God efftermiddag!

I just returned  from a wonderful mid-semester vacation in Denmark!  (hence, the Danish greeting)  I stayed with a former Rotary Exchange student of my family, Karoline, her husband, Mads, and their two daughters, Silke and Rosa.  My five days with them were filled with relaxing on their family farm, puzzles at their beach house on the North Sea, and just experiencing the true Danish culture.

Besides also catching up on sleep, I accompanied both Karoline and Mads to the classes they teach in the town of Skjern.  As both an aspiring journalist and university student, I thoroughly enjoyed getting to see the inner-workings of the Danish education system.  It was amazing to see Karoline’s work teaching refugee students the Danish language, helping them acclimate to the local culture.  I was able to not only sit with them and work on my basic and very limited Danish skills, but also interact with them one-on-one.  Let me explain…

There was a Colombian woman in my learner class who spoke Spanish.  It was apparent just watching her from across the room she was comprehending hardly anything the instructor said.  When we went on break, I mentioned off-offhandedly I spoke a bit of Spanish.  For the rest of the day, I sat with the Colombian woman translating instructions and teaching her how to use a computer, for I’m pretty sure she has never seen one in her life.  And she is only one of the thousands of refugees the country takes in everyday.  It’s inspiring. The social system in Denmark, while it may still have its kinks, is astounding in its ability to educate and provide opportunity to every one of its citizens. But I digress…

Trying to speak Danish is incredibly difficult!  I picked up a lot on my visit, but it has to be one of the hardest languages to pronounce.  Karoline and Mads definitely humored my attempts 🙂   Although, it’s not imperative to learn Danish when you visit anyways since nearly all students are required to learn English.

In Denmark, I also found out that I love Danish food.  Karoline made it her mission to cook authentic Danish dishes for me almost every night, including making a full Christmas feast with pork roast, three kinds of potatoes, and my new favorite dessert, rice pudding with cherry sauce! For people unfamiliar with Danish culture, pork and potatoes are the main food staples.  And for people unfamiliar with my eating habits, I LOVE pork and potatoes.  I’m also  a new fan of the Danish brew, Carlsberg.  I was pretty happy about the situation.

Overall, my trips were filled with hygge.  ‘Hygge’ is a Danish word meaning the warmth of spending good time with good friends.  Karoline explained it to me on my very first night, sitting in front of a fire sipping wine in their beautiful farmhouse. It’s a Danish word that has no English equivalent and describes perfectly my time in Denmark.

Farvel,

Taylor

Start each day with the mentality that you will learn something, whether it be from the people around you, places you visit, or information distributed to you. Hold on to the understanding that your greatest education is not in the number of degrees you hold, but in the moments you truly experience. It’s measured by how often you take yourself to a new place and discover something. It’s when you leave your comfort zone and explore, opening your eyes in ways you never thought possible. It’s taking something out of a single moment with you no matter how far in distance you go. You learn by living because lessons are constantly around you. 

I’ve been lucky enough to be taught beyond the realm of four walls, transforming a classroom into places bodies of water and continents apart. They’ve come to teach me more than basic subjects of science, history and math, making me evaluate what it is that can make me become a better individual and how I can not only help myself, but those around the world. Rome has opened my eyes to this world outside of my own and continues to remind me daily how important it is to take in all of life’s lessons. It’s taught me more than any other place ever could. 

 Although the world has been my greatest classroom, I still hold the role of student and am required to “study” like all others hoping to get diplomas, but am fortunate enough to go beyond the norm of lesson plans. Being apart of the John Felice Rome Center has given me the opportunity to combine my goals with experiences brought to me by impeccable educators. It has allowed me to remove myself from the typical scheduled curriculum and learn more than the limits of a syllabus. It’s a place without limitations, allowing students who are interested to attend courses even if only for a period. 

By doing this myself and joining a class for the day with no intentions of receiving credits, I learned, as the students ofthe Valued Based Leadership class do, that it’s only when you take the chance to see the world, that your blessed with the presence and understanding of world leaders. Professor Emilio Iodice, allowed me to learn the impact of world leaders by not sitting in a lecture room, but joining his students on a trip reflecting on Italy’s world leaders. 

