long. Legend. After getting on the right trail, we rode alongside fields and farms and rock walls towards Dun Aonghasa, a fort atop the cliffs on the other side of the island.  Before I continue, let me explain my real reason for liking the Aran Islands so much....THE ROCK WALLS. Since being in Ireland, I have been fascinated by rock walls of all shapes and sizes. Why did they build them? Why are there so many? How did they carry those huge stones without machines? Where do the stones come from? Where do babies come from? How do they balance so perfectly? How is it that I can't kick the walls down even though it's just rocks stacked on top of each other?

This is me, more or less, every time that I see a rock wall.



At the Aran Islands there was no shortage of these miraculous works of human craftsmanship and boredom. Or alien? Thinking that Aliens had something to do with them.  Anyway, I apologize for ranting but the Aran Islands was for rock wall lovers what Disney is like for Marissa Olcott. Amazing.

Rock wall leading up to the Fort, couldn't push it over

Unassuming rock wall. Note the beauty. The mastery. The MYSTERY.

Moving on with the world's sweatiest bike ride (long sleeve, sweatshirt, and peacoat in 50 degree sun. Swamp Body), we came upon Dun Aonghsas, an old old wooden ship used in the civil war era, I believe  To be honest I didn't really take the time to learn about the fort and read the informational signage, too many rock walls to try and push over.  After hiking up to the mountain, me Erin and Rachel (lost the big pack of bikers, uh totally on accident), were met with some of the most beautiful views I have ever seen both abroad and anywhere else.

While it was too dangerous to have this type of reaction on the edge of a 300 foot cliff leading to jagged rocks, my internal reaction was similar to this kid. He was like a kid on Christmas morning? I get it!

Fort. So?

Atop the cliffs

Sperry's: Not just for looking like a doosher anymore, good for mountain climbing too!

I would argue that these cliffs were better than those at Moher

View from inside the fort

 After soaking up some rays on top of the fort and the surrounding cliffs, we rode back into town to catch the 5pm ferry.  The ride back was a breeze because it was primarily down hill. Erin, Rachel, and I ate a late lunch at Joe Watty's and for a while were literally the only people in the restaurant. Aran Islands are more or less a ghost town. A horror/psychological thriller will be filmed there someday, if not already. Possible inspiration for Shutter Island. I had the most amazing chicken sandwich with Fries I swear and the single most refreshing alcoholic beverage of my life, an ice cold Heineken.  I built up a pretty solid appetite/thirst from riding around all day and this was the perfect way to end such a relaxing yet physically straining day.

The dogs greeted us at the ferry to send us off and we were back to the mainland, leaving the mini paradise that I had discovered on the Aran Islands. Saturday was an all around success and I had such a great day.  I was a bit nervous going into the day that there may not be enough to do but enjoying the sun and riding through some of the prettiest sights I've seen in Ireland was definitely more than I even expected.

Sad Sendoff

This is a regular week, with plans to go to Cork over the weekend. Congrats to the Monstars for winning the rec basketball championship, one of the greatest seasons and turnarounds in league history. Possibly athletics history.

Because it's baseball season, and I have a new found love for this cat:

OK I'M OUT.