Last Friday at 8am I boarded a bus with 28 other American students from NUIG and one Irish leader, an adorable tiny little Senior names Yvonne. After about four hours we arrived in Dublin, from which our flight left around 2. We landed in Eindoven, Netherlands an hour later. We then waited for another bus, this time a double decker with a bar halfway filled with Dutch and Spanish students. We were on that for 14 hours through the night (stopping in Luxembourg for dinner - how exciting) until 8am on Saturday at which point we finally arrived in the glorious and beautiful French town of Les Deus Alpes. The mountains were unreal - I have never seen such a landscape before.
We had orientation on little to no sleep and then went to town to explore and get some food since we couldn't get into our rooms until 5. It was beautiful out, insane blue sky and insane white mountains, a great pair.
We couldn't ski the first day, so we went to bed early after going to the pub at the resort for a little bit. I lived in a four-man with Meaghan and two people we met on the bus, Chris from Missouri and Jenn from Canisius in Buffalo, which was cool. We all got along really well and had a lot of roommate bonding time.
The trip for me has been the most challenging thing since I've come abroad. All my other trips have been for fun, kind of touch and go, see and do what you want, go to the beach, party, visit friends -- then I go to the Alps and yes there is an aspect to seeing the scenes and meeting new people and partying, but Meaghan had me out on the slopes at 9am the first day. I guess I didnt realize it, but when you learn to ski, you just go. You learn the basics (don't cross your skis, how to start and stop and turn, etc.) and then you just fly down a steep ass hill. I cried at the top of my first run, a green, which is the easiest, since I literally had just learned how to put skis on and get on and off the chair lift without falling, but I manned up and got all the way down without falling once! It was an amazing feeling.
I am not normally challenged in any physical aspect aka I don't like to work out, so to be presented with intense mountain sides and only one way to go down was really hard at first.
The first day after the green, we went back up and did it again until I was a bit more confident, but then Meg said we should go up higher. So, up we went to 3200 feet where she tricked me into going down a blue, which I thought was a green. I made it down that without falling again!! I was so pumped. The rest of the day consisted of two more blues which took me forever to get down since they were soooo hard and really icy. I fell like three times, but then realized that if I just trusted myself and went a little faster my turns would be smoother and I probably wouldn't fall. So it was a great learning experience.
Day two started with a green but then once I was back into things we took a ten minute gondola ride to the upper most part of the moutain where I then skiied down about 5 or 6 hard blues in a row. I only fell twice and once was not my fault, but a stupid out of control snowboarder's. I learned that if you just look about ten feet in front of you and not at the period sized people at the bottom, you can break it down and eventually make it down. My body was killing after day two, my calves and wrists (from using a stupid t-bar and a stupid rope pull) so I took the third morning off while Meg and Jenn went out. I got to go into town and use the Internet, etc. but by the time I got home for lunch Jenn and Meg were back because there was a literal whiteout on the mountain. It was too unsafe for them to take me up, so we watched Cruel Intentions and hung out instead.
Day four rained, and the entire mountain was closed due to conditions, which sucked, so we couldn't go out at all. We watched Shrek 2 and Crossroads, went into town and just hung out.
I was in bed before midnight every night and loved it. There was a pub crawl one night, a barbecue and sled race another night, chugging contests, dinners, a toga party, etc. We didn't do that much drinking or partying simply because we wanted to be up and out early. Everyone was really nice and got along well, so it was a lot of fun.
By the end of the week, I went down three reds, which is the equivalent of a single black in the U.S. I did these on the last day after a day of rain and snow leaving the mountains covered in about six inches of lovely powder. Meg and Jen have each been skiing for ten years and both said it was the best conditions they have ever skiied on.
So, all in all it was amazing and wonderful and totally great although my birthday began on the bus ride home and was spent mainly in the Eidenhoven airport...oh well. That's why tonight we're doing dinner and then going out.
I have a test tomorrow and two papers due on Friday and then Meg and I go to Amsterdam to meet up with a bunch of friends, do the Anne Frank house, Rembrandt museum, etc. I'm exhausted but it should be great.