We were given a private tour of Mussolini’s office, where we had the chance to stand on the balcony where he performed speeches and walk around a room where he planned the progression of a system of government, known as the Fascist movement. Although he lead a country to war and had much of a negative impact on the world, it was empowering to see how one place can have such on influence on the place I stand today. He brought Italy to it’s present day and I, of all people, was in his office. Realizing that much lead to Mussolini, we were taught about the leadership and impact of Julius Caesar walking the path of his daily life through the ruins of his home, senate, forum and temple where he later was assassinated. We were taught not be a book, but by what was right in front of us evoking emotions and empowerment within all of us. I stood in the place of former world leaders, making me question if there is ever anything stopping me from being one myself. 

My appreciation of the influential educators and people I’m surrounded with everyday was affirmed when attending the school trip to Sicily. I, along with 39 other students in my program, embarked on a journey to an Island in the Sun with the view of Africa across the sea. Without knowing it I had everything I ever needed, not a care in the world, and people just as beautiful as the places we were visiting. 

People always ask if you were stuck on an island, what would be the three things you’d bring. The answer would be simple, if I were to be lucky enough to be stuck on Sicily, absolutely nothing. After moments of stepping off the plane or ferry one loses sight of the needs for time, electronics, or worries. Watches were removed, phones were put away, and just being was all that was needed to fit right in. After what had been a stressful week of preparing for midterms, it was as if God knew this would be the perfect remedy. 

The Sicilian culture and people hit you before ever step foot on the island. Moments after take off, I learned through the actions and care of the Sicilian natives I was surrounded by that they were unlike any other people. They were more concerned with getting to know me as an individual, regardless of the slight language barrier, than the 45 minutes of sleep they’d be getting. They went for a simple conversation, but left me as life long friends I’d never forget. They invited their children to play with me, told me stories of their childhood among the mountains, and embraced me as if I was their own, when truly I was the farthest from it. It took me 45 minutes with 5 people, a two year old name Julia, her parents in their early thirties, and a couple happily carrying the title of Nonno and Nonna to experience first hand that regardless of origin or age, that these people and this trip would forever change me.

Once landing in Palermo, we started off our weekend in smaller surrounding cities among the hills where we experienced first hand the impact and influence the Greeks had on these Italian people. We got lost in the detail work of the Cathedral and Cloister of Monreale, wandered through the ruins of the Temple and Theatre of Segesta, and found ourselves overlooking the sea while admiring temples of Selinunte. We saw what we thought to be a place of true beauty, but little did we all know it was only the beginning, they were simply preparing us for what was coming.

We landed ourselves in the city of Agrigento where we’d be staying, learning about the enjoyments of their culture through food, tourists sites and night life. We enjoyed what I’d consider to be the greatest meal I’ve ever had at Trattoria Dei Templi, eating 9 courses that incorporated over 20 fish found within the waters of the Mediterranean daily. Between the changing of dishes and multiple toasts, I came to realize there was more than the food that was wonderful, it was the people on this study trip with me. 

After enjoying Agrigento we made our way East on the island to Piazza Armerina where we were taken away by the green grass and yellow Daisies found within the fields of ruins. Without even having to try, Sicily was naturally beautiful. The liveliness of its people resembled the bright colors of its land. The hills took us to the sea where we found ourselves in the city of Taormina, a place of high class, small buildings, and the greatest view of Mount Edna. Sitting in the Theatre with the sun shining enjoying a pistachio cannoli and the greatest view of the city was all I needed to get a full understanding as to why it was the top tourist destination of the island. There was no thinking just being, and the moment I realize I couldn’t leave we made our way to our final destination of Palermo.

Professor Evers warned us at the beginning of this trip, between being our very own tour guide, that Sicily would go straight into a special place in our hearts and become a place we’ll always strive to come back to. He was right about this, along with all of his historical facts, encouraging us to hold on to our memories of the island when needing a moment of relief for times of stress, doubt, or worry.

This trip brought me more than relaxation in times of complete insanity, it brought me lifelong friends who came with me as students, my Professor and Director of Academics Sander, and Student Life Assistant, Steven. I embarked on this weekend getaway without any of my closest friends, but came to experience the diversity and beauty of the students of the John Felice Rome Center through moments of complete chaos and serenity. We left our comfort zones together, enjoyed the wide range of activities and sites of the island and left being our very own “Sicilian” family. Sicilia settled in a special place in my heart because I was fortunate enough to not only discover an island, but the wonderful people I’m surrounded with daily.

