Fall Break: Dublin

The third and final city on our trip was Dublin. We only had a couple days there, but they were great! We arrived early on Friday morning. We checked into the hostel, grabbed some breakfast, and then hopped on a tour bus. Since Dublin is so small (and I really had no idea that it was so small), instead of buying public transportation passes, we bought two day passes for a hop-on-hop-off bus tour that made the rounds past all the major sights. The bus tour came with an audio guide and sometimes the drivers would just play the pre-recorded commentary, and sometimes they would do their own commentary. THAT was thoroughly entertaining. The things I can tell you about the Irish are three: they like to drink, they have funny accents, and they have a great sense of humor.

For the first day, we rode the bus through the whole circuit once to see all of Dublin and when we finished that, we rode through a few stops we had already seen to get close to a Starbucks. Now remember, this is on November 2nd. Do you know what happened on November 2nd? Yup. The Red Christmas Starbucks cups came out! Yippee!!! So of course we had to go! I had my first sip of a peppermint mocha from a red holiday cup while listening to Christmas music and watching the streets of Dublin. Love it. It was extra enjoyable too because of how unbelievably cold it was in Dublin. Supposedly we caught them in the middle of a cold snap, as to whether or not that's really true, I don't know, but I know it was cold. I think we topped off at a "warm" 45 degrees (F) during our whole time in Dublin. (And in case you're wondering, Dublin is level with southern Newfoundland, Canada.) So basically it's cold. Really cold. Once we were thoroughly warmed, we made the rounds of going into the major sights that we had just skimmed over, like Dublin Castle, Christs' Church and St. Patrick's Cathedral. Next, we went to visit Kilmainham Gaol, an old Irish prison. With the darkness setting in and the cold atmosphere, it was actually quite an eerie experience. We then took the bus back to our hostel and grabbed dinner nearby.

Starbucks in the beloved red cup

Dublin Castle courtyard

Dublin Castle guardhouse

St. Patrick's Cathedral 

outside St. Patrick's Cathedral

Saturday morning we had a bike tour around Dublin. It showed us most of the stuff we had already seen, but it was still very entertaining to see it by bike. We had great helmets and reflector straps to wear. We totally looked the tourist part. Even though it was cold, it was worth the experience. Even just trying to stay on the "correct" (left) side of the road made the bike ride worth the frozen fingers. After the bike tour, it was only sensible to warm up with some Starbucks. Our next big stop for the day was the Guinness Storehouse. Yes. Guinness as in the beer. Everyone knows that the Irish are infamous for their drinking capabilities, but in case you didn't know, in Dublin alone they have a Guinness Beer factory and a Jameson Whisky factory. Plus, your fun Irish-drinking-fact-of-the-day: only 2/3rds of the beer produced by Guinness in Ireland ever actually leaves the country. Yup. They drink the rest of it. So the Guinness storehouse was actually a very interesting and well designed tour. It was hands down the most engaging, innovative, and well thought out museum I have ever been to. If it wasn't a beer factory and wasn't in Ireland, I would bring all of my future students there. The culmination of the tour was on the 7th floor of the museum was the "Gravity Bar" with a 360° panoramic view of Dublin. The Guinness museum was the last major thing of the day, so we headed back to the hostel and grabbed dinner at a pub before turning in.

designated graffiti area of Dublin

St. Patrick's

rocking that scha-weet bike tour attire

Guinness Gravity Bar

The last day of our fall break and our last day in Dublin was a fairly simple one. We got up, ate breakfast, then ran out to walk around and snag some souveneirs from O'Connell Street (the main drag) before departing for Rome. We walked all down O'Connell Street and across the river into Temple Bar (which is not actually a bar, but rather a part of town known for it's culture and lively nightlife) which was comically deserted on this Sunday morning. But what else would you expect? The Irish had been hard at work the night before trying to drink away that 1/3 of the locally produced beer. We left Dublin proper around noon and caught our flight to Rome that afternoon and were back in our apartment by 9.

Undoubtedly, it was a magnificent fall break. We certainly had some hiccups here and there but oh my what I wouldn't give to do it all again.

