Barcelona Bound

Adios! I'm leaving tomorrow for a long weekend in Barcelona, coming back Monday night. Happy Easter, everyone!

Paddy's Day

Between being sick and working everyday, I have really started to slack with the blog. This post is the last of the long list I had to finish. From here on out, I am officially caught up!

I've been sitting here, trying to think of a way to eloquently express how AWESOME St. Patrick's Day in Dublin was...but, you know, I don't think eloquence and this holiday were made to coexist, so I'm going to go with my first thought.

St. Patrick's Day was AWESOME.

We woke up in the morning and headed out to the parade down O'Connell Street. It was absolutely packed. Dublin itself had been pretty busy that week because of all the tourists coming in for the festivities. And now we were all on one street.

Because we didn't camp out at 7 a.m. for a good spot, we were stuck in the back of the crowd. Even the taller guys couldn't see, but they figured out ways around that.

I took a cue from the other short people in the crowd...

...and hopped on Taylor's shoulders for a few minutes so that I could at least get some pictures.

So THIS is what I should have been seeing. That's the General Post Office, home to many a battle, and a procession of eggs, feathers and a giant chicken. Random, no?

Since we really could not see a thing, and pubs were due to start serving drinks any minute (at 1 p.m. to be precise), we headed out to meet up with the whole crew at Doyle's Pub near Trinity College. It was a great choice for the holiday. It's crazy how kids are just a regular part of daytime pub life, though. Especially when they didn't have school that day.

And I am relieved to report that I finished my first pint of Guinness. I usually end up giving it away halfway through, but it must have been the luck of the Irish because I actually enjoyed it. Now Grampa can finally be proud of me!

We eventually made our way to Croke Park to watch a Gaelic Athletic Association Gaelic football game, which was a fantastic way to spend the afternoon.

It's hard to describe what sport it is like, so watch this video for some clips. Basically, a player runs with the ball in his hands, but every three or four steps, he has to bounce it or juggle it back to himself with his feet. Players can score in two ways: by kicking it into the soccer-type net, or by kicking it through the field-goal type posts.

None of the players in the GAA get paid to play. They hold down regular jobs, albeit flexible ones so that they can travel and practice. Companies don't mind working around their schedules since having a GAA player working for your business is a major source of pride. Players represent their counties and do it just for the sport, which is something I think American sports seriously lack.

We headed home after the game and were exhausted from the day. We had our fair share of shenanigans (Irish vocab for the win!), but what happens in Dublin stays in Dublin. Especially on St. Patrick's Day.

EXCEPT for this picture of Max. No explanation required.

Spring Break Part 4 of 4: PARIS

THURSDAY, MARCH 11

Molly and I woke up in our shared double bed (Colleen and Tara were upstairs in their own) at this gorgeous hotel, which had just recently become a hostel. So there were fresh towels, a private bathroom and even a balcony. We were in heaven.

We started out our trip to Paris the same way I started my French class trip in high school: by going to Notre Dame. Tara went off to explore a bit while Colleen, Molly and I went up inside the towers. My favorite parts were the famous gargoyles.

We also saw the famous big bell.

As soon as we got back down to the street, it was crepe time. There are stands on almost every block and we found one that made delicious sugar and butter crepes.

We decided to take advantage of the sunny day and walk to the Eiffel Tower. It ended up being a bit farther and far colder than we had anticipated. But we enjoyed walking along the Seine, and we stopped for tea and coffee along the way.

And then, after what seemed like forever, there it was. We waited for a while in line before heading up to see the breathtaking views of the city.

Oh, yeah, did I mention it was ridiculously windy?

We even found a sign that pointed us toward our two homes.

We were starving at this point, so we headed down to get lunch. But certainly not before stopping to pose in front of the Eiffel Tower.

Ok, so back to lunch. When I came to Paris in high school, I had a Croque Monsieur or a Croque Madame for lunch every day and fell in love. A Croque Monsieur is an open faced ham and cheese sandwich, and a Croque Madame is that with an egg on top. While they were skeptical at first, I convinced the girls to order one for lunch. Needless to say, they were not disappointed.

We also ordered a Nutella crepe for dessert, but I couldn't manage to get a picture before it had already been mauled by the pack of hungry tourists.

Everything really came back to me as we were walking around. I remembered how to get to major landmarks from my trip almost four years ago, so I was quite proud of myself. I was able to show my friends around and speak French. I was surprised at how much I actually knew. The past three years at BU have sufficiently knocked my foreign language self-esteem down a peg or two, but I could actually communicate well in Paris. It was quite exciting.

We headed towards the Arc de Triomphe at sunset, which was unfortunately closed for a military service so we could not go to the top.

So we strolled down the Champs Élysées, peeking into windows and popping into designer stores, pretending we could afford €300 scarves. Then we found a shop called Laduée, where Tara knew they had the most delicious macaroons. The decorations and colors look right out of Alice in Wonderland, which of course is my cup of tea. I got chocolate and vanilla and they were SO yummy.

