Limerick Day III (Thursday, April 07)

I woke up early to get ready and take the bus into town so I could go on a Paddywagon tour to the Cliffs of Moher. Once the tour started, it took about an hour to get to the cliffs, where it was EXTREMELY foggy! I went through the exhibition first hoping it would be less foggy by the time I finished walking though, but no such luck. I found one part that was pretty clear near the fort and when I walked back to the other side, the fog lifted for about five minutes and I was able to see the cliffs and take a few pictures before it was time to leave.

Our next stop was in Doolin to grab some lunch at Fitzgerald’s Pub. I got the soup and sandwich special and it was delicious! This couple from North Carolina, who were visiting their daughter studying at UL for the semester, invited me to sit with them, so we had a nice conversation while enjoying the food. After lunch we headed to the Burren, which was absolutely breathtaking! I took some pictures and videos of it before just sitting down to watch the raw beauty of it all for the rest of the time allotted.

Our next two stops were the Portal Tomb and Bunratty Castle. They were interesting to see, but the Burren was definitely my favorite part of the tour. When we got back to Limerick I just walked around for a while because I knew JZ would still be in class. I sat in the park watching the river Shannon across from King John’s castle and St. Mary’s church for a while before heading back to UL. That night JZ and I hung out with a bunch of his friends from his study abroad program.

Limerick Day I&II (Tuesday, April 05-Wednesday, April 06)

I woke up at 9am to get ready for my trip to Ireland and luckily I showered last night, before heading to dinner with Hanna and her mom, because they had the water off this morning to work on the plumbing. So I brushed my teeth and washed my face using water from my water bottle (we keep it classy in Cannes). Then I headed to the bus stop once I had everything ready to go.

The trip over wasn’t too exciting, the best part was probably watching a bird fly around the airport (woohoo!), but as soon as I arrived in Ireland, I knew I was going to LOVE it! Everything here is so green and pretty and the people are overly nice, so you feel like they actually want you there (maybe it has something to do with the financial status of their country, but it was still nice!). I was able to follow JZ’s directions easily to make it from the airport to the bus station and then finally to Limerick City!

JZ scared me half to death because the worst rain of the semester started while I was still 20 minutes away, so once I got off the bus I was looking for my umbrella in my bag when suddenly someone grabs my shoulders and shakes them. I knew it was JZ once it happened, but I wasn’t expecting that so it still scared me!

We took a taxi back to Plassey Village (where his house is in UL –University of Limerick) to drop off my bags and then we headed to the Locke Bar to listen to some real Irish music and have a Guinness or two and just catch up. It was a pretty chill night, but I really enjoyed it because I was finally seeing someone I knew from before coming to Europe and it was almost like being home again. My favorite part of the night though was JZ showing me the Rubberbandits on youtube. I am in love and think they are some of the funniest singer/songwriters I’ve seen in a while!

The next day, I attempted to work on homework while JZ was in class, but I mainly just caught up on the news since it was English and easier to understand than French. This is also when I realized the world is falling apart, so maybe I was better off only understanding 3/4ths of the French news rather than listening to the brutal reality of life. I then decided to listen to multiple songs by the Rubberbandits, including my favorite “Horse Outside“, to cheer me up.

In between JZ’s classes we grabbed lunch and then he gave me a quick tour of Limerick Citayyy. We also picked up some food to make dinner later. We ended up making pasta with chicken, asparagus and bread and it was the best thing I’ve had to eat in a long time! We ate our dinner while watching the Barcelona game (Barca won) and drinking some Heineken in support of the champions league. Later we went to karaoke night at Stables, where JZ introduced me to Smithwick’s (pronounced Smitticks) and we watched some drunk guy belt out every song the people were singing (his favorite were girl songs, it was rather humorous). We didn’t stay out too late, because JZ had class all day the next day and I has a Paddywagon tour to go on.

