Life after Spring Break/Venice

So once the wonderful vacation of Spring Break was over, we had to come home to a lot of work. The first couple of weeks back I had to get through many presentations, papers and other assignments. They have certainly kept us busy these last couple of weeks. I have had many assignments, presentations, papers and projects. In fact, for my last couple of weeks, I have had to write three seven-page papers, given three presentations and (so far) taken four finals. (I have one more to go tomorrow)  This is all in the last two weeks. Besides the work, there hasn't been much going on. We had a long weekend the weekend before last and I just stayed at home working most of the time. However, one of those days, my roommate Nick and I decided that we would go on a day trip to Venice. Neither of us had been before and it was the last trip of the semester. We woke up early in the morning (about 7 or so) and headed to the train station in order to make it on time. Luckily we got to sit in first class for the way there and we actually had seats for the whole time. We knew we were getting close when the scenery from outside of the windows changed from mountains to water. When we first got a look at the city, after leaving the train station, it was like nothing we had ever seen. There were no cars in sight. There were vehicles of every kind for the water-water taxis, fire rescue, ambulances- but not one car. The whole city is an elaborate maze of canals that create a really unique experience. We had no idea where to go and what to see so we just picked a direction and started going that way. We ran into many people going on gondola rides around the city but we decided not to because it was very expensive and a little too bro-mantic. We walked around for a few hours, taking pictures of just about everything we saw. We eventually became hungry and decided to eat at a place that was right on the water. They were having a special "tourist" deal in which we had 3 items of food for just 14 euro. Because we were in Venice, and they were famous for their seafood, I decided that I would have the spaghetti with cuttlefish, stewed in its own ink. This plate of food was as black as the night. It was one of the weirdest things I have seen served on a plate, but it ended up being delicious. I also had fried calamari and some french fries. After lunch, we made our way to one of the main attractions of the city- The Piazza San Marco and the Basilica di San Marco (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Mark%27s_Basilica). We had seen, pretty much, the entire city at this point, so we started walking back to where we had started at the train station. We bought our train tickets back and we had another hour or so to kill. We decided to walk up the other direction and see what was there. (More photo-worthy things) When we made it back to the train station, we were waiting in a big group to see what platform our train would be arriving at. As soon as the number appeared, a massive crowd dashed for the train. It was complete pandemonium. We eventually ended up standing (all crammed together) on this train for about 2 hours. It was completely brutal. Eventually, these very nice people let us have their seats when they were leaving so we were able to sit down for the last hour or so. Needless to say, we were quite tired at this point. We came back to our apartment and made some delicious chicken/pepper/cheese quesadillas and called it a night. After this trip, like I said earlier, we have just been going to class and working. I only have a few more days in this glorious town and on this incredible adventure and it is certainly hard to come to terms with that. I have been taking all the opportunities I can to walk home instead of taking the metro, in order to take in as much of the city as I can. Tomorrow is my last final and then hopefully I can get some packing done before we have our farewell dinner on Thursday. (I leave Friday) Please don't make me go.
Luke

Spring Break-Part 2

So, we left off in London, when we were going to the train station. We were taking a very long system of night trains and a ferry in order to get from London to Dublin. We took the first couple of trains that led us up the coast of the UK, up through Wales. We were traveling all through the evening and into the night and we finally reached the ferry station.  We were expecting to board some small boat, but once we made it through the check-in lines, we were boarded onto a massive, cruise-type ship. They had everything on this ferry, from arcade games, a movie theater, buffets, bars and lots of places to sit and sleep (although by the time we reached the area, every place was pretty much taken).  My friend Nick and I played a couple games at the arcade and then we just kind of settled in on the ground to try and sleep for a few hours. The trip was about 3 hours or so and laying on the ground helped me to combat the seasickness. We finally made it to the Dublin port and we called a taxi to take us to Shannon's friend's dorm that was located on the Dublin City University campus.  The man who drove the taxi was our first real introduction to the people of Ireland and it was a perfect start.  