Update on life currently, the weekend has begun! Yippeeeee!!! Tonight, we went to dinner with some of Lindsey's friends who were in town. We took them to Carlo Menta for some good, authentically Italian food and then ended up leading them on an aimless wander from Campo di Fiori to Piazza Navona to Largo Argentina to Piazza Venezia to the Roman Forum and finally to the Colosseum which was all lit up for the night. It was really quite enjoyable. It was the first time I spent a night just walking around Rome and soaking it all in. I think we must have walked around for something like three hours. And I loved every second of it. Now I'm finishing up this post and I'm all packed to go to Florence tomorrow for the weekend!! Can not wait to put on my shopping shoes. Oh. And see DAVID. So excited. Just so excited.

Ciao!

Fall Break: London Calling

Hello London, are you there? It's me, Bonnie, your new best friend.

I don't know if it was the sheer joy of being in an English speaking country for the first time in two months or if it was the city all on it's own, but I absolutely fell for London. Like a who-needs-college-drop-everything-and-move-to-London kind of fall. But don't worry Dad, I'm not dropping out of college, but moving to London is now most certainly on my where-I-will-live list.

We arrived in London on a rainy and cold Monday afternoon and that right there was wonderful in itself. If you know me, you know that I thrive off of cold, rainy, and overcast days. Rainy days are my sunny days. So naturally, I adored the weather in London. By the time we actually made it to the hostel, it was already early evening and we were rather tired so we didn't embark into the city until Tuesday. Rather, we looked up good, cheap, local pubs and ended up finding one called Thornbury Castle. It was on a backstreet of London, tucked away in a cozy corner. Considering it was a Monday night, it wasn't very busy. The only customers besides ourselves were 8 or so local British men, bar regulars, discussing sports with the bartender while one of their sons sat on a bar stool playing Angry Birds on an iPad. We sat in a back corner table, listened to them talk, and watched as two ladies spread cobwebs for the upcoming Halloween celebration. It felt like we were ducking into these people's personal and everyday routine at the bar. A peek into the normal British evening. Oh. And did I mention? It was there that I had my first burger since I left the States. It was a glorious moment second only to that first sip of Starbucks. The heavens might not have opened up and sang in glory, but I'm convinced at least one angel did a cartwheel.

burger at Thornbury Castle

Tuesday morning we set out to delve into London. We started with Big Ben, then walked down the Thames to see the London Eye. Other major sites we visited included Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Starbucks, St. Paul's Cathedral, and Shakespeare's Globe. All of it was wonderful. As the day got dark, we even walked through some parks that were already decked out with Christmas lights! I just LOVE that Europeans and I are on the same page: you start celebrating Christmas as soon as possible, whether it's socially acceptable or not. You are irrational if you think you can tell me to consolidate my Christmas season to the month between Thanksgiving and December 25th. I start celebrating mid-October. And I start my Christmas countdown in early September. And no, I'm not kidding. Moving on, to finish off Tuesday, we walked for about 30 minutes on the hunt for a taste of home, namely, Chipotle. As my friend Beth can attest, Chipotle is one of my minor addictions (the others being coffee, books, and Christmas). So being able to sit down in an English speaking country and enjoy a burrito bowl almost convinced me I was back in the States. Only when I looked outside and saw double decker buses driving on the "wrong" side of the road was I reminded that London is not in fact in the States. And for those of you who are wondering, Chipotle is in fact better in the States than it is in London.

in an iconic London phonebooth

Big Ben

London Eye

STARBUCKS

Shakespeare's Globe. Dad, this is for you. Important people never have time to stop and smile for photos, right?

Buckingham Palace

 St. Paul's

British taxis are precious

Christmas lights!! Eeeeeeeeeeep!!

