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.