Athens Day V (Sunday, April 03)

I couldn’t sleep all last night, I was tossing and turning the entire time. Finally 6:45 came along and I could finally get out of bed and start getting ready to leave the hostel to begin our trip back to Cannes. We left the hostel about 10 till 8am and I stopped for one last breakfast from the little Greek pastry shop. We then took the number two trolley past the Panathenaic Stadium to the metro which took us to the airport with a special 3 euro ticket.

We checked in, got our boarding passes and checked our bags for free. Then we just walked around the duty free shops until it was time to board. Aegean Airlines is pretty nice. They had a movie playing called “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” with Emma Roberts, Zack Galifianakis and a new actor who was the main character that I liked a lot. The movie was really good and it was nice to watch a new American movie. They also gave us lunch which we weren’t expecting, so that was nice as well.

Upon arriving at Charles de Gaulle airport, we collected our bags (Yay for free checking!) and then went on a search to find Jennifer’s mom. We couldn’t find her anywhere, we even tried paging her, so after two hours Hanna and I decided we should probably go through security to get ready for our flight back to Nice. We wished Jennifer good luck and told her to let us know when she was back safely with her mom. About six hours later, Hanna and I finally arrived back in Cannes where we met up with her mom before finally returning to our room after a LONG week of traveling!

Athens Day IV (Saturday, April 02)

Today was a very cold day, but we headed out to explore the city anyway. Our first stop was the Panathenaic Stadium, the old Olympic Stadium. Our roommates at the hostel said the audio tour that came with the 1.50 admission was really interesting, so we decided to give it a try. It was WELL worth the euro and 50 cents! We learned about the history of the stadium as well as some history of Greece. My favorite part was the tunnel that used to be used by women performing pagan rituals, but then it was converted into dressing areas for the athletes. As we were walking back into the arena through the tunnel, the tour played the sound of an increasing heart beat and then the roar of the crowd once you made it to the entrance. It was a very cool experience and it really helped me imagine what it was like for the athletes.

Once we finished our tour of the Panathenaic Stadium, we headed back to the Acropolis and found our way to the Philopappou hill. We had an amazing view of the city and the Acropolis from there; it used to be used as a defense area for the city and it is easy to see why.

After we made our way back down, we looked around for a place we may want to eat dinner at later and then wandered in and out of different stores. We didn’t really know what to do after that, so we walked over to the archaeological site of the Olympieion again, but we actually went in this time since we could get in free with our student IDs. We saw the temple of Zeus there and then headed back to the hostel to start packing and have a wuick siesta before dinner.

After our siesta, we headed to find an authentic Greek restaurant, and were unsuccessful, so we stopped in at this Greek diner-esque place. I got a traditional pita with kebab and it was pretty tasty, although I preferred the take away ones from across the street more.

Once we finished our dinner we went to look for metro tickets and couldn’t find them anywhere, so we went back to the hostel to ask. We still couldn’t find them after that, so we asked a lady at our breakfast place, but she couldn’t really understand us. Once I showed them my old ticket, they pointed in the direction of the food kiosks that we have been stopping at every day, so I asked, “Where they sell food too?” and she said, “No” but was still pointing that way and all there was in that direction was the kiosk and a phone booth. We decided to check out the phone booth for the possibility that it may also be an automated ticket dispenser. We went over to check it out and it was definitely ONLY a phone booth and to make things worse, the lady came out of the store laughing and pointed to the food kiosk. We just looked at each other like “Really?!?” because we walked all around looking for where we could buy tickets and had even stopped there for some post-dinner ice cream in the process without realizing that we could also buy trolley tickets there until our last night and having someone pointing it out to us. Oh well, there’s my “stupid American” moment for this trip. After we bought our tickets we headed back to the hostel to pack so we would be ready four our departure the next day. This trip has been fun, but I’ll be glad to be back in Cannes.

APRIL FOOL’S DAY! Athens Day III (Friday, April 1)

When I woke up this morning, it looked like a promising day weather-wise, so we all put on dresses to visit the Acropolis. After stopping to grab breakfast, however, it had started to drizzle and it seemed like wearing a dress was  going to be a bad idea, so we went back to the hostel to change.