Now, teaching moment my friends: what day of the week comes after Tuesday? What? Say it louder! No, Timmy not Funsday. Yes! That's right, Wednesday! Wednesday in London was the best day. We started off the day by visiting Harrods - an extensive and magnificent London exclusive department store. But this was no ordinary department store. Oh no. It was one of those fairy-tale Christmas-movie department stores. Like Gimbles in Elf or Miracle on 34th Street style Macy's. There was a perfume room, a makeup room, a candy and confections room (where all the employees were wearing old style candy striped vests and straw hats), a pet accessory room (with puppies for sale), and even a Disney room. Let me expand on this Disney room a bit for you. Picture it: life-size Disney Princess figures, a Cinderella's Castle to try on shoes, magically lit trees lining the room, and a fairytale castle backdrop where little girls could dress up in princess costumes and tiaras and have their portrait done. I kid you not. It was a magical fairytale dream come true land for all girls. On top of all of this, Harrods was already decorated for Christmas, inside and out, which of course made it even more magical.

Cinderella at Harrods

Disney floor at Harrods

picture time!

I"ll give you one guess as to who this made me think of.

After Harrods, we walked through Hyde Park, one of the largest and most lovely parks in London, and enjoyed the piles of freshly fallen leaves (because there is a seriously concerning lack of fallen leaves in Rome) and made our way to Primark. Now, Primark is another one of London's greatest treasures. Lindsey had gone on and on about how wonderful it was, but I didn't truly believe it until I saw it with my own eyes. It is the size of Forever 21, with prices lower than H&M, and the selection of Gap, JCrew, and any other clothing store that is wonderful. Truly awe-some. If you're ever in London, you must go. After spending a good hour or so in there, we emerged back into the real world. To recoup, we got a wonder waffle (yet another amazing aspect of London) nearby and took some time to relax. Finally, we finished the day with a jaunt through the National Portrait Gallery, a walk along the Thames to the Tower Bridge, and dinner at another pub.

12 days of Christmas

from in front of the National Gallery

Tower Bridge

on the Tower Bridge

Thursday was our last full day in London. Such a sad day. I honestly did not want to leave. So what would you do with your morning if it was your last day in London? Go see the new James Bond movie? Ya, that's what I thought too. It only seemed appropriate! Lindsey and I both agreed that we missed the classic relaxing movie-in-a-theater experience, and figured we should take advantage of the English speaking country we were in. So we went and saw Skyfall! It was great to just sit and relax and enjoy it. And the real kick was we would see places in the movie that we had been to recently, or we would see places and say "ooh, I wish I could go there" and then remember...we can go there. It was like getting taken into this world of London by James Bond and then walking out of the theater and onto the set of the movie. Thankfully, we never got shot at or chased down the streets, but still. Pretty cool. After the movie, we met up with Karen at Kings Cross station to see, you guessed it, the famous Platform 9 3/4. If you don't know what that is, then you need to stop reading this right now and go buy the Harry Potter books, read them all, then go watch all of the movies. Seriously, stop reading and go do it. For those of you who are still here, you faithful Harry Potter fans, I'm sure you can understand my excitement at seeing this magical (haha, get it?) monument. We almost couldn't find it and I was getting quite excited about asking an employee "Can you tell me where I might find platform 9 3/4?" but alas, we actually found it and I lost my chance to show off my Harry Potter impression. After snapping more than our fair share of pictures, we left Kings Cross and headed for the London Eye; it seemed like the most fitting way to finish off our time in London. And of course we picked up some Starbucks on the way. Post London Eye, we closed off the day with yet another pub.

Platform 9 3/4

starting our trip on the London Eye

at the top

London from the London Eye

The next morning, our flight to Dublin was at 6:45 and the airport was about an hour outside of the city so we snagged just a few hours of sleep before catching our taxi at 3. am. And on top of that, since I had made a few acquisitions at Primark and was travelling with only an already filled-to-capacity backpack, my attire for the plane ride consisted of (I kid you not) leggings, boots, a t-shirt under a sweater dress under a pullover sweater under a button up sweater under a scarf under a coat. Hey, at least I was warm.

