Paris in December

After a month of inactivity, I figured it was time for me to update my blog. I didn't see much reason telling you all about the day to day life here in Dublin as it consisted of trying to stay dry and warm and not a lot of anything else. It was only recently that I have had some more great experiences.

Nov. 26

Thanksgiving

My American friend Olivia and I decided that it was necessary for us to host a Thanksgiving celebration to show our international friends what it was all about: friends, food, football and rest. We cooked enough food to feed 20 people, which included 3 turkeys, 15 lbs of potatoes and all the fixings that come along with Thanksgiving. We were informed after it was all said and done that this was one of the greatest holidays ever. There were some questions as to whether our friends could take this holiday back to their home countries and Olivia quickly dismissed them with, "NO! This is an AMERICAN holiday." It was one of the funniest moments since I've been here. Overall, it was a great success.

Nov. 28-Dec. 1

Paris

After a full recovery from Thanksgiving, Aldo, Marco, Olivia and I had a trip to Paris, France. Honestly, I had no true desire to go there but for $27, I couldn't really pass it up. After nearly getting blown off the runway just before landing and missing that near death experience, we made it to Paris. Our flat was in Marmonte, right next door to what just happened to be the "Red Light District". The first day started with a 250 stair ascent to a Basilica to try to go to church. However, after a rude little man told us there was no mass we proceeded to go to Notre Dame. It was an amazing church, I attended mass even though I couldn't understand a word, it was still pretty powerful. We then went to a museum called Musee D' Orsay which was mainly impressionist works of art including the Mona Lisa and others that I knew very little about but was educated upon by Olivia and Aldo. From there we went through a Christmas Market, where a nice French woman found her way to my wallet, through my stomach, and got me to purchase some amazing food that will hopefully make it back to America before getting eaten. After this, it was on to the Triumphant Arch. It was an amazing stucture, and far larger than the pictures make it look. After this we went to the Eiffel Tower and decided to get warm before we went to the top. This allowed me to dry out my right foot which had found a number of puddles during our walking adventure. After some coffee and rest we proceeded to ascend the Eiffel Tower. What a time, 60 MPH wind 32 degrees. It was quite an "experience", even though we made a quick one. After walking what we figured to be about 7 miles we decided to call it a night. So we ate some fondue and a hearty meal and finished a couple of bottles of wine and went to bed. The next day started a little later than the first but it was still plenty early for our tired group. Our only plan for the day was to go to the Louvre which was very impressive. After wondering around the Louvre for a few hours we decided it was time to get some crepes and go home. After a little time to relax, we decided to meander through the "Red Light District". We got a few pictures of the Moulin Rouge and we then stopped at an Aussie Bar for a couple of drinks. It was then time to go get some more crepes and some wine for a final night cap. The final day was just for leaving. We were supposed to be back in Dublin by 10:30 AM but after a 4 hour delay because of some "mechanical" issues we were finally back at school by 4:00 PM, tired and mad. But all in all, it was a great trip that won't soon be forgotten.

I have decided that this will be my final post as I prepare for 2 weeks of finals and then travelling back to the US. I may make one final trip to the Cliffs of Moher but haven't completely decided yet. We'll just have to wait and see. I hope you are all doing well and look forward to seeing you all when I get back. Thank you for all the e-mails and skype calls they have all meant a lot. I will be back in the US on Dec. 18 so if anyone wants desperately to talk, I should have my phone reactivated at this point in time. If I don't get to talk to you before Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Thanks for following my Semester.

OKTOBERFEST

I will start this segment by describing Munich or maybe just Germany in general. One of the cleanest places I have ever seen. A lot can be said about a country by looking at their bathrooms and I can honestly say they have the cleanest bathrooms I have ever seen. The country is beautiful, from the beautiful parks in Munich to the wonderful countryside that can been seen on the train ride from Munich to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. I was completely mezmerized my its beauty. It almost reminded me of home. I can honestly say that this is one foreign country to which I would never have a problem moving. And I didn't even mention the beautiful churches and girls that are in every town. Now that I have set the stage I must come to the highlight of my trip.