The sun of course decided to come out during our walk to the Acropolis, but we already decided that was going to happen, so we were just happy to get some Vitamin D. We got into the Acropolis for free for being students (Not having to pay entrance fees in Greece has definitely been nice!!)! We walked around and saw the Theater of Dionysus as well as different sanctuaries and caves dedicated to the gods.

Once we got up to the Parthenon it had gotten extremely windy, so pictures were hard to take up there, but it was still an awesome sight to see. We were taking turns taking pictures in front of it when this man from Jordan ran up to Hanna, gave her his camera and said, “Me next!”. So we took his pictures for him and had him take one for us, but then he wanted a picture of himself with us, so I jumped off the rock and offered to take the photo, because I didn’t really want some random guy from Jordan to have a picture with me in it. Later I went to take a picture of this cat walking around and he appeared again to take a picture of/pet the cat. I decided he was a little eccentric and that I will definitely NOT be taking him up on his offer to us to come and visit him in Jordan next summer!

Once we finished seeing everything at the top of the Acropolis, we waled down, checked out this rock mound thing and then headed to the Ancient Agora. We were able to see a lot of artifacts at its museum, as well as a skeleton of a young girl they found in one of the cemeteries.  While walking through the Agora, we saw ruins of a gymnasium, an altar for Zeus, as well as the “Great Drain” that ran through the city. Then we arrived at the Temple of Hephaistus, which is pretty cool to see up close, but I thought it looked better from the top of the Acropolis. I think my favorite part about seeing things like the Parthenon and the Colosseum in Rome is that they have stood the test of time and they now give us an idea of what it was like to live during that time. I just wish I could see what it looked like before it all was in ruins. After seeing the National Archaeological Museum yesterday, it made me wonder what they’ll be saying about our generation hundreds of years from now; it will probably be something about Harry Potter and Apple products.

Once we were done checking out the Ancient Agora, we decided to take the metro to the port since we didn’t have anything else to do. Well, the port was a BUST! It was literally just full of ferries and not interesting at all, so we got back on the metro and headed to Omonia Square to check out some shops. O ended up finding a cute dress at Zara for 20 euro and then we went to a nine story mall. The mall was a little weird, so we didn’t stay there too long. Afterwards, we just headed back to the hostel to relax for a while before going out to grab dinner.

On the way back to the hostel after shopping, we met this lady from New York who has been living in Athens for six years. She says she’s done with Athens and wants to leave, but she can’t because she married a Greek man. She says she’s fed up because she’s trying to raise her son here, but the people are bad role models. She says they live in this great city full of history and all they do is litter, spit and smoke and rather than preserving their city, they just make it dirty. We couldn’t agree with her more; it’s sad to see that the people here have no respect for this place that has so much rich historical background. There is literally graffiti everywhere and it’s just sad to see, especially the graffiti on certain parts of the ruins. I honestly just do not understand the appeal of “tagging” everything they possibly can.

We have new roommates now at the hostel and they are really nice. They told us the 1 euro 50 tour of the Panathenaic Stadium is worth it, so we are going to check that out tomorrow along with Plaka, the Philopappou hill and maybe the flea market, but then my visit to Athens will be over besides the authentic Greek dinner we are planning on having tomorrow. I’ve enjoyed the trip, but I’m definitely ready to go back to Cannes and get ready for Ireland!

Oh yeah, and Jacob Tucker won the Dunk contest last night and it wasn’t an April Fool’s joke! That will be awesome for IC, so I’m pretty excited to see what the effects of this are for the school!

Athens Day II (Thursday, March 31)

Today was the complete OPPOSITE of yesterday! It was rainy and nasty all day. We headed out later than planned from the hostel, since we weren’t going to do the Acropolis anymore. We still walked over there though in the pouring rain to check out the Acropolis Museum.

The museum is really cool, because they built it over top of an archaeological site they are still working on, and parts of the floor are glass so you can watch the archaeologists work as well as see what they have uncovered already. We were able to walk through and see a lot of the art work they found that had been taken off the Parthenon for various reasons such as looting, religious changes, etc.