To catch up a bit with the present, this week has been a lovely mix of work and fun. Getting back into the swing of school has admittedly been a little rough, particularly because my three classes that have papers are all on the horizon now. And I really should be starting them. And I really don't want to be starting them. So you see my dilemma. Yes? But I've tried to manage the stress the best way I know: coping with a cooking class and a wine bar. Monday night we went to the RA's cooking class and learned how to make pasta carbonara (a personal favorite) and it is unjustly easy to make. So Mom, Dad, MC and Delilah: get your stomachs ready for some carbonara and some tiramisu. You too Beth. Italian party night in the apartment when I get there. (You think I'm kidding....but I'm not.) Tuesday night we went to this wine bar/restaurant that one of my roommates had read about. It was near Piazza Navona and was a precious little shabby chic lounge/cafe/restaurant made up entirely of an eclectic collection of couches, lounge chairs, and a few normal tables and chairs thrown in for good measure. We stayed there for three hours and simply relaxed and talked. It was most certainly in my top 10 favorite nights in Europe and we decided we would go back just once more, right before the end of the semester.

Now to address the elephant in the room (or I guess it's a donkey in the room): the election. I don't know what y'all did for the election last night, but because of the time difference, results didn't start coming in over here until around 2 am and the results finally posted around 5 or 6 this morning. So I'm sorry to say that I slept through most of the postings, but I did set an alarm for every hour and sat up to check the state of the polls. It made for a very interesting night of combination sleep and oddly political dreams. But hey, it was the least I could do.

And as for now, I've had classes and meetings all morning, took my lunch break and walked through a nearby park, and now am sitting in the school's computer lab writing this and listening to Michael Buble and Shania Twain sing "White Christmas." Aaaaaand I only have one more day of classes to get through before it's the weekend!! LOVE THAT.

Ciao!

Fall Break: Paris

October 26th marked the beginning of the long awaited 10 day Fall Break. Hall-lelujah. The plan was great: three days in Paris, four days in London, three days in Dublin. SUCH a good trip. We saw so much and did so much, and I can't believe it's already over! Now, being back in Rome, it almost seems like we never left at all. Those 10 days went by way too fast.

So we left Rome early on Friday morning and caught our plane to Paris. We didn't even make it out of the airport before our adventure began. First thing we saw out of security was the one, the glorious, STARBUCKS. I waited 2 months for this Starbucks, 2 months. And oh. my. It was good. After that dose of heaven, we went into Paris and moved into our hostel, then spent the first day seeing some of the major sights: Notre Dame, Latin Quarter, the Louvre, and the Eiffel Tower from Trocadero. We grabbed linner (or dunch) in the Latin Quarter at a little Creperie where I had eaten when I was in Paris with MC in March. I knew that coming back to Paris seven months later would be fun, but I didn't realize how heartwarming it would be to go back to these places that were familiar. After linner we decided to spend our evening at the Louvre and since it was Friday night it was free for students! Love that. So we visited the major spots (Mona, Winged Victory, Venus de Milo, and others). After the Louvre we went to Trocadero, across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower, to see it lit up and sparkling. Truly a great first night in Paris.

outside the Louvre

Winged Victory

posing with Mona

posing with Venus

Louvre at night

Eiffey from Trocadero

le tour Eiffel

The next day was my favorite day in Paris, and quite possibly one of my favorite days of the whole trip. Instead of doing a full-fledged bike tour, Lindsey and I rented bikes from Fat Tire Bike Tours. Their office was located just a couple of blocks away from the Eiffel Tower and the Champs de Mars so we biked right around there and across the Seine a bit too! It was a beautiful day (although still quite cold - as was the theme of the whole trip) and it was just so enjoyable to ride bikes around the Eiffel Tower. One of the best parts about renting those bikes - it was so cheap! Love it when that happens. After we turned the bikes back in, we grabbed two baguettes and some cheese from a nearby shop and then went and ate lunch on a bench on the Champs de Mars. Classic French, right? After lunch, we went to Musee de l'Orangerie - undoubtedly one of my favorite places. Anywhere. The Monet rooms are magnificent. I could spend a whole day in there. If you haven't been, go. That's all there is to it. And to make the museum even better, we got in for free! WOOT. Finally, we finished off the day with shopping on the Champs Elysees with some Starbucks. I also made a side trip to see MC's old apartment! So fun!