Only a month left and then I'm home!
Monday, April 14, 2008
Friday, April 11, 2008
Les Deus Alpes 3200
Currently I am in the midst of the most beautiful and most ski-able mountains on Earth, and its raining. Its basically like being a seven year old on Christmas morning, sitting by the tree waiting to open presents. And then the presents burst into flames...
Our last day is tomorrow because we leave tomorrow night. It had better get nice out.
Oh, and then its my birthday. WHAT WHAT!!!
Our last day is tomorrow because we leave tomorrow night. It had better get nice out.
Oh, and then its my birthday. WHAT WHAT!!!
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Kindergarten Tales
I would just like to add to the mix that I went to student teaching this morning and learned from a five year old named Trenyce, whose 25 year old father is a pro boxer, that she has a baby brother named Rocky. No joke. Love it.
Then, I turned to the red-headed, freckled, toothless little six year old next to me, who comes from a family of tinkers and lives in a caravan, and asked him if he had any siblings. Yes, he replied, one sister name Gypsy.
Just something to brighten up your day.
Then, I turned to the red-headed, freckled, toothless little six year old next to me, who comes from a family of tinkers and lives in a caravan, and asked him if he had any siblings. Yes, he replied, one sister name Gypsy.
Just something to brighten up your day.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Venezia
So. Overall, my experience in Prague was a good one, but a very eye-opening and abraisive one. The lack of language skills was hard to work with, and left me feeling somewhat isolated from the rest of the people living and working there. I was never met with downright rudeness (reference Dublin post...haha), but people were not as eager to attempt to communicate using other means, as has been my personal experience in many Spanish-speaking countries/Italy.
I loved the hostel and we ate great food, but I was also somewhat confused about what "Czech culture" actually was. Oh, well. I am glad I went but probably will not be running back there anytime soon.
Moving on speedily to Venice, my new favorite place of all time. When Eugenie and I landed in the Venice airport, I naievely thought that I would immediately be transported to the Grand Canal and gondolas. I was mistaken. I only saw dirty, industrial warehouses and huge pipes with black smoke issuing from them. Disappointing. However, after an hour bus ride to the main bus station, some confusion as to how to get to our hostel/camping ground, another bus to the other airport, another bus to the hostel, checking into our hostel, realizing it was a trailer with two beds and a miniscule shower, and two buses BACK to the bus station, we walked ten feet to the left and saw before us the exact image that I had been expecting and unknowingly yearning for.
The Grand Canal. Venice itself. I can't even explain how beautiful it all is. And its not only the physical beauty of the place, but the overall laid back atmosphere. The gorgeous people with their gorgeous leather jackets and sexy, dark hair. The greenish blue tint of the water. The sense of community among everyone, the tourists AND the local Venetians. Even the homeless people looked happier and the street vendors were more cheerful. I swear.
At first, we just walked along the canal, taking it all in. But, it was not more than five minutes before I literally ran into one of my friend from home, Erin, who is studying in Madrid and was in Italy for break. It was so random that we saw each other and so great to see a friendly face.
After that we made a beeline for the first italian restaurant on the water. I got lasagne and Eugenie got gnocchi and they were both the best thing we had ever tasted. Literally melt in your mouth. We also had our first wine, which was delish.
We then deliberated if we were going to walk along the canal to San Marco plaza or if we were going to take a vaporetto aka the water bus.
I loved the hostel and we ate great food, but I was also somewhat confused about what "Czech culture" actually was. Oh, well. I am glad I went but probably will not be running back there anytime soon.
Moving on speedily to Venice, my new favorite place of all time. When Eugenie and I landed in the Venice airport, I naievely thought that I would immediately be transported to the Grand Canal and gondolas. I was mistaken. I only saw dirty, industrial warehouses and huge pipes with black smoke issuing from them. Disappointing. However, after an hour bus ride to the main bus station, some confusion as to how to get to our hostel/camping ground, another bus to the other airport, another bus to the hostel, checking into our hostel, realizing it was a trailer with two beds and a miniscule shower, and two buses BACK to the bus station, we walked ten feet to the left and saw before us the exact image that I had been expecting and unknowingly yearning for.