It was still raining once we finished looking at everything at the Acropolis Museum, so we decided to take the metro and head to the National Archaeological Museum. I really enjoyed this museum, but I don’t think Hanna and Jennifer liked it as much as I did. We were able to see a lot of artifacts that were used in ancient Greece, such as frying pans, vases, jewelry, etc. I think it’s amazing to see how people lived before there was advanced technology and how beautiful every single thing they used was. You also have to wonder how hard it was for them to make a lot of the objects, because everything had to be made by hand and each object has so many details. We saw these frying pan vessels that had intricate etchings on the surface and it was just an every day object like a frying pan.

After the museum, we made our way back to the metro and took it to syntagma square where we then took the trolley back to our hostel, Hanna and I napped for a couple hours and then we searched for food. Jennifer and I decided to get chicken gyros and it only cost us TWO euro! Food in Greece is ridiculously cheap and delicious, it’s amazing! Despite the graffiti and trash which makes Athens a pretty dirty city, I still really enjoy it. It’s extremely cheap, full of history, and just an interesting place to walk around.

Last note on today, I paid 50 cents for a hot shower this morning, and the seven minutes ran out  just as I was rinsing out my conditioner! The water is literally FREEZING to the point that my scalp was burning from the cold by the time the conditioner was all rinsed out, but I got into all the museums for free with my student visa, so I still cannot complain about Athens. I’m hoping that tomorrow is a much nicer day though!

Athens, Day I (Wednesday, March 30)

Today we woke up at quarter past 3 to check out of the hostel and catch a taxi in front of the train station to take us to the airport. We ended up getting there in FIFTEEN minutes, compared to the hour trip with the airport shuttle, so we ended up getting there super early for our 6:40am flight; we even beat security there!

We got on the flight pretty easily, except Jennifer had to check her back for 35 euro (50 dollars), which really sucked. We then had to take a shuttle to our plane and i had those stairs to climb up that you really only see in the movies. It was an interesting experience to say the least, but at least the three of us got to sit in the same row this time. I lucked out with the window seat, so I was able to watch the sun rise after take off, as well as see the mountains and sea once we got closer to Athens. I slept for about a half hour, but couldn’t sleep any longer than that and Jennifer and Hanna slept the entire flight.

After arriving at the airport, we took the 5 euro transfer bus to the city center where we caught the trolley to our hostel. Our hostel cost us 40 euro each for the four nights (compared to the 60 euro each for three nights in Rome), but you definitely get what you pay for. We were given a sheet, pillow case and one blanket (Later two since the radiator wasn’t working) and we had to pay 50 cents for 7 minutes of hot water for the shower. All in all, it could be worse, so I’m not complaining. The worst part about the hostel was the fact that you can literally hear EVERYTHING from the other guests. The first night I fell asleep listening to the conversation from the other room about some girl they all know who says “OMG” a lot; it was thrilling.

After dropping off our luggage, we headed to the old Olympic , the Panathenaic Stadium. It was pretty awesome to see and they had the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd stands still out. We then walked past the Olympieion and snapped some pictures before checking out the area around the Acropolis. We decided to save the actual visit for the next day though because it was only going to be open for another hour or so by the time we made it over there. We just took our time walking around the road outside of it and soaking up the surroundings.

We grabbed a bag of chips and a drink each for lunch, which was only 2 euro 40 and decided to sit in the sun and watch the stray dogs chase the pigeons. There was a rowdy group of Polish guys that stopped at the little souvenir kiosk where we had bought our food, and we aren’t sure what happened, but four loudly walked off after teasing some lady’s dog that didn’t like them and four cops showed up not too long after. The Polish guys that hadn’t left had to call their friends to come back , but we couldn’t figure out what they were in trouble for, so we decided to leave after a while.

We left that area to go check out some tiny shops  before heading to find the Olympic track and swimming pool. That in itself was just a really weird experience, because it’s apparently still used as a fitness center. We saw something across the street with a group of tourists in front of it, so we decided we would fit in better over there! It turned out to be the Zappeion Building, which is generally used for meetings and ceremonies and is located in the national gardens.

