I basically kept a little journal of my trip via the Notes app on my iPhone, so, in order to keep my sanity in writing about such a long trip, most of this will just be a copy & paste from the notes that I wrote with a bit of added commentary. It'll be like being in Sabrina's mind! You can choose whether or not you want to go there or not hahaha.
Wednesday 10. October
Left house at 1:15pm... 3 hours on regional trains to Weeze and then bus to Weeze, but all free cause of my semester ticket! My bag is only 8kg luckily. Sitting at the little cafe in the airport cause I'm super early (as always) and every single person around me is drinking wine or beer. Crazy how different Euro culture is. Decided not to wear the second pair of jeans because I would've not been able to breathe.
(Many readers will have had experiences with Ryan Air's strict baggage allowance restrictions- I was worried that my backpack would be too heavy and had heard that they were fairly strict in London Stansted, so I contemplated wearing two pairs of jeans to save space in my bag... after about five minutes I couldn't breathe so decided it would be more beneficial to my health to shove them in my bag)
(I booked two flights to get to Cork in order to save money- one from Germany to London, and then London to Cork, but this resulted in me spending the night in the Stansted airport- luckily it's quite a large airport unlike say, Frankfurt Hahn, and there were tons of other weary travelers joining me.)
And so begins the night in the airport. It's so weird being in an English speaking country again! Such a pain going through immigration because the guy didn't understand why I was working in Germany without a visa and then I had to explain how I'm not technically a worker... Oy vey. Luckily I've found this coffee shop that's open 24hours and got a nice panini and now I've only five hrs until I can check in woooo! Although there is a German family sitting next to me and the waiters at this place are polish. So I don't really feel like I'm in England hahah.
Also- this polish guy keeps saying "lady" to customers. And it sounds so rude. But obviously English is not his first language, which makes me realize that the concept of lady and ladies makes no sense. Saying "ladies" is very polite but saying "lady" is very rude unless you're talking about someone and not addressing them. English is confusing.
(When you're sitting alone in an airport for many hours lacking any contact with people- you start to think about weird things)
One of the baristas is Italian and is speaking with an Italian customer and I still understand some of what they're saying! I took two yrs of Italian and not for over four years yet I have taken six years of Germany and am now approaching a year of living there in total and still am so lost all the time. Why is German so hard?!?
(a completely valid thought- why is German so hard?!)
Thursday 11. October
Slept for a total of about two hours in increments. Stayed at my table and just slept on the table with my head down but after I got up and walked around I saw maybe a hundred people all sleeping sprawled out on benches and the floor- I was not alone! But I should've spread out so I could've gotten more sleep. I've given up on sleeping and have ordered myself a coffee. 5am- let the day begin. Had a bit more trouble going through security and visa check this time but hey that's why I gave myself eight hours right?!
Also, sitting here drinking my coffee surrounded by middle age British people as I wait for my gate number to Cork- I am now fully aware that half of me is from this little island of Britain which explains why I enjoy drinking so much! Not in an alcoholic way of course, but I just enjoy a nice drink. Well, here are all these Brits sitting here and this was even before 5am already pounding down the beers and wine and buying little bottles of gin wondering if they have enough for their trip. In America, this is only the behavior of college kids but in England, it's absolutely normal!
(Flight to Cork was very uneventful- listened to The Script and Flogging Molly to get me in the Irish spirit)
Taxi driver was great. First thing he says: "how ye gettin on?" And "great craic."
(For those of you who talked to me this summer, you might've noticed I started saying some weird things towards the end of those summer months. This was a repercussion of Melissa and I slowly losing all of our friends in Boston as they moved to California, Hawaii, Texas, North Carolina, Connecticut, and Germany to name a few, and we therefore basically spent all of our free time with our Irish neighbors and saying such phrases as "What's da craic?" and "how ye gettin' on?" and more. Sometimes Melissa and I still like to talk like this to each other for nostalgic purposes hahah)
Got to John, Sean, and James's flat around 11- it was just John and me more a while so we had some time to catch up on everything since I hadn't seen him for over a month, and then Marco, Sean, and James all came by for their lunch break- it was so good to see all of them! Spent the afternoon napping and lounging around- basically just recovering from the hours and hours of traveling)
Pregamed with all the lads- we went to the wash for jägerbombs and then to Door 51. That place was packed. You woulda thought it was a Saturday night out in Boston. (I think for the first time in my life I actually felt underdressed! Irish girls get very glitzy to go out, moreso than we do in Boston, and Germany is just the opposite where you just wear what you wore all day to go out- so being in the Germany mindset along with having limited luggage with me resulted in feeling a bit like raggity-Ann!)
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| Me, John, and Declan at Door 51 |
Then we went to Havana night club which was crazzzzzy. Eventually, McCaul and CJ appeared!!! All of us from Foster Street were just going mad. I think in the end, we ended up with a gathering of me, John, Sean, James, Marco, CJ, and McCaul- so a little more than one third of their house! Also, there's this thing they do in Irish cabs which I've never seen before- you can establish a price with the cabbie before you leave and they'll turn the meter off. I guess that's pretty cool, but I've got virtually no street smarts and would probably end up making it worse for myself.