The Grand Canal. Venice itself. I can't even explain how beautiful it all is. And its not only the physical beauty of the place, but the overall laid back atmosphere. The gorgeous people with their gorgeous leather jackets and sexy, dark hair. The greenish blue tint of the water. The sense of community among everyone, the tourists AND the local Venetians. Even the homeless people looked happier and the street vendors were more cheerful. I swear.
At first, we just walked along the canal, taking it all in. But, it was not more than five minutes before I literally ran into one of my friend from home, Erin, who is studying in Madrid and was in Italy for break. It was so random that we saw each other and so great to see a friendly face.
After that we made a beeline for the first italian restaurant on the water. I got lasagne and Eugenie got gnocchi and they were both the best thing we had ever tasted. Literally melt in your mouth. We also had our first wine, which was delish.
We then deliberated if we were going to walk along the canal to San Marco plaza or if we were going to take a vaporetto aka the water bus.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Prague
So after our delish lunch at the swanky restaurant with the view of the bridge, during which I ate caprese and pork fillet (a Czech specialty), we hit the bridge ourselves. We walked across it as the sun came out and the snow disappeared and it was lovely. We took some pictures and enjoyed the view, all the while heading toward the Prague Castle. After walking up nearly two hundred steps, we finally reached the best view of the city and the castle. We went inside the cathedral part of the complex, which was beautiful and then just sat and enjoyed the view.
That night we went out to pizza for dinner, which was surprisingly amazing, and then spent about two hours getting lost looking for a club that had been recommended to us by Eugenie's friend who spent a semester in Prague. After the second hour it was cold and dark and we were exhausted and whiny. After some rude people wouldn't give us directions, we finally stumbled upon it and ended up running into some kids from BC (of course...). However, it had sort of lost its glamour since it took so long to get there so we didnt stay long and soon headed home.
The next morning we had our last wonderful, hot shower and then took a cab to the bagel place that we couldn't find ourselves the day before. It had also been recommended to us and it was the best. I had a huge three decker everything bagel turkey club and about ten coffees. There were tons of Americans inside, which was a great break to simply hear English, and Meg ran into a family friend from home, which was crazy.
After that we headed toward the Jewish quarter of Prague to see the museums there. The first building we went into had the names and birth-death dates of 80,000 Monrovian and Bohemian Jews who had been killed during the Holocaust printed on the wall in red ink. It was insane and intense and draining. The upstairs had a memorial to the students who were killed, complete with drawings and photographs of the adorable kids. It was unlike anything I had ever seen before because there are not usually artifacts presented on behalf of the kids complete with photos of them next to their art. It could have been my kindergarteners in Ireland who had done the pictures...
After that we exited the museum to the graveyard which is also the most photographed place in all of Prague. It was gorgeous. The grave markers were all in Czech and other languages so I couldn't read what was on them, but they were heaped haphazardly all over the lawn, which was basically a hill since graves were made on top of graves since there was no place to put all the bodies. We went into two or three other museums after that, all full of Jewish ceremonial items and religious memorabilia. It was a good morning, and definitely my favorite thing that we did in Prague.
After that we headed to Wensislaus Square, which is much more touristy and very close to our hostel. We ate the recommended street vendor snack of a friend mozzerella sandwich, which was tasted just like what you would imagine, and then headed back to the hostel for some relaxing and warming up. Around nine we went back to the square to find dinner, but everything was either too expensive or didn't look good so we went back toward the hostel and found another pizza place, haha. We just went to bed after dinner since we had been up early and out all day.
The next morning we checked out and headed to the airport, which was sort of far away. Meg headed to her terminal to fly to Rome, and Eugenie and I headed to our gate for Venice.
We landed in Venice around 11:35 that day.