biking by the Eiffel Tower

LOVED being on a bike

a lunch of a baguette and cheese by the Eiffel Tower

Arc de Triomphe

outside MC's old apartment

For the third and final day in Paris, I had a special treat: I got to spend the day with my sweet sweet grandbig from Phi Mu, Sarah. She's spending the year teaching English in a French city just outside of Paris, so she took a train in and we got to frolic around one of the greatest cities in the world. It was so wonderful to see someone from school in Europe. We walked by Notre Dame, got a good long lunch in the Latin Quarter, walked to the Louvre, through the Tuilleries Gardens, listened to music on the steps of the Opera Garnier, and sipped espresso in the lounge chairs of a cafe. It was a magnificent day. That evening, we finished off our time in Paris with a good french dinner. I was certainly sad to see our time in Paris end, but I could not wait  to get to London.

the love lock bridge

great grand big and flat great grand little re-united by the Louvre

SO happy to see Sarah in Paris

Jumping back into the present for a moment, I can't believe today is actually the day that it is. I'm not going to rant on about my political opinions or anything, but I sure am interested to see how the election plays out in the next 12 hours. I don't know what kind of coverage I'll be able to find here in Italy, but I'm hoping I can track the progress right along with all of you that are in the States!

I'll try and post about London and Dublin before the end of the week!

Ciao!

On the European Horizon

Y'all. I'm going to Paris. And London. And Dublin.

Tomorrow.

And what's more, this will be the second (yes, second) time I'll be in Paris this year! How amazing is that?!

I have 10 fantastic days ahead of me with magnificent plans in these three incredible cities. Holy crickets.

I can not wait to tell you all about it when I return, but I am by no means wishing away these next 10 days!

Oh, and did I mention, I get Starbucks?! For the first time in a two months?? Sweet nectar of heaven, Bonnie's coming for you.

That Place You've Read About

When you read about Italy, you read of Rome, of Venice, of Florence, of Capri, and of that elusive cluster of coastal towns - Cinque Terre. Literally meaning the five lands. I'd always heard that these five seaside villages were cuter than cute and ideal for backpacking students to hike their connecting trails with primo vistas. Of course I thought these places couldn't be nearly as idyllic as everyone said, but I was so wrong. They were downright adorable. We caught an early train out of Rome on Friday and arrived in Vernazza, the town where we would be staying, by noon. Since we couldn't check into our room until 2, we spent some time lounging on the jetties of the harbor and soaking up the sun.

so happy to be in Vernazza

Vernazza

When 2 o'clock arrived, we found our little apartment on a back street of Vernazza, but there was no official hotel/hostel sign in sight. But the door was open. So we walked in and there was our key along with a note from the owner! How cute is that! It was a little one room apartment with a double bed and a single bed along with a kitchen sink, some cups, and our own little bathroom. It was absolutely perfect for our two nights there. (Oh, and did I mention it was cheap? I just love it when that happens.) After settling, we set out to explore for the day. Before leaving Vernazza, we climbed up an old Castle with a tower overlooking the sea and the view was so beautiful. Something we certainly were not short of on this trip was magnificent views. After the castle, we took a train to Monterosso al Mare (the only other Cinque Terre town that is to the north of Vernazza). Walking around and exploring the city, we found a local wine/pesto/marmalade/sauce shop that was recommended by a student-geared travel book. And it was recommended for a very good reason. Two words. Free. Samples. And the man who worked there was so nice. I tasted some magnificent lemon marmalade, local pesto (what the Genova region is famous for), red pesto, and so many other delicious things. The proprietor was so generous, he asked us if we wanted to try any wine and we said sure, so he opens three (yes three) new bottles of wine to give us samples. It was just so unexpectedly generous! And the man really knows what he's doing, each of us ended up buying something small, and we only did so because we had the opportunity to taste it! I walked away happily with two small jars of the aaaaaaahmazing pesto (one to eat here, and one to take back to the states). Because it was just. that. good. Once we had covered the town, we grabbed dinner at a good local restaurant then hopped the train back to Vernazza to get some sleep before our busy Saturday. 

