Spring Break 2011 - Rome

March 1- March 5

If I had to describe our time in Rome in one word it would be: Rain! Every day we were in Rome with the exception of the last day, it rained, but that did not stop us from making the most of our time in Rome. After we flew into Rome and checked into our hostel, we ventured out into the pouring rain and walked to the Santa Maria Maggiore, Teatro deli Opera, Plazza della Republica, and the Maria degli Angeli (a beautiful basillica). We even went to the Trevi Fountain in the pouring rain, but it was totally worth it because it is by far my favorite spot in Rome. After walking around the city for a while, we met up with other girls from Aquinas who were staying in the same hostel as us and all went out for dinner. The food in Italy is delicious (but by the end of a week in Italy I was tired of pasta, pizza and gelato).

The next morning we woke up and went to Vatican City hoping that we would see the pope, but unfortunately our source was faulty and the pope was not making an appearance that day. Not wanting to waste a trip to the Vatican, we all climbed to the top of St. Peter’s Basilica and had an amazing view of the city. As you climb to the top, you are literally walking at the angle of the dome so the stairs are slanted and you are walking sideways. I felt like I was in a fun house for the majority of the climb up. After spending some time at the top, we climbed back down and spent some time walking around St. Peters. I was so overwhelmed by all that is inside, I feel like I could have spent every day I was in Rome inside St. Peters and still not seen everything. As a group, we also went down into the catacombs and saw Pope John Paul II’s tomb. We stopped for lunch and then made our way to the Coliseum. At the Coliseum, we had a guided tour by a woman who was craazy! She was explaining how the gladiators walked into the Coliseum and told us “Look here, now imagine this, 35 Russell Crowes walk in here...” The tour was so worth it because I learned a lot I would not have known otherwise.

The next morning we woke up and there was sun shine so in taking full advantage of the nice weather we went to: The Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain (again :-)), Pantheon, Piazza Navona and Camp di Fiori. They all were so beautiful and the nice weather made it all the better. After our whirlwind tour of Rome in the morning, we went back to the Coliseum and went to the Roman Forum for the second part of our tour. The Roman Forum was very interesting and at one point, we were walking on the original floor of the palace that was built there! After our tour our group split up and I went shopping with a couple of the girls and we ended up getting cannolis and eating them in St. Peter’s Square.   After dinner we did something that was long overdue: laundry. When you are living out of a backpack for two and a half weeks, you run out of clothes pretty fast!

The next day, we went to the Piazza del Popolo and went up to Villa Borghese and rode segways around the park. It was so much fun, but kind of scary at first because it is all about balance, but once you get the hang of it, it is amazing! After our segway excursion, we went to the Vatican Museum and saw the Sistine Chapel which is absolutely gorgeous and also The School of Athens. Since we purchased a Roma Pass, we had free entrance into  two museums and after using one of the passes at the Coliseum, we decided to use our last pass and go to the Castel Sant’ Angelo. It has papal apartments and was used as a fortress during times of conflict. After dinner we went back to the Trevi Fountain one last time and enjoyed gelato before heading home to pack for Florence! 

I did not fall into the Trevi Fountain..even though that is what it looks like.

Spring Break 2011 - Athens

February 26-28

After waking up early to catch our flight, we arrived in Athens at 7:30pm took an hour bus ride into the city and then walked to our hostel. Our hostel was located in a part of Athens which is called the Plaka. It is a pedestrian area packed with little shops and restaurants. Once we checked in, we walked around the Plaka and stopped for dinner and gelato. 

The next morning we woke up and had Greek yogurt before heading out for a day of sightseeing. Since we were in Athens on the last Sunday of the month, everything was FREE! We went to the Acropolis first and hiked up to the top stopping along the way to look out at the city and take in the ruins which surround the Acropolis. Once we got to the top we were able to look out at the entire city, which was breathtaking. When we took the bus into the city it was dark so I did not get a chance to see how big the city of Athens is! 

After the Acropolis, we walked to the Temple of Zeus and walked through the ruins which surround the temple. From there, we walked to the original Olympic Stadium and had an audio guide as we walked around. I ran around the track and climbed to the top of the stands and was able to look down at the entire stadium and see the city as well. It was such a surreal experience  to be in a city with so much history and to think about everything that has happened in the city. 

After the Olympic Stadium, I had my first gyro before walking to the government building where we watched the changing of the guard. The guards where dressed in these white dresses with tights and had big fluff balls on the top of their shoes. 

The next morning we woke up and walked to the Agora which again was free because we had international student ID cards which waved the fee. The most fascinating thing about the Agora is that all the buildings are reduced to just a stone foundation, but there are no other stones, everything has deteriorated over time. 

After walking around the Agora, we took the bus to the beach. While we were waiting though, these dogs were basically circling us and then started to fight each other and when cars would drive by, they would jump out into the street and chase after the cars. They even chased a boy into oncoming traffic, luckily he was not hit by a car. It was a very frightening experience and something I would be fine never experiencing again. 

The beach was fun, but when you are there on a cold, overcast day, there is not much to do, so we just sat down and were fascinated by the few people that were actually swimming in the ocean. After the beach, we took the bus back into downtown Athens, went shopping for a little and then grabbed dinner before packing and getting ready for Roma! 

