I'm STILL the worst blogger in the history of studying abroad. Excepting those who don't even attempt to keep a blog, I mean. If by chance you happen to see this, cheers to you for trying to stick by me, and my sincerest apologies for my lack of adventuring stories. It's largely been the amount of adventuring that has kept me from writing down my stories - I've traveled every weekend since the 17th of September, and when I'm actually in Limerick I'm furiously catching up on schoolwork or sleep. With stories this exciting (for me, at least) I also don't want to miss any bits or short-change you as my audience, and that takes quite a while...each of my weekends could have their own BOOK if I could manage it!
Solution (mostly my mom's, but I'll take some credit): I have half-finished entries about almost every weekend, so I'll start posting as I work on them, meaning they'll keep evolving over time. Obviously a bit out of date, but still good? For the moment, a quick run down of all the amazing places I've been blessed with the opportunity to see!
Galway, Ireland
Cork, Ireland
Waterford, Ireland
Killary Harbour, Ireland
Edinburgh, Scotland
Oslo, Norway
Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Berlin, Germany
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Cobh, Ireland
Adare, Ireland
Lots to write about! For now, this past weekend I was able to spend Thanksgiving with my parents! They celebrated their 25th anniversary this summer, so they came over and toured the southern half of Ireland for a few days before ending in Shannon, a city about 30 minutes away from Limerick. We had Thanksgiving dinner in a castle (!!!), and spent the weekend wandering around Limerick, Galway, Cobh and Cork. Cobh (pronounced "cove," the "bh" makes a v sound in Irish) is a small village in the southwest of Ireland known for its huge natural harbor, which made it Ireland's biggest port in the early 1900s. The town is famous today because it was the last port of call for the Titanic before the ship headed towards America, and because when the RMS Lusitania was torpedoed 26 miles off the coast, the survivors, wounded, and dead were recovered by the fishermen of Cobh and brought to the town for care. Adare is a tiny little town about 25 minutes from Limerick, and it's exactly what you'd think of when you picture a quaint little Irish village - thatched roofs, church ruins, village park with a burbling little stream, everything! We didn't get to spend too much time there because it was a Sunday evening and everything was closing, but I'm absolutely going back. :)
THIS weekend, I made a last minute, executive decision to make one final travel splurge and head to Prague!! Not exactly Brno, like the title says, but still the Czech Republic, right? I'll have to come up with something a little more clever for the actual accounting. Prague, though, has been on my list of places to see the entire semester, but with my other trips it didn't look like I'd make it. Egged on by several friends and family members (my mother's response to asking if I should clean out my bank account to afford the trip was "Sounds like fun...Merry Christmas!"), I'll be hopping a flight Thursday and joining up with the WSA Prague tour! More about WSA when I get around to Amsterdam, though. Prague should be amazing, especially decorated for Christmas. I'm crossing my fingers for snow! I've heard the Christmas markets in Prague are absolutely incredible, and if they're anything like Belfast or even Galway, it will be completely true. Now that I finally have my camera back (!!!!!!!) there will be plenty of pictures!
