28 hours in Paris

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Just like any other college student during reading week, my friends and I decided to spend a week traveling to five different countries instead of studying for exams. First stop was Paris, France with one of my good friends. Although we were a little nervous going to the city with protests happening, Paris was stunning in every way possible. We fell in love with the gorgeous Palace of Versailles before heading to the Eiffel Tower. After Rachel and I toured both locations for some time, we saw the Louvre, Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe, and enjoyed a baguette by the river. We did all this before we headed back to the Eiffel Tower to view it once it was all lit up. And yes, I cried because it was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Paris was a great start to our week of travels.

      

 

Brussels and Copenhagen

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Off to Brussels, country number 2 of 5. We arrived in the morning to meet up with Sarah and another friend. The four of us spent the whole day eating as much chocolate, waffles, and fries as possible! Brussels really put us all in the Christmas spirit with its delightful Christmas market and decorations throughout the city. We may not have been in Brussels for 24 hours, but we admired the gorgeous architecture.

      

The next morning we flew to Copenhagen, Denmark. This city was my favorite to visit! We enjoyed our morning sipping coffee in the cutest cafe and watching the changing of the guards at Amalienborg Palace. We wondered and found ourselves spending most of our time in the area around Nyhavn. Oh, we also saw the little mermaid!

      

November 9-11

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My dad came to Dublin, Ireland to visit me during the second weekend of November. We stayed in Dublin for the weekend but I brought him to Limerick to show him around the city. We went to the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin. Guinness has a rich history. We took a self-guided tour of the storehouse and it was an interesting tour because we were able to see how the beer was made. It was a short weekend but I enjoyed the visit from my dad. I had a fun time showing him around Limerick.

 

2 Birthdays 🎂🎉

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On October 30th, I turned 21 and two weeks later my good friend Rachel turned 20! My friends and I celebrated my birthday by ordering out food and hanging out at my house. It was relaxing to spend time with friends. At the end of the night, I received my care package from my parents which made it even better because I wasn’t expecting it to come until later in the week. I Skyped with my niece, sister, and brother-in-law before I went to bed so my birthday was pretty amazing. We celebrated my friend Rachel’s birthday by going out to one the university’s pub(Scholars) on campus. It was relaxing to talk with her and see how her day went. Rachel is a sophomore in college and I met her through one of the education modules I am taking at the university. I feel so blessed to have made so many new friends over here during my experience. Definitely recommend study abroad to anyone who is interested because you have the opportunity to meet many new people.

 

Halloween

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Sarah’s Blog:

Our excursions for our study abroad program wrapped up at the end of November so I have had some free time to spend time with my friends. Many events have happened within the past month and Halloween was one big event. Halloween came from Ireland which is really interesting. My friends and I celebrated the holiday by dressing up and going out to the university’s pub. The pub we went to is called Stables and every Friday there is a DJ inside and outside. It is a great time to spend with your friends and have a blast. Every Friday is International Night hosted by the International Society which is really awesome so you are able to meet me other study abroad students. Also, we went to a haunted house to celebrate the spooky season.

 

Weekend in London

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The best part about studying abroad in Europe is the fact that it is cheap, quick, and easy to travel around the rest of the EU. Myself, another girl from my ISA group, and two other friends I’ve made here at UL spent the weekend in London, England! We were only there for a total of 48 hours, but we filled that time with everything touristy possible!

   

London is only a quick hour flight from Shannon Airport and of course due to delays; we arrived in London at 4 am with the intentions of starting our day at 8 am. Our hostel was a quick 15-minute tube ride to the London Eye. We began our morning going up and around the London Eye to see the stunning views of the city. Then we walked to see Westminster Palace and Abbey which both had amazing gothic architecture. The girls and I also took a boat ride down the famous Thames River to see even more of the city and the famous Tower Bridge. Then we made our way to Leicester Square where we ran into a red carpet movie premiere of A Beautiful Boy! We saw Timothee Chalamet and Steve Carell! It’s easy to say that this made our trip.