That night we went out to pizza for dinner, which was surprisingly amazing, and then spent about two hours getting lost looking for a club that had been recommended to us by Eugenie's friend who spent a semester in Prague. After the second hour it was cold and dark and we were exhausted and whiny. After some rude people wouldn't give us directions, we finally stumbled upon it and ended up running into some kids from BC (of course...). However, it had sort of lost its glamour since it took so long to get there so we didnt stay long and soon headed home.
The next morning we had our last wonderful, hot shower and then took a cab to the bagel place that we couldn't find ourselves the day before. It had also been recommended to us and it was the best. I had a huge three decker everything bagel turkey club and about ten coffees. There were tons of Americans inside, which was a great break to simply hear English, and Meg ran into a family friend from home, which was crazy.
After that we headed toward the Jewish quarter of Prague to see the museums there. The first building we went into had the names and birth-death dates of 80,000 Monrovian and Bohemian Jews who had been killed during the Holocaust printed on the wall in red ink. It was insane and intense and draining. The upstairs had a memorial to the students who were killed, complete with drawings and photographs of the adorable kids. It was unlike anything I had ever seen before because there are not usually artifacts presented on behalf of the kids complete with photos of them next to their art. It could have been my kindergarteners in Ireland who had done the pictures...
After that we exited the museum to the graveyard which is also the most photographed place in all of Prague. It was gorgeous. The grave markers were all in Czech and other languages so I couldn't read what was on them, but they were heaped haphazardly all over the lawn, which was basically a hill since graves were made on top of graves since there was no place to put all the bodies. We went into two or three other museums after that, all full of Jewish ceremonial items and religious memorabilia. It was a good morning, and definitely my favorite thing that we did in Prague.
After that we headed to Wensislaus Square, which is much more touristy and very close to our hostel. We ate the recommended street vendor snack of a friend mozzerella sandwich, which was tasted just like what you would imagine, and then headed back to the hostel for some relaxing and warming up. Around nine we went back to the square to find dinner, but everything was either too expensive or didn't look good so we went back toward the hostel and found another pizza place, haha. We just went to bed after dinner since we had been up early and out all day.
The next morning we checked out and headed to the airport, which was sort of far away. Meg headed to her terminal to fly to Rome, and Eugenie and I headed to our gate for Venice.
We landed in Venice around 11:35 that day.
St. Patrick's Day and Prague
This past spring break was twelve days of the most intense, jam-packed travel experiences of my life. Even going to El Salvador last summer was not as tiring as these past two weeks were. In the end, I am happily home, along with many souvenirs and great memories.
I started off my break on the 17th with a little trip over to Dublin for St. Patrick's Day 2008. Jenny, a friend from BC, was visiting us in Galway, so Meg, Jenny, myself and my roommate Eugenie made up the original crew. We jumped on the 9am bus to Dublin and promptly fell asleep. Upon arrival, three and a half hours later, we dropped our stuff at the train station and grabbed a cab. Because the parade had already started we couldn't get too close to the city centre, but we got as close as we could and joined the hordes of people lining the streets. It was a beautiful day and there were families and people all over the place. The first few paraders we saw were a couple of acrobats on a rotating, spinning contraption, which was so cool. There were lots of dancers and bands, etc. as well as huge floats that resembled bugs and monsters, etc.
We wandered the streets looking for a more fun, less family-oriented place to stand but were turned away from making it down to the end of the main street by police who told us that there were riots and mayhem down there so it was unsafe to let anyone else past. Boo. After the parade we headed to a restaurant where we got a table with an forty-something Irish couple from County Mayo - Charlie and Joanne. They were the sweetest Irish people I have ever met, which may or may not have been influenced by the number of rounds we shared. We had a fabulous time chatting with them and enjoying the crazy people walking around the city. Charlie even bought us St. Patrick's Day hats. It was the best.
The next morning we checked out of the hostel and headed back into the city, since our flights didn't leave until 4pm. My new travel outfit plan was put into action as I picked up a five pack of men's white undershirts from Dunnes. I figured they were easy to pack and easy to leave behind if I ended up not having enough room on the way back. We got some bagels/smoothies and used the Internet, and then grabbed the bus to the airport. At this point, Jenny was already back in Spain and Meg, Eugenie and I were heading to Prague.