There are no words that can describe the beauty of a woman carrying 10 liters of beer at one time. It almost brings a tear to my eye just thinking about that moment when I heard our beer wench blowing her whistle and saw her parting the the crowds of people like Moses and the Red Sea. The only words that I have found that can describe that wonderful place is MAN HEAVEN. DO YOU LIKE BEER? DO YOU LIKE MEAT? If you call yourself a man and answered "NO" to either of these questions you should probably check again. If you answered "YES" to both and aren't a man, you will fit in just fine there with the rest of the crowd. Just putting meat and beer together along with 10,000 other people that are there to enjoy the exact same thing brings the utmost joy to all in attendance. Everybody is smiling and laughing; except for the random Italian guy getting thrown out for inappropriately grabbing a wench. The joy that came from this event can only be described as the closest to heaven that I have ever been. On top of that, the beer doesn't give you a hangover or at least the most mild one I have ever experienced while consuming large quantities of alcohol.

In the daytime we went to a variety of places. The first day was a monastery that has brewed the same beer recipe for over 500 years and if you ask how much the alcohol content is they simply laugh and tell you "We don't know, every batch is different." On the second day it was simply walking the streets of Munich taking a look at buildings and going to a authentically German restraunt. The food was amazing and some of the best wheat beer (could compete with and possibly beat Boulevard). On the third day we went to the "English Park", one of the largest parks in the world and did I mention it has 3 beer gardens and a stream that if you have enough liquid courage you will try to jump over. Each day ended the same, get suited up and head to the TENTS that I described above. After closing those on to "Bierhimmel" which is a hole in the wall bar whose name I have been told literally means "Beer Heaven".

I also traveled to a small village in the northern part of Germany called Rothenberg ob der tauber. It is one of the most well preserved medivel cities in Germany. It was a great relaxing trip that had I not been so sore from four days of some intense experiences would have been very enjoyable. I will talk more about this wonderful walled city when I am able to show pictures but since I used my digital camera at Oktoberfest there was no battery left for the rest of the trip. However, don't be discouraged cause I bought 3 disposable cameras for Rothenburg. Until next time, Good Luck, God Bless and Good Bye!

A "GRAND" Week in Dublin

After being in Dublin for a week, it is official, I have met more Germans than Irish. I have found that everyone over here is extremely friendly and helpful. I still haven't found any cheap alcohol but it is ok because I am just eating less. Our group has done much more bonding and has become very close in a very short amount of time. The only other American in our group (Olivia) and I have taught the Germans and Italians the game of SPOONS. It was very entertaining to see how excited they got over the game and are now in love with it. We are working on Pitch but is very slow because I am the only one that knows how to play. But we will get it eventually. Thankfully, I found a church that is close. I only had to walk 30 minutes to get there. I could have taken a bus but what can I say I am saving my money for other activities. We took a FREE walking tour of Dublin on Sunday. It was very interesting and we got to see some very cool history. And of coarse throughout all of this, we have been frequenting the Temple Bar district which is expensive but still very cool. I am also slowly acquiring a taste for Guinness but it is also a slow process. On Sunday night, I went to a French/Irish house party that was off the wall and my Italian friend Marco informed me that I was going to be his "teacher for how to drink so much". I informed him it takes a lot of practice. That is all for now. As a side note, Sept. 24 Guiness is celebrating 250 years of production and will be serving cheap (a relative term) at all the pubs in Ireland. I think this means that the 24th is a school Holiday, but I will keep you posted.

A New Beginning

After a blessing from my mother and her and my sister crying, I proceeded to have the longest trip I have ever taken. I believe I spent a total of 13 hours either on a plane or waiting in an airport. However, I made it across the puddle and have settled in quite nicely. I am living with a guy from Rome and another from the Ukraine. Both seem to be very nice and have introduced me to a number of people that they had just recently met. The first night I was in town, we went over to a couple of Germans and another Italians apartment for an authentic Italian meal. Which in all truthfulness, it was the Italians first real try at cooking but it didn't turn out too bad after a phone call to his mother. My contribution to the supper was two bottles of wine which was not nearly enough for the number that we had in attendance. Thus far things are great other than Dublin being VERY EXPENSIVE. I may starve because food is not cheap and niether is alcohol. I am going to try to get some better pictures up in the near future. (If you are wondering where the girls are, I am sitting next to them and didn't get any good pictures with them.)