We headed back to our hostel, mistakenly taking the longest possible Metro ride to our hostel. By the time we got back, we all squeezed onto one double bed to read French Vogue and Elle. The constant traveling had finally caught up with us. We were giddy and exhausted. But we didn't want to waste a night, so we walked about 10 minutes down the street to get some crepes (banana and Nutella!) and see the famous Moulin Rouge.

The walk to and from Moulin Rouge was one filled with all sorts of characters lurking in the shadows and on the corners. Fortunately, we weren't exactly their target audience, so they didn't bother us at all. We all got quite a few giggles, though.

FRIDAY, MARCH 12

We woke up, got a fresh baguette and headed to the Louvre, where we got free admission to the museum with the help of our Irish Garda ID cards. Sweet!

We hit the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo first, then wandered around to see everything else.

What happened next was probably the lowest point of the trip. We got lost, so very very lost. Not only had we not caught up on sleep, but the physical toll of walking nonstop for the past week had surfaced, as our backs and feet and legs ached in pain. And we could not for the life of us find our way out of this museum. It's huge. Elevators may only go between a few floors, stairs end suddenly and closed exhibitions meant that some hallways were inaccessible. Finally, we found our way out with the help of several different guards' directions.

If we were going to make it through the next day and a half in one piece, we would have to slow down and listen to our bodies. And what did they want? Falafel. We found Le Marais, which is a Jewish neighborhood in Paris, and had some delicious lunch. Tara convinced us all to try falafel for the first time and I'm so glad she did.

Then we met up with Marion, who grew up in France and was there visiting family over break. We went to an Adidas, where Molly designed her own shirt and Marion bought some Star Wars kicks.

And we couldn't let Marion leave us without sharing a few crepes and getting lost on the streets of Paris.

In looking for the Metro, we came across a merry-go-round, which Marion said are absolutely everywhere in France. We couldn't resist taking a ride...it had two floors!

We said au revoir to Marion and made our way back to the Arc de Triomphe so that we could climb the 284 steps to the top. It was in high school, and still is, my favorite view of the city. The arch sits at the center of a starburst formation of roads, so no matter what direction you're looking, you can see down a street or two.

We then spent the rest of the evening drinking kir (a lovely mixture of white wine and raspberry liquor) and enjoying each other's company.

Then after another dinner of Croque Madame, and more kir, we headed over to the Eiffel Tower to watch it sparkle, as it does for five minutes every hour after 10 p.m. We missed the first one, so we had an hour to kill and I suggested taking the Seine riverboat cruise that I went on in high school. Talk about memories. I actually sat in the same seat I did four years ago. We were guided along the Seine River as we listened to French music and gazed at the gorgeously romantic architecture. Then, a few minutes after docking at the end of the tour, the tower began to sparkle.

SATURDAY, MARCH 13

Our flight home to Dublin was not until late Saturday night, so we had all day to enjoy Paris for one last time. We started out heading to Montmartre, a quaint area of cafes and shops. We climbed the steps of Sacre Coeur, and Molly even bumped into a few friends.

We stopped for lunch (Croque Madam and Orangina, anyone?) and ate one last delicious French meal.

Followed of course by one last Nutella and banana crepe.

We did some shopping and I picked up a few coasters, posters and salt and pepper shakers for my apartment next year. As we were leaving the area, we started watching a group of guys dancing and entertaining the crowd. They were hilarious.

Then we headed to the Centre Pompidou, the modern art museum in Paris. It's apparent how cool it is before you even walk inside. Yes, those are the stairs on the outside of the building.

The main exhibit was one that showcased female artists and works of art involving women. It was definitely out there. I'm a big fan of contemporary art, but some of it is hard to understand. Molly and Colleen had a case of the giggles for a while since some of the artwork was a bit...unconventional. Don't worry, I only took pictures of the family friendly pieces.

On our way back to the hostel to pick up our things and take the Metro to the bus station, we loaded up on carbs: a baguette, a crepe and a choquette (a little puff pastry of dough and sugar). And that was just for me.

Because the Metro took longer than expected, we were very close to missing our hour long bus ride to the airport, but we just made it. With all the new souvenirs, I didn't even try to make my bag smaller, I just checked it. Then we went through the most lax security checkpoint I've ever seen (no worries about shoes, jackets or liquids) and hopped on a plane back to Dublin.

We felt so relieved to be home. Nine days of traveling through Europe was equally amazing and exhausting. We accomplished so much, not only in terms of our sightseeing, but in that we traveled for over a week and came back with our minds still relatively sane. If someone had told me a year ago that I would be planning a trip around Italy and France for nine days, I wouldn't have believed them. We have all become so travel savvy and independent.

We arrived in Dublin with a sense of accomplishment and heavy eyelids. I still don't feel caught up on sleep. But it was well worth every second of cramming in sight after sight, and of wearing looser fitting clothes for a week or so to detox from the amount of food we ate along the way.

It was an amazing experience with some pretty awesome girls...and probably the best spring break I will ever have. I'm so lucky.