Thirsty in Roma

As you all know, my 4-month semester abroad has come to a sweet, sweet end.  I’ve been home for about three weeks now, and it’s been pretty daunting getting acclimated to the grind of the real world (i.e. full-time job, regular workouts, NOT gallivanting around Europe and stuffing my face).  What’s more, it’s summer (actually, technically it’s still spring) in Maryland, which means soaring temperatures and palpable humidity - my hair is not pleased.

I can’t help but think every day that there’s a whole world happening while I’m living my life here. I’m stuck Stateside for the foreseeable future, but there’s no way I’m not continuing my travels in a few years (or hopefully sooner). That being said, I have no travel experiences worthy to offer (haha) and this marks the end of my travel blog. It was a wonderful experience and it’s awesome I was able to document it.

Thanks for reading. Go big or go home!

The second stop of my post-Rome Euro travels was Dublin, Ireland. Like the fools we were, being cut off to the rest of the world and all (I know - shame on me! I’m working on getting caught up on my current events, pinky promise), we landed in Dublin with no idea that the Queen of England was currently visiting.

So how did we find out? We approached a cab driver about getting to our hostel, which was right outside Trinity College. As our luck would have it, the Queen was at Trinity during the very time we arrived, so that part of the city was closed down. The driver’s response?

“The best I can do is take you as close to the hostel as I can - a few blocks away.”

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we were forced to haul all of our possessions (mind you, everything we owned from the last four months in Rome) from where the cab dropped us off to our hostel/ somewhere around five to eight blocks. Thanks for the warm welcome. This was not the last time the Queen intercepted our plans in Dublin.

After settling in, we walked around Temple Bar, listened to some street musicians, grabbed a great sit-in Thai dinner and decided to do a bar crawl. We met a lot of great people from Portugal, Holland, Australia and even America, and as the night progressed, I knew Dublin would become one of my favorite cities. One of the bars encompassed what comes to mind when you think of a typical Irish pub - small quarters, live acoustic music, loud singing and lively dancing. So fun.

Five bars later…

The theme of our first day of sight-seeing in Dublin slowly shaped up to the “Ruined by the Queen.” We headed to Dublin Castle first thing in the morning only to find out that it was closed for the day due to the Queen’s scheduled visit. After scrambling to rearrange our plans for the day, we ended up in Dublinia, a museum showcasing Dublin in Medieval Times.

Christ Church Cathedral on the way to Dublinia.

It was really more of a fun house…

We spent the rest of our morning shopping (and looking for a new suitcase because mine suffered a minor malfunction upon arrival in Dublin #travelstress!) for souvenirs and walking around Dublin, which is actually pretty enjoyable to mosey about in.

Ha’penny Bridge - known for its former half-penny charge to cross.

River Liffey.

These guards were all over the city to protect the Queen, and they were all so nice!

This is me souvenir shopping. I promise this photo is NOT photoshopped.

During the afternoon we walked out to “Greater Dublin” to visit the Guinness Storehouse (we were told it wouldn’t be open until noon because the Queen visited in the morning; she must like the extra hops). The storehouse was completely worth the eight euro admission because the design of the building gave it another fun house-esque feel and it included a free pint of beer (even though we were unable to finish ours, haha).

Water straight from the Wicklow Mountains, NOT the River Liffey!

BEER.

We were running on empty when we finished with the Guinness Storehouse, but we wanted to get everything accomplished that day so we could try to visit the Irish countryside the next (i.e. Galway or Cork). Because we were already in “Greater Dublin,” we wanted to visit Phoenix Park, which was only a few blocks away. We pushed ourselves to walk there only to find out, once again, that many of the main sights (i.e. The Wellington Monument and the residence of the President of Ireland) were closed off due to the Queen’s stay. We sat around in the grass for a bit, tried to regain some strength, and eventually threw in the towel and decided to get a traditional Irish dinner nearby.

So peaceful in Phoenix Park…

Obviously I had to include a picture of food: Lamb and potatoes.

Bailey’s cheesecake!