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| McCaul, me, CJ, and Sean at Havanas |
Friday 12. October
(Friday was a very lazy day- it was raining all morning, and the boys had class and then they spent hours playing FIFA and I was still wrecked from traveling and going out the night before. Sean and James went home for the weekend and John was at his girlfriend's so I got a ride to downtown Cork before James left for home and spent the evening just walking around the city- it was super nice to get some fresh air and I went in a few churches which I love to do- Cork is just absolutely charming! Grabbed some food, got lost and had to take a cab home cause I couldn't find the bus stop...it ended up being on the other side of the street...again, no street smarts. And then caught up on some of the election stuff and called it an early night- since the boys were gone, I didn't have to sleep on the couch, which was a nice plus)
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| Walking around downtown Cork |
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| St. Fin Barre's Cathedral in Cork |
Saturday 13. October
John came back around 2:30 and we made our way into town on the bus. Walked around, went to the infamous Tattoo Zoo so John could get his earlobe pierced. I got to watch! Then we went to a pub- The Courthouse Tavern, which was so tiny and had a nice fire making it all toasty. So cute and irish! (John had kept asking me what I wanted to do and I told him that my only request was to go to a super Irish pub and have a Murphy's)
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| Murphy's stout at Courthouse Tavern |
I bought us a round of pints and I finally got to try my Murphy's- I liked it a lot more than I expected actually! Then we went and sat down for dinner at captain America's which was modeled after an American diner. Got a buffalo chicken pizza for a taste of home. (I kept finding it so ironic that there were so many American-style food places and clothes places, and during the week I even got a McFlurry and ate at a bagel place, and as I mentioned, the buffalo chicken pizza- yet, in Boston is just all about the Irish- we've got the Boston Celtics and Irish pubs are ubiquitous...just kind of funny that it seems each place is trying to embrace the other side of the pond)
Afterwards we walked around the downtown a bit and then caught the bus back to their flat. We were gonna go out for some pints with John's cousin but that fell through, so we ended up just watching the X Factor and then "The Town" which I have now finally seen! (The guys all loved that movie and kept asking me and Melissa to record it on OnDemand or on one of the movie channels, and we searched basically every day and could never find it- it kind of became a running joke with everyone)
Sunday 14. October
Epitome of a lazy Sunday. Declan, John, and I all scrounged up some food and made a pasta and chicken lunch and I did all the dishes and they picked up some trash so the flat is slightly less disgusting. (Nothing I wasn't used to though, after spending so much time in their house this summer lol)
Popped over to the store and got some toast and "biscuits" and then Sean came home so we and John and Declan went next door to McCarthy's for a pint, which turned into like seven pints and being out til midnight. The whole going out on Sundays is still true in Ireland- there was a dj and a ton of students out. Got chips and stuff too... What else... We were all a bit buzzed and then came back and were just ravaging whatever food was in the apartment. (OMG SO COLLEGEEEE. Haha but actually funny. Some things never change. And the premise of the whole Sunday thing is that over the summer- Sunday was the big night to go out, and all the Irish J1 kids would usually end up at Porter's down in Brighton Center going absolutely mad. Melissa and I tagged along a few times towards the end and just could never get over how much they would drink on a Sunday! The reasoning finally made sense though, once I actually got to witness it- since the majority of students go home on the weekends, Sunday's the night when everyone is back together so everyone wants to go out!)
Monday 15. October
Ate a shit ton of toast this morning (I've been becoming so British lately!) Sean and I walked over to CIT and he gave me a tour of the school and we randomly ran into Evan! He was on the move though so we only said hello.
Went to the mall with James and Sean- we ate at the food court which was soooo American. Went to a bagel and coffee place and got a bagel that had jalapeños hahah. Then we got McFlurrys which are made with smarties instead of M&M's here. Then went to the giant superstore Tesco, and bought a bunch of food for dinner tonight- pizza, onion rings, wedges, a pie, and a baguette with cheese and tomatoes. Sean and James says they never eat fruits or veggies cause I wanted to make a salad ... That is just crazy because there are like no fat people in Ireland. (in hindsight though, I'm thinking it's just that they're lazy boys in college who are not going to take the time to cook)
Cooked all the boys dinner- just pizzas and onion rings and fries but did make some tomato mozzarella bread things so at least they got something that wasn't processed. (Was just like the end of the summer when Melissa and I would cook Mexican dishes and the boys would call over asking what was for dinner hahah)
John and James left for the night so Declan, Sean, and I watched "Taken" which probablyyyy wasn't the best movie to watch when I'm about to be traveling alone.... lol. Boys are back to FIFA- I don't know how they play it so much, but I've always wondered that when boys play video games in general.
I've felt like a mom since I got here- cleaning the apt, cooking, making sure they're eating healthy and doing homework, especially with John and nagging him to clean his ear so it doesn't get infected, making sure they've had enough to eat, etc. Just being such a mom!
Tuesday 16. October
Said bye to John and Sean when they left for class this morning. (While I waited until it was time for Gary to pick me up- I watched a lot of Irish daytime TV, which is actually mostly Australian- Home and Away, anyone???)