This was one of the nicest guys I have ever met in my life. He was so nice to us and told us this incredible story about how he had overcome alcoholism with the help of his wife and how much he loved her and it was incredible story that almost had us in tears. He drove us to the campus and everybody passed out on some of the couches in the common room. I couldn't really sleep so I decided to read a little instead. Once Nick woke up, we decided that we would go and try and find a nice Irish breakfast. We walked down the road a little bit until we found a small cafe that made an Irish breakfast and it was delicious. It was certainly not my last Irish breakfast (I would go on to have about 3 more during our time in Ireland). This version was a little more basic, but the best breakfast that I had was with poached eggs, toast, sausage, bacon, white pudding and black pudding. One breakfast that I had came with beans and another came with potato bread. (They like to mix it up) We came back to the campus in order to shower and then while we waited for the girls to get ready, we went down to the on-campus bar and had our first (of very many) Guinness'. We shot a couple of rounds of pool and then met up with everybody shortly afterwards. We then proceeded to head into town and the first thing that we did was to buy bus tickets for the rest of the week. We walked around the center of the town for a while and we went to visit Trinity College campus. This campus is one of the most beautiful that I have ever seen. The buidings are old and gorgeous and the grounds are so clean and green. Shannon's friend Doug is studying abroad there so he joined our group to help show us all around. We had quite a few days in Dublin so we spent much of the time just hanging out and enjoying the fact that we were there. So, naturally, the next thing we did was to go to a pub to enjoy some local food and (of course) drink more Guinness. The waiter/bartender was a hilarious guy that was really nice and constantly made fun of us for being Americans. When the girls ordered "Irish coffees, he immediately said "Oh, f*** you". He had all of us laughing and was very good about bringing out the food and drinks. I ate half of a roast beef sandwich and a clam chowder that was absolutely delicious. One of the best that I have had in a long time. We spent the next couple of hours in the pub, eating and drinking Guinness and eventually our roommate Chris came. He met us in Dublin after spending time in Paris with his family. He met us at the bar and after a while we headed across town to check into our hostel. Chris, Nick and I were staying at a hostel that was downtown and located right on the River Liffey. It was an incredible location and the people there were awesome (I will get into that later). The rest of the night was pretty relaxing. We hung out with Doug and his roommates at their dorm at Trinity for a bit and then went to eat at a place called Eddie Rockets. It was an old diner-type restaurant with incredible milkshakes and burgers and fries. The next day I woke up pretty early because I had a mission. The one thing that I had forgot to pack was my razor and by now, I had quite a scruffy face going on. I went around looking for a barber shop because I thought I would get a shave. I walked around the city for a while until I found a place that had a Turkish hot towel shave. It was so nice. I haven't had a hot shave in so long and it was very different. After I was cleanly shaven, I went back to meet up with Chris and Nick and we went to breakfast at a restaurant about 5 minutes away. We had just missed the time for serving breakfast, but the meal was had was stil very delicious. Chris and I shared a spicy lamb pizza and I had a side cup of seafood chowder. The fresh-squeezed lemonade was also quite good. Chris had to go pick his classes at a local internet cafe so Nick and I just hung out for a while. We then picked up a couple of Cuban cigars and walked around the Trinity campus for a while. We never smoke cigars, but when else are you going to get Cubans? We then went back to the hostel and waited for my friend from Bowdoin, Ted to come. He met us in Dublin for a few days so that was pretty awesome. There wasn't much going on during the day because it was Good Friday. Many places were closed and there was no alcohol being served. So, because there was not much else going on, we decided that we would go to the casino and try our luck. I ended up being pretty lucky and actually won 16 euro more than what I came in with. We left the casino and went to a very popular burger place. They had so many options of toppings and it was so good. I had a burger with lettuce, American cheese, a "Jamaican" sauce that was of mango and it was spicy and with a fried egg on top. We also had fries with different kinds of sauces. It was one of the best burgers I have had. That night we decided to hang out at the hostel for a while before going out. The people that were working there were having a party so we decided to join them. We met many people from all over the country/world and they were all cool. After we hung out there with the hostel people for a while, we went to the girls' place and met up with the people that were living there. We stayed there for a while before heading back into town and going to bed. The next day was Ted's last full day in Dublin so I met up with him in town and we walked around checking out all of the sights and taking pictures. We ate at a Mexican place for lunch where I had a spicy lamb burrito. For a Mexican restaurant in Dublin, it was pretty good. We then made our way to the true Irish attraction: The Guinness Storehouse. This is where all of the magic happens. The place is seven stories worth of Guinness-making, Guinness history, shopping and everything else that you can think of that has to do with Guinness. When you take the tour, you can see every step of the process of how a Guinness is made and everything that goes into storing them and shipping them. The best part is that the top floor is the Gravity Bar. The whole floor is circled around a bar with bartenders that constantly pour Guinness to the customers and all of the walls are windows that can look out over the whole city. This is where most people get their free Guinness, so we did the same. On the way back we stopped at an Indian restaurant for dinner and it was delicious. We had a deal that was like three courses and a side. I had some lamb vindaloo, naan, and some really good chicken.  