We left dinner feeling re-energized and realized the very street our restaurant was located on was closed off by guardrails, being patrolled by guards and lined with onlookers on both sides. After a few moments of processing, we realized this all could only mean one thing: The Queen is coming! For once, we were in the right place at the right time and the Queen actually contributed to our visit. And yes, we saw her! Pretty cool moment.

This is what we walked out into the street to.

The Queen’s entourage.

I snapped the photo too soon, but she was in the Range Rover with the flag on the front. We were able to see her through the windows, woop!

It took us forever and a couple extra back roads to get to our hostel because parts of the city were, again, shut down due to the Queen. Once we finally reached our beds, I don’t think we left them until the next morning.

The next morning we gave Dublin Castle another shot, but learned the inside was closed for the time being due to another upcoming “state visit.” Later we learned the aforementioned state visit was that of President Obama’s, whatta you know.

Though you can’t see it, the castle was outlined with various media outlets due to the post-Queen/ pre-Obama visits.

BBC News at Dublin Castle!

Next for the day was Trinity College. I’d love to study there!

Notice our to-go coffees. We were delightfully pleased.

Mirrored off of the “Sphere Within Sphere” sculpture at Trinity, the same as in the courtyard of the Vatican!

Coolest library ever. I was dying to touch one of the books.

We then shopped, visited some parks, grabbed dinner and sauntered around the beautiful city.

The shirts says “Obama yes we can.” They love him!

Oscar Wilde monument in Marrion Square.

Beautiful friends!

We bought chocolate truffles to devour during our park time. That happened right after this picture was taken.

We saw a play at the historical Abbey Theatre on our last night. It was George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion,” which Audrey Hepburn’s “My Fair Lady” was based on. The play was so entertaining and funny (the English accents were definitely an added bonus; it’s like music to my ears). 

Before the play.

Dublin really was one of the best places I’ve visited and I’m determined to make it back, as well as visit other areas of Ireland. It’s a beautiful country and I truly appreciate how nice everyone was. A man even went out of his way to offer us help with directions when we stopped on the sidewalk just to look at the map. Dublin rocks.

I’ve been back in America for five days and in the last day or so, I’ve felt more nostalgic about leaving Rome (and Europe in general) than ever. I still can’t help but be a snob about my travels and reference every other topic to something I experienced in the last four months - I promise I’m not trying to rub it in people!

Anyhow, it’s great seeing my family and my adorable puppy I missed so much! Still trying to get readjusted to the time and get my sleep schedule on track, but it’s Memorial Day weekend, which means firing up the grill, devouring sweet corn, inhaling fresh watermelon, spending time with family and kick-starting my summer, all of which remind me of how great life in America still is.

P.S. I miss gelato.

Done. Exactly four months abroad have came and gone, and now I’m sitting in Maryland trying to get accustomed to my life again. Though I love seeing the world and only long to see so much more, traveling is hella tiring and I’m ecstatic to be home now. I’m much too tired and lazy to post anything substantial now, but Nice, Dublin and London posts will soon be up.

It’s been almost a week since I left Rome. I spent three days in Nice, France, and now I’m in Dublin, Ireland.

Nice was gorgeous as expected and I loved being able to see Kelsey and his French in action.

Dublin is amazing - it’s shaping up to be one of my favorite places I’ve visited this semester. Everyone is genuinely nice, the food is pretty good and the city is beautiful. The Queen of England has been in town during our time here, which has more or less screwed up our plans each day (entire sections of the city have been closed down, as well as major sights). However, we were able to inadvertently catch a glimpse of her after our dinner yesterday, which was a great unexpected treat.

Today’s our last full day in Dublin - Dublin Castle, St. Stephen’s Green and a play at Abbey Theatre tonight, among all other things.

London tomorrow.

Today’s the day. All my friends have gone their separate ways, and now it’s just Meera, Michelle and me. We’re working to clean out the last of our apartment - so depressing. This experience was one of the best things I’ve done in my life.

The three of us are traveling for the next 10 days and we’re off to Nice today, so I get to see Kelsey! Back to America in 10 days.