Little did I know, since I never check the weather, that my white tees and I were heading into a snowy Czech wonderland... Whatever. We landed in Prague around 7pm and got into a AAA yellow cab, the only safe, honest and English-speaking cab company in the area. The driver was around 65 and was hilarious. It took him about ten minutes to gain his confidence to speak to us in English, but when he did he let us know that we had to "attention! attention!" when we were taking money out of ATM's, only use them inside a bank, and watch our bags since pickpockets were rampant. He was such a sweetheart. He told us about the address number system in the area and pointed out the mini Eiffel Tower and the Prague Castle along our route.
He took us right to the door of our hostel, a five minute walk from the main square in the city, and made sure we were safely inside before departing. We had decided to start our trip off in Prague because the exchange rate is so good for us and we had heard everything was cheaper than in Ireland, etc. Ten USD translates to somewhere between one hundred and fifty and two hundred Czech crowns. It was sort of strange to be dealing with thousands of crowns at a time, and to have to pay for dinner with seemingly hundreds of a currency, but we got used to it. A beer, for example, all of which were huge, was somewhere around 20-30 crowns. That's about a dollar.
The first night after checking in and realizing that our hostel was amazing - four beds for the three of us, high ceilings, a great, clean bathroom and separate toilet, a full kitchen, big screen TV and free Internet all within our suite, we headed out to find some food. Since it was somewhat later than most people get dinner, we asked for advice and the sweet guy who was running the hostel pointed us in the right direction. It was quite cold and really dark, so it was sort of scary, but we watched out bags and soon happened upon a tiny little restaurant with a good number of people inside. I got a salad and some soup, and we all got beers. It was insanely cheap and decently good, but then I started to feel sick so we went back to the hostel and went to bed.
The next morning we awoke to snow, so we bundled up as much as we could and hit the streets. We started to walk in the direction of the main square and found a little market selling trinkets and weird foods. We wandered around for a while looking for a famous bagel place, but found ourselves at the foot of the Charles Bridge. It was something that we all wanted to walk across, but it started to rain, so we hurried inside for lunch at a nicer restaurant right nearby. We were basically treated like VIPs and got cappechinos and huge amounts of food. Meg got a chicken that was literally an entire chicken on a wooden platter - it was delish despite looking like something a pirate would eat...
I started off my break on the 17th with a little trip over to Dublin for St. Patrick's Day 2008. Jenny, a friend from BC, was visiting us in Galway, so Meg, Jenny, myself and my roommate Eugenie made up the original crew. We jumped on the 9am bus to Dublin and promptly fell asleep. Upon arrival, three and a half hours later, we dropped our stuff at the train station and grabbed a cab. Because the parade had already started we couldn't get too close to the city centre, but we got as close as we could and joined the hordes of people lining the streets. It was a beautiful day and there were families and people all over the place. The first few paraders we saw were a couple of acrobats on a rotating, spinning contraption, which was so cool. There were lots of dancers and bands, etc. as well as huge floats that resembled bugs and monsters, etc.
We wandered the streets looking for a more fun, less family-oriented place to stand but were turned away from making it down to the end of the main street by police who told us that there were riots and mayhem down there so it was unsafe to let anyone else past. Boo. After the parade we headed to a restaurant where we got a table with an forty-something Irish couple from County Mayo - Charlie and Joanne. They were the sweetest Irish people I have ever met, which may or may not have been influenced by the number of rounds we shared. We had a fabulous time chatting with them and enjoying the crazy people walking around the city. Charlie even bought us St. Patrick's Day hats. It was the best.
The next morning we checked out of the hostel and headed back into the city, since our flights didn't leave until 4pm. My new travel outfit plan was put into action as I picked up a five pack of men's white undershirts from Dunnes. I figured they were easy to pack and easy to leave behind if I ended up not having enough room on the way back. We got some bagels/smoothies and used the Internet, and then grabbed the bus to the airport. At this point, Jenny was already back in Spain and Meg, Eugenie and I were heading to Prague.