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| Driving from Cork to Dublin |
About a three hour drive to Dublin- absolutely gorgeous scenery and it was a gorgeous day. The rolling hills of the Irish countryside. (Gary's doing his Master's in business in Dublin and he shares a house with I think six or seven other students- the house is also right next door to a Domino's so of course that's what we ate for dinner. Pizzzzzaaaaa)
Spent a lot of time channel surfing through all the music video channels - heard the new One Direction song like six times. Then went to Lidl to get drinks and drank from like 9-12 (finally got to FaceTime with Melissa while actually in Ireland!) and then we got in the cab and went downtown to this club called Coppers in downtown Dublin. It was super expensive but had a good atmosphere and music except for like thirty mins when they played shit. They played Galway Girl and B*Wtched tho! At one point though, I got super sad cause it reminded me of JTree and I miss Boston and going out dancing with all of my friendsssss! (Taxi back and we were home just before 5- devoured chocolate and biscuits and such. Again, some things never change. These late nights are killing me, though. And remember what day this is- Tuesday night! So all the lads had class that next morning! I mean, we went out on Tuesdays at BC- but were always back around 1, and we went out on Thursdays but no one had class on Fridays so it didn't matter! Crazy Irish.)
Wednesday 17. October
Went to Dun Laoghaire (pronounced Leery) and went to a cute little restaurant called Harbor Bar and Grill? Finally got my pint of Guinness and a seafood chowder which was really good. I like stouts though! Like obviously not for predrinking or whatever but just as a nice drink. (And I stayed true to my word cause I got two pints of Murphy's at the Irish Bar in Münster last night and quite enjoyed them!)
Then Gary and I walked all the way down the pier and walked along the ocean and there was a rainbow!!!! It was so nice!!!! (I now understand the luck of the Irish hahaha. But seeing some beaches in Ireland- now I understand why the boys were always so fascinated and excited about going to the beaches in Massachusetts whereas we didn't think twice about them.)
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| Rainbow! |
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| Standing on Dun Laoghaire Pier |
Then Gary drove me to the airport- another rainbow! Said bye and now I'm waiting to board my flight. That Guiness made me EXHAUSTED and I can't wait to sleep. It's my farewell to English speaking countries! Don't know how I feel about going back to Germany... It does feel more like home than Ireland though, despite the language. I just understand how Germany works more than Ireland lol.
(Again, flight was uneventful. Landed at Frankfurt Hahn around 23:00, and then had to wait until 00:30 until the bus to Köln left. It was funny being back in Frankfurt Hahn because that was where we flew from/back to when we all went to Portugal in June 2011- still one of my absolute favorite trips. Got on the bus and there were two Irish guys who had been on my flight and they were going to a music festival in Köln- it was fun to talk to them and they were from the northwest part of the country, so when I told them I spent most of the week in Cork, they were saying how they couldn't even understand people from Cork. Then again, it did take Melissa and me more than half the summer until we could actually understand everything the lads said.
Got to Köln right around 03:00 and then my train back to Münster left at 03:30 with a short layover in Düsseldorf- finally back in my bed in Münster by 07:00! Again- LOTS of hours of traveling, but when I'm young and my body can still handle the inconveniences of traveling cheaply, then why not? And you most always come out with some good stories!)
Okay, so now back to present reflections on the trip! I know I kind of cheated by just copying and pasting, but I did add the bits of commentary, and if I hadn't have done that, I probably just never would've written- that ended up happening with YAYA in Europe in Lyon as well as Portugal- both very eventful and long trips that I just couldn't even imagine going back and writing about.
All in all though, I had a nice time in Ireland. It was much more low-key than I expected, but I keep telling myself that I was going to visit friends and not necessarily to sightsee. Also, I was on school break, so I wouldn't have been been doing much else if I hadn't have gone. It really was so nice to see so many of the boys, and I think in some ways it brought a bit of closure to the summer. They all got to experience and be immersed in mine and Melissa's lives in Boston and this time, I got to experiences their lives. A complete exchange! And it wasn't until I was visiting them that I realized that oh wait, they are still all in college and like any college, you have work to do and life's not always a party as it is in the summer. So, visiting them and witnessing that made me see the summer as a little more special for all of us, because they all talked about how much they missed it as well. It's not just me pining for the Boston summer sun.
Ireland is lovely though- I had visited it very briefly when mom and I did a cruise all around the British Isles in the summer of 2005, but I like much more visiting places and staying with people you know that live there- I didn't really do any touristy things, but I got a better taste for actual Ireland and Irish life from the perspective of people my age. As I said- there's something to be said for those cultural exchanges! I don't know when I'll be doing any more traveling though- there are no long breaks until Christmas, and for that, I'll be going to Rae's in the Midlands in England (again- I've been to England before, but it'll be so much better to experience it with English people!) and we have a two week break in March, but that's when I'm planning to visit Mollie down in Montpellier (hopefully!). But I knew this when I came, my semester abroad was much more focused on traveling to new places, whereas this time around, I'm trying to focus more on immersion into German life, since I'm more or less actually working here.
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