After this, we headed to the Parliament building and checked out the guards which don’t move like the guards in England. We then headed back to the city center, Syntagma Square, to just walk around and check out what we could before heading back to the hostel. Along the way, we stopped to grab food and I found a personal pizza for 2 euro 2o and just had that for dinner.

We got back to the hostel around 5:30 and I slept from about 6 to 8. Our roommates got back around 9 and gave us some good tips since one is studying in Greece for the year. We then just charged the batteries of what we could (the plug-ins were located in the common area) and got ready for bed since we had a long day full of walking ahead of us for the next day.

Rome Day III (Tuesday, March 29)

We woke up early again and then set off for the Trevi Fountain after breakfast. We made it to the fountain about a half hour later. I threw four coins into the fountain and took some pictures before heading off to look at souvenirs. The fountain is really pretty and I can see why it is such a popular attraction.

We headed to the Pantheon after the fountain, and it was really cool to go inside something I learned about in high school. After the pantheon we headed to the Piazza Navona. We saw some demonstrators carrying around baby dolls, but we couldn’t figure out why. The Piazza had three big fountains, so we decided to sit down on a bench for a while to enjoy the absolutely GORGEOUS weather!

After this, we decided to stop for lunch to get at least one real Italian meal before leaving. I decided to get the 4 cheese gnocchi with a small coke, and it was DELICIOUS! We sat outside on to soak up the sun while eating our Italian meal and it was a very pleasant time.

Once we finished our lunch, we made our way to the Spanish Steps while checking out some shops along the way. We finally made it there and after walking to the top and being harassed by two or three men trying to sell us flowers. We decided to walk back down and find a nice place to sit on the steps to enjoy the beautiful weather and people watch. We ended up sitting there for close to an hour until some threatening dark clouds appeared and we decided to head back towards the hostel.

Along the way, we came across the changing of the guards at some government building and then headed to check out an embassy building near the hostel to take some more pictures before heading in for the night.

When we got back to the hostel, we just looked online to find some places we wanted to see in Athens, ate white pasta for dinner and then just worked on getting everything together for our 4am departure in the morning.

Rome Day II (Monday, March 28)

We woke up at 7am and headed to breakfast after getting ready. Sven had warned us about the hostel breakfast the night before, and he was right, it wasn’t very good! There was stale cereal and rock hard rolls, which are actually called Rosetta, so I found it funny of course to refer to them as Rosetta Stones (insert laughter here) from then on. The breakfast may have been blasé, but it was included, so I’ll stop complaining about it!

After breakfast we found our way to the Colosseum! I was really excited to be there, since it was one of the only places I really wanted to see in Rome. The entrance fee was 12 euro, but it was worth it! It’s so awesome to see these places from another time. They had animal bones on display, to show what types of animals were used as part of the shows along with artifacts from the people who attended the shows that they found preserved in the drain pipes.

Once we left the Colosseum, we made our way to the Vatican. On our way, we passed some of the Roman ruins, countless churches and the building of Culture and Heritage. We stopped at this building and went inside. I took a picture with the display of the Italian football team, and then we left since there wasn’t much else to see besides pictures of famous Italians; it’s a really gorgeous white building though.

We also stopped to get some pizza for lunch and I got a spicy Italian one that was DELICIOUS with a drink for 5 euro. We took it to a bench on the road in front of the Vatican and enjoyed people watching. As we headed to the Vatican, we passes these bronze statue displays of the stations of the cross. They were really interesting to see and you could tell that a lot of work was put into making them.

We took some pictures, went through security, and then got in line to go up in the Dome. It cost 5 euro to use the stairs and 551 steps later we were there. We stopped inside the Dome on the way up to see the mosaics inside the Dome up close. It was a beautiful sight to see the mosaics and the view of the Basilica below. When we made it to the top of the Dome we had a very nice view of the city. We then made our way down to the Basilica.