We headed back to the hostel to get ready for the night and we decided that we would start the night at the hostel again. Tonight was even better/more fun with the hostel people. A lot more people were going out and we were all having a really good time. We played beer pong for a while and then we played some game that a Dutch guy taught us. It was called pokeball? To make it simple, it is a drinking game that we played in the street, similar to Kubb (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kubb). We headed out afterwards to a bar nearby to have a few beers. Once we got there, we actually ended up running into some people from Bowdoin that Ted knew (small world!) We hung out with them for the rest of the night and went around to a couple of other bars before heading back to the hostel. The next morning we woke up, said goodbye to Ted, and got ready to go to Galway. We all boarded a bus and headed west. Once we got to Galway, Chris, Nick, Nico and Maura all checked into their hostel. Shannon's friend Doug had a friend that had an apartment in Galway so he was nice enough to let a couple of us stay there. The weather is Galway is just as you would imagine: very rainy and a little cold. It rained off and on for the entire time we were there. We walked to a local restaurant/pub to have a little lunch. I had another Irish breakfast, although this was was a lot bigger than the first. There was so much food. It didn't help that I was sharing buffalo wings with Nick too. I was substantially stuffed. There was a rugby game on too so that was cool. After lunch we split up and those of us who were staying at Doug's friend's place (Doug, Shannon, Casey and me) went over there and hung out for a while before going to meet up with everybody at night. We went to a local bar in town that was supposed to be really fun and it didn't disappoint. There was a live band playing that was really good and everybody had a good time. There were a couple of bachelorette parties there too that were dancing and they were hilarious. The next morning we split up again, although this time it was Nick, Chris, Nico, Maura and me that went on a really cool bus tour. I came back into town and met up with them before heading out towards our first stop, which was a small farm, run by a man who was an expert in Irish studies and history. The place was really nice, surrounded by the greenest countryside I have ever seen in my life. The guy who lead the tour/owned the farm was extremely nice and really funny. We saw lots of sheep and cows and the view from the top of the hill that we climbed was incredible. While we were waiting for the bus to pick us up for our next stop, a couple of us were playing a little bit of hurling in the front yard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurling). We didn't actually know how to play, but we were just throwing the ball around and stuff. The bus eventually came and got us and we headed off to the main attraction, the Cliffs of Moher. They were so incredible. It was raining like crazy at this point, and we were not all dressed to keep warm through the rain. The tour was so worth it because seeing the cliffs was one of the most incredible things that I have ever seen. We were there for a while, taking pictures and getting way too close to the edge. After the cliffs, we came back to the bus and had a few more stops. We ate lunch at a town a little ways over, we saw a castle and another spot of some cliffs. The whole day was so much fun and it was some of the best scenery in the world. We eventually came back to Galway, checked the people out of their hoste and boarded a bus taking us back to Dublin. Once we got there, we got to the hostel, showered and then Chris, Nick and I went to go find some food. We walked through the Temple Bar area until we found a little Irish restaurant that was having a good deal on an appetizer/entree combo. The place actually turned out to be extremely delicious. For the appetizer, I had some breadsticks with garlic sauce. For the entree, I had fish and chips and the garlic sauce was so good from the breadsticks that I saved it for the fish and chips. Everything was great and after we finished, we just went back to the hostel and slept. The next day was our last day in the beautiful country of Ireland so we started it off right with a great breakfast. Nico and Maura met up with Chris, Nick and me and we went back to the restaurant where we had the lamb pizza. (This time we made it to breakfast) I had my last Irish breakfast, complete with tea and orange juice. The rest of the group went to the Guinness factory after breakfast, but since I had already been, I went shopping for a little bit. I bought myself some birthday presents and then met up with the gang before heading to the airport. We packed everything up, said goodbye to everybody at the hostel, got on a shuttle and eventually made our way out. We landed in beautiful Italy and ended an incredible, extremely fun trip.