Day two we began our morning bright and early to catch the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. Sad to say we didn’t get to see the Queen, but we were in awe of the palace beauty. After this, we found ourselves a cute coffee shop where we ended up hanging out for a few hours before we made our way to the Tower of London. Let’s just say we were so excited to see the crown jewels! We then ended our trip by seeing a production of the School of Rock, which was awesome. I cannot wait for more weekend trips in the near future!

 

Cliffs of Moher

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It’s sights like these that make you forget how much work you’ll have to do with you get back to campus. Right now, Sarah and I are in the midst of the most stressful time in being abroad. Classes here typically do not have daily work, which sounds nice and all until you reach those later weeks in the semester where everything is due. At the moment, Sarah and I are working on assignments that are worth half or more of our final grade. In classes, you will typically have a paper worth about 50% and then either a presentation or group project or maybe even both. We are taking a total of five classes over here, but only have two exams to take during the two week exam period. So we are looking forward to traveling most of December!

Our weekend excursions with ISA make us forget about all of our school work. These excursions allow us to see the beautiful western country of Ireland. On this excursion, we saw the stunning Cliffs of Moher. The Cliffs of Moher are one of the biggest sites to see while visiting Ireland. So a trip to Ireland is not complete until you have seen the famous cliffs!

 

 

The Ring of Kerry

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From Sarah Hughes in Limerick:

ISA took the group on a bus tour of the Ring Kerry. The bus stopped along the way so we were able to take pictures. The Ring of Kerry is so beautiful. It is amazing to see what God has created and I stand in awe of His wonderful creation. Also, I touched the ocean for the first time! The water was really cold and it was the Atlantic Ocean. It was an incredible experience.

Adare-Rugby Game

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From Sarah Hughes in Limerick:

In the last week of September, I went to a small village named Adare. This place is so cute and very small. ISA took the group on a small tour of the village and we went to a castle. The castle is very rich in history and I enjoyed to hear all of it.  The streets are lined with different places to eat and different boutiques to go into. Most of the boutiques were very pricey but it was nice to walk in and look around.

 

After going to Adare, three friends and I went to a Rugby game. Since we are in the study abroad program, we were able to get free tickets and go to the game. It was very cold outside so it was a good thing I wore my jacket and hat. The team for Limerick is Munster and they won. Rugby is an interesting sport because it is somewhat like football but different in many ways. I was a little confused so the person sitting next to me explained what was happening to my friends and me. I have met so many amazing people here in Ireland and I am enjoying every second of it.

Limerick, IE: Weeks 2&3

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Whew. Two weeks down and many more to go! These past weeks have been the shortest days but yet have been the longest days of our lives. I don’t think Sarah or I were expecting to take this much time to adjust to a new culture. Now that we have spent the last two weeks in Limerick, we are finally feeling settled into our new home.

I think the hardest part of adjusting to life in Ireland has been the class structures. Fortunately for international students, we get the first two weeks of classes for figure out our schedule. Now that the two week time period is over, we are feeling much more established. So far, we both are taking all of the same classes and feel so welcomed by the professors.

During the week, not much happens besides attending classes and figuring out how to cook for ourselves, so we look forward to the excursions ISA has planned for us!

On the 8th of September, ISA took us to Limerick city centre where we explored Limerick’s Milk Market, then toured St. Mary’s Cathedral and King John’s Castle.

St. Mary’s Cathedral is one of the oldest buildings in Limerick and was beautiful. I felt right at home when we heard their massive organ playing as we toured the place. Then we moved onto St. John’s Castle and climbed to the top of the tower where the views of Limerick were terrific!

On Saturday the 15th of September our ISA group toured Bunratty Castle, which so far was our favorite place ever! Not only is there the castle, but a whole village! It was the cutest thing you could ever see. We fed some goats and pigs, talked to the sweetest old man for 20 minutes, and saw Ireland’s beautiful countryside.