The Basilica is exquisite. The detail they put into everything is just amazing. We used some Holy Water and went into the silent section for prayer. I’m not the most religious person, but being at the Vatican and seeing how much work was put into everything there was just awe-inspiring. It really makes you realize how much it means to some people to go through that much effort to create something like the Vatican for something they believe in.

After leaving the Basilica, we then headed to the Sistine Chapel. The entrance fee was 15 euro, but you get to see A LOT for that. Unfortunately, you don’t have enough time to stop and study every single piece. We saw Raphael’s “School of Athens” painting on the way to the Chapel, as well as Michelangelo’s “The Creation of Adam”, which is on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. It wasn’t as large as I thought it would be, but it was still pretty cool to see it in person, and I even snuck a picture of it, because even though photos aren’t allowed, everyone was taking them anyway.

After seeing the Chapel, we started to exit the museum. On the way out, we saw this cute little toddler walking around with her parents. We walked past them when they stopped to look at something and 20 seconds later we heard something smack to the ground followed by crying. We turned around to find the cute little toddler on the ground because some stupid lady wasn’t paying attention to where she was going and practically drop-kicked the little girl while she was walking. She said she was sorry and all, but then she kept walking. I felt so sorry for the little girl and her parents and we made sure to keep our distance from the “baby squasher”!

The hostel serves dinner from 6-7, and we were leaving the Chapel around 5, so Jennifer and I wanted to take the euro bus, but Hanna didn’t want to so we walked all over and eventually Jennifer and I said that we were taking the bus because we were done walking and there was no way we would make it back in time for dinner. So we got on the bus and looked for a place to pay, but they didn’t have a counter like they do in French buses, so we just sat down and it took us right to the train station near our hostel less than 10 minutes later. It was a little frustrating that we walked an hour when we could have just taken the bus. (Side Note: this was written before my trip to Greece, where we shared a hostel room with two girls studying in Rome. Apparently you have to buy the bus tickets at a kiosk before getting on the bus and if you are caught without a ticket you are fined 300 euro, so we got EXTREMELY lucky! They should really post that somewhere, since in France you just pay as you enter!)

We made it back in time for the red pasta dinner, and for being included in the price of the room, I can’t complain. After dinner, we went to get some gelato since we WERE in Italy after all, and it was VERYYYY tasty! We then headed back to the hostel to check our emails and head to bed since we were waking up early the next day.

Oh, I almost forgot, while walking around, we were asked if any of us needed a husband by some random Italian man holding a baby,so that is now two marriage proposals in Europe! haha

“Keep your pants on!” Rome Day I (Sunday, March 27)

We headed out from the collège at one to catch a bus to Nice for our 7pm flight. The bus didn’t take as long as expected, so we just relaxed in the airport and I caught up on my journal while waiting. When our gate finally opened, we had to wait in a HUGE line, but luckily we ended up behind two Americans who are studying in Rome for the semester. They told us some good places to go to once we got to Rome and the best way to get around the city, which is walking, since Rome’s public transportation isn’t the best. They also helped block the view of me shoving my bag into the carry-on size tester, so that was nice since EasyJet is the worst when it comes to baggage requirements!

Our flight took off late due to technical problems, and it was a very turbulent flight, but there were a few priests on board, so I wasn’t too worried about dying. After our arrival at the airport, we took the airport shuttle for 8 euro to the train station near our hostel and finally found our hostel after walking the entire length of the street it is located on. The lady showed us to our room after checking in, and by hostel standards, it was pretty legit. We had a 4 person room with our own bathroom (including shower!) and a flat screen tv (only good for music and spongebob, unless you know Italian!). Since it was already 11pm we decided to just get ready for bed and relax.

Our other roommate, Sven, came back right as we were settling into bed and he gave us the 411 on Rome since he’d already been there for the weekend. Sven is from Berlin and as he was telling us about Berlin and Rome he decided to just take his pants off and get ready for bed, so we felt a little awkward looking at him when he was just in a t-shirt and underwear, so I pretended to be really engrossed in updating my journal because I didn’t know where else to look!