Little did I know, since I never check the weather, that my white tees and I were heading into a snowy Czech wonderland... Whatever. We landed in Prague around 7pm and got into a AAA yellow cab, the only safe, honest and English-speaking cab company in the area. The driver was around 65 and was hilarious. It took him about ten minutes to gain his confidence to speak to us in English, but when he did he let us know that we had to "attention! attention!" when we were taking money out of ATM's, only use them inside a bank, and watch our bags since pickpockets were rampant. He was such a sweetheart. He told us about the address number system in the area and pointed out the mini Eiffel Tower and the Prague Castle along our route.
He took us right to the door of our hostel, a five minute walk from the main square in the city, and made sure we were safely inside before departing. We had decided to start our trip off in Prague because the exchange rate is so good for us and we had heard everything was cheaper than in Ireland, etc. Ten USD translates to somewhere between one hundred and fifty and two hundred Czech crowns. It was sort of strange to be dealing with thousands of crowns at a time, and to have to pay for dinner with seemingly hundreds of a currency, but we got used to it. A beer, for example, all of which were huge, was somewhere around 20-30 crowns. That's about a dollar.
The first night after checking in and realizing that our hostel was amazing - four beds for the three of us, high ceilings, a great, clean bathroom and separate toilet, a full kitchen, big screen TV and free Internet all within our suite, we headed out to find some food. Since it was somewhat later than most people get dinner, we asked for advice and the sweet guy who was running the hostel pointed us in the right direction. It was quite cold and really dark, so it was sort of scary, but we watched out bags and soon happened upon a tiny little restaurant with a good number of people inside. I got a salad and some soup, and we all got beers. It was insanely cheap and decently good, but then I started to feel sick so we went back to the hostel and went to bed.
The next morning we awoke to snow, so we bundled up as much as we could and hit the streets. We started to walk in the direction of the main square and found a little market selling trinkets and weird foods. We wandered around for a while looking for a famous bagel place, but found ourselves at the foot of the Charles Bridge. It was something that we all wanted to walk across, but it started to rain, so we hurried inside for lunch at a nicer restaurant right nearby. We were basically treated like VIPs and got cappechinos and huge amounts of food. Meg got a chicken that was literally an entire chicken on a wooden platter - it was delish despite looking like something a pirate would eat...
Friday, March 14, 2008
Spring Break Plans
This weekend will be spent in Galway, celebrating St. Patrick's Day.
On the day itself, myself, Meaghan and our friend from BC, Jenny, will take a train to Dublin where we will spend Monday and Monday night. On Tuesday, Meaghan and my roomate from Fordham, Eugenie, fly to Prague.
We are going to spend the 18-21 in Prague, at which point Eugenie and I will split off from Meg (who heads to Spain) and fly to Venice. In Venice, we will meet up with John (Huber) and Leanne (McDonald), two friends of mine from school.
We are going to spend the next five days (21-25ish) seeing Venice, Florence and Pisa (briefly). We arrive in Rome on the 25th and spend two nights there.
I am hoping to fly back to Galway on the 27th so I can have a few days to get some work done, but I haven't booked a flight yet, so who knows. If there are people I know in Rome (JENNA!) I may stay longer.
So that's that. I'll try to update, but who knows.
On the day itself, myself, Meaghan and our friend from BC, Jenny, will take a train to Dublin where we will spend Monday and Monday night. On Tuesday, Meaghan and my roomate from Fordham, Eugenie, fly to Prague.
We are going to spend the 18-21 in Prague, at which point Eugenie and I will split off from Meg (who heads to Spain) and fly to Venice. In Venice, we will meet up with John (Huber) and Leanne (McDonald), two friends of mine from school.
We are going to spend the next five days (21-25ish) seeing Venice, Florence and Pisa (briefly). We arrive in Rome on the 25th and spend two nights there.
I am hoping to fly back to Galway on the 27th so I can have a few days to get some work done, but I haven't booked a flight yet, so who knows. If there are people I know in Rome (JENNA!) I may stay longer.
So that's that. I'll try to update, but who knows.
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