Greek Yogurt

Acropolis/Parthenon

Zesus Temple

Olympic Stadium

View from our balcony at the hostel

Agora

The Beach 

Spring Break 2011-Dublin

Dublin

Newgrange

Spring break started for us when we left for Dublin on February 23. On our way we stopped at Newgrange, a stone age passage tomb. We were able to walk inside and look around, but for such a large tomb, the passage ways were very small!

The next morning we all went to see the Book of Kells and the library at Trinity College. We had hop on hop off passes for our two days so after the college we hopped on the bus and went to the Kilmainham Gaol and took a guided tour around the Gaol. It was very powerful to be at the gaol because it is where the leaders of the 1916 Easter Uprising were executed and as a class we spent a great deal of time at the beginning of the semester learning about the uprising.   

The west wing

Sign at the Zoo 

After the goal, we decided to go to the Dublin Zoo and enjoy the nice afternoon. The zoo was pretty small but it was still fun to walk around and see the animals. After the zoo we went out to dinner and then went to the Temple Bar.

Gravity Bar 

The next day we went and saw Dublin Castle, St. Patrick's Cathedral and then walked to the Guinness Brewery. After our tour around the building which including floors about the ingredients, the history of the company, advertising over the years and marketing, we went and had a pint in Gravity Bar. From the bar you could see the entire city of Dublin and the surrounding area, it was an amazing view. After the brewery we went to the Natural History museum but promptly left when we walked into the main room and realized that the entire museum was stuffed animals...yuck! So instead I went to the Archeology Museum and saw bog bodies (bodies which had been preserved in the bogs of Ireland) and other artifacts from around Ireland. After the visit to the museum, we went to the Abbey Theater and saw a play called No Romance, it was the second night it had even been showed to an audience and I thought it was very enjoyable. After the play it was time to pack and get ready for the next two weeks...

Life in a one road town...

Over the last month since I last blogged, life has been so busy here and full of events and traveling! 

City of Derry in the Background

We spent the first week of February in the North. We stayed in a restored manner in Donnegal and then made day trips into Northern Ireland. We had guest speakers come to where we were staying and talk about their experiences with regard to the troubles in the North. We also went to the city of Derry for a day and walked around the ancient city walls and also down to the Bogside and saw where Bloody Sunday took place and looked at the murals on the buildings. We also went to Belfast and went to Stormont, the parliament building in the North and then drove to the Falls and Shankill Roads and saw the murals there as well. I never knew that the Titanic was built in Belfast and in our drive into the city we saw the cranes that were used to build the Titanic! We also went to the Giant's Causeway and spent a couple of hours climbing around the rocks and taking in the beauty. Our trip to the north was amazing! I learned so much in such a short period of time on a topic that going in to our trip I knew very little about. 

Murals in Derry

Group Photo In Derry 

Stormont in Belfast

Murals of Belfast

Giant's Causeway

Giants Causeway

Giants Causeway

When we got back from the north, I started going to my placement at Eagles Nest two times a week. I love going to school and working with the children. They are all so cute and I have worked one on one with them practicing their reading and maths as well. Being a playground supervisor has been interesting because it seems like lately the kids have been in moods to pick fights with one another but at the same time, they work out the problems amongst themselves and by the time I step in, everything has been resolved. I am going to teach my lesson in the next month or two on the solar system and planets and I am going to make star gazers with them. I am excited and nervous to teach kindergarten through second graders, because it is something I have never done before! 

I Made It!!!

I also have climbed a mountain!!! On February 11th, I went with the hiking class to Letterfrack and we climbed Diamond Mountain. It was a three mile(one hour) walk to Letterfrack and then we climbed up the mountain. The view from the top was spectacular and made the hard climb up totally worth it. After we made it down the mountain, we stopped at the pub in Letterfrack and all had a pint before walking the three miles back to Tully Cross, the whole trip took around 5 hours. Climbing the Diamond was so much fun and I hope to do it many more times before I leave. 

The Diamond

The best part of February has been the last few days when my mom came to visit!!! She arrived Friday Feb. 18th in Galway. We met at the hotel, had some coffee and then went out shopping for the day. We had dinner at the hotel and then went back to the hotel room and rested before going down to the hotel restaurant for live music that night. I was so proud of my mom for making it all day and night with jetlag! The next morning we woke up and walked around Galway in the sun, Friday it was rainy so we did not see much of the city. After walking around, we went to the bus station and took the bus to Clifden were we met one of my professors and had dinner at the Station House in Clifden. When we got to Tully Cross, we checked into the hotel and went to Coyne's for a few pints. It was so surreal to have my mom in Tully Cross! Sunday it was pouring rain, but we went to Kylemore Abbey and took a tour and shopped in the gift shop. That night we went to Sammon's and enjoyed lived music. Monday we went to the beach where part of the movie Tristan and Isolde was filmed and walked around for a while. We then had lunch and it was time for her to go :-(. We did so much in a short period of time, but I am so glad that she game for a visit. 

Tomorrow (Wednesday) we leave for Dublin for three days and then Saturday I start my two week spring break. I am going to Athens, Rome, Florence, Venice and London! I am so excited and cannot wait!!! I will not be able to blog for a while, but I will post all about it when I get back in March.