on top of the tower

view of Vernazza from the tower

Monterosso al Mare

Saturday morning we hit the ground running: grabbed a cappuccino to power up, then struck out onto the hiking trail from Vernazza to Corniglia, it's southern neighbor. Now before I go any further, let me note, due to maintenance/safety, the primary hiking trails that are always raved about that connect the five towns and run right along the coast were unfortunately closed. But no worries: there are secondary trails that are just slightly further inland, but still have marvelous views. So that's what we took! Now, the hike between the these two towns is supposedly one of the hardest. And let me just say, it was beautiful, but it was rough. It was steps and steps and steps. They were steep and they were numerous. Essentially it was the best and most beautiful workout I think I've ever had. We hiked up the mountain that is on the south side of Vernazza, then connected with the car road that winds back down the other side to land in Corniglia. I think in total the hike took us about 2 hours.

looking back on Vernazza from the hike

on the hike

on the hike

Once arriving in Corniglia, we toured the town and found a place to picnic. We had made sandwiches that morning and bought some fruit at a stand in Monterosso and it all made for a thoroughly enjoyable and relaxing lunch.

Corniglia

After lunch, we took a train to Riomaggiore, the southernmost town. We roamed it streets, got the lay of the land, and then spent some time by the harbor. Sitting harborside, we enjoyed some good gelato and essentially just wasted time. We had thought earlier in the day that we would continue to hike from town to town, but the first hike was so exhausting that we ruled that out early on. Before heading out of Riomaggiore, we wandered around the sea front a bit more and discovered a little beach that we didn't know was there and it was supurb. Since we didn't have our suits, we just sat on some rocks on the edge and stuck our feet in. The water was impressively clear in that little beach. The water in all of Cinque Terre was lovely, but not particularly clear. But somehow, the water in this little beach was as clear as glass. 

Riomaggiore

beach at Riomaggiore

Finally, as late afternoon was upon us, we took the train back north by one town from Riomaggiore to Manarola. Manarola was precious, but the real gold nugget was dinner. Two of our guide books recommended Trattoria del Billy, a hidden gem high up in the mountains of the town. We had read that we needed a reservation...which of course we didn't, so we hoped that by showing up at 6 (2 hours before the traditional Italian dinner time) we could snag a reserved table and vacate it before the rightful occupants arrived. And we did just that! The staff was hilarious when we showed up worn out and clad in hiking attire asking for a table at a reservation-only restaurant. As a joke, the proprietor told us that for 50 cents we could just have the cook himself! SO FUNNY. Quite the comical group. In the end, they did give us a table. The restaurant was adorable. It had primarily outdoor seating, arranged on a variety of four different balconies/terraces that branched off one very narrow and very steep staircase. One landing only had room for a table of two, another had two four person tables, two lounge chairs with a table in between, and a porch swing. And the lowest and furthest out terrace where we sat, had multiple tables, but still only sat about 20 people total. Our table was pushed up against the railing, and quite literally looking straight down on Manarola, and straight across the valley to the rows and rows of vineyards. As if that wasn't enough, the food was magnificent. This might sound silly, but specifically, the basalmic was UNBELIEVABLE. It was as thick as molasses and surprisingly sweet. So before we even got our food, the bread with the oil and that nectar-of-heaven basalmic was bliss. For dinner I had a dish of pasta with that splendidly signature Genova pesto. Abbie and Lindsey shared a bowl of seafood with squid's ink pasta. Yes. Squid's ink. As in the pasta was black. And guess what? I tried it! Aaaaaand it just tasted like pasta. Finally, once dinner was done, we rode the train back to Vernazza and turned in for the night since we had an early train the next morning. 

Manarola

We caught our train bright (or rather dark) and early the next morning and were back in Rome by noon! Now all that's between me and 10 straight days of marvelous travel are three midterms. I can not wait for Fall Break! 

Ciao!