Sicily opened my eyes to what was really important, to live a life finding the core reason to your happiness, whether that be in the amazing food you eat, in my case Sicily’s seafood, people you were surrounded with, or sites from hundreds of years ago. This lesson is the souvenir I returned to Roma with in hopes of finding a piece of Sicily within each of my days.

When returning to my daily routine I was brought back to the lessons given to the me earlier in the week about what it takes to be a world leader, one of which is recognizing when you need a break and the other finding the leader within all those around you. Sicily brought me to peace, while giving me a new and different appreciation for the country I live in. Roma, my home, brought me to the greatest leader in Italy and one of the most influential people in the world, an example who’s lessons are taken in by millions of people within the Catholic Church, Papa Francesco. Blessed with his presence during the return of my second Papal Audience, I was reminded that in order to lead an extraordinary life, I had to find the extraordinary way of living.

Ciao for now as I continue on my journey of leading & finding the many reasons as to why I’ve never been so happy.

Basta,

Gabriella Lunich

I apologize in advance for the short and potentially choppiness of this post. I am currently in the middle of writing a 2,000 word essay on the root causes in the Northern Ireland conflict, booking flights and hotels for spring break, and packing to leave for Scotland tomorrow at noon. Please bare with me.

The month of March off to a crazy and busy start already. I was able to spend this past long weekend on a true Ireland adventure. Thursday I took a Paddy Wagon Tour (which I would highly recommend for anyone if they were to ever come to Ireland because it’s just fantastic) with my roommate from back home, Alyssa, to the Cliffs of Moher. When I arrived I definitely had a fear that I would simply just fall off the cliffs by either the wind or me just tripping, however, it was a bit safer than I had thought. There was a stone wall that provided a small barrier from falling to my death, but I would be lying if I said that I stayed behind it the whole time. Alyssa and I ventured all over the cliffs, and pretty close to the edge, but I was more worried about her falling over the edge than me, but we both survived and took some pretty killer pictures.

The next day I woke up and embarked on a three day long trip of the Ring of Kerry. This trip was “paid for” by USAC (yes I’m putting that in quotes because technically “we” paid USAC when we booked my semester abroad (yes I’m putting we in quote because I really didn’t pay those fees)). The best thing about this trip was that we were staying in a hotel for the entire weekend and all of our food was paid for in advance. I do not think I can properly articulate how much bread I consumed in that 3 day period, but it was a lot. We arrived in Caherciveen, where our hotel was, just in time for a delicious dinner. After dinner we sat in a back room and sang some traditional Irish songs (think Galway Girl) and then participated in a trivia contest. The trivia contest was for teams of 5 and luckily it was the 5 of us girls who were in Kerry this weekend so we immediately formed a team and proceeded to dominate. Luckily the combination of the 5 of us provided us with a bizarre arsenal of random facts and information from major river’s names, the president of Ireland, movie facts, capitals of countries, and more. We were also the only team who seemed to be having fun and laughing the entire time, and add the one pint of beer on the table, everyone (including the Irish moderator) thought our team was drunk. So it was especially satisfying when we came in first. Our prize was two coasters made of Valentia Slate, so it was well deserved.

The next day we woke up bright and early and spent the entire day roaming around Valentia Island and other small Kerry towns. We saw baby calves, walked up crazy high hills, saw the location where the first transatlantic cable was connected to Europe, ate more good food, and sang happy birthday to Kristen (who turned the big 2-1) three times throughout the day. That night the group received lessons in Gaelic football and Irish dancing. We learned dances to four traditional group Irish dances, which brought back memories. I definitely remembered most of the dances, and I was even complimented on how well I did, however my calves still burn.

Sunday was spent doing the full Ring of Kerry, and the highlight of it all was getting to hold two, 3-week old, baby lambs. (Yes I made a number of Silence of the Lambs jokes and my friends definitely wanted to feed me to Hannibal Lector by the end). The Ring of Kerry was simply gorgeous. It was beautiful rural Ireland, that we saw while driving through a number of small towns, and stopping at a number of locations. We saw so much in these three days, and they even gave everyone a flyer that laid out everything that we saw:

Crag Caves, Castelisland

Cahersiveen

Transatlantic Cable Cite, Valentia Island

Geoghan Mountain & Fogher Cliffs

Valentia State Quarry

Skellig Experience

Ballycarberry Castle

Daniel O’Connell Memorial Church

Stone Forts– Cahergal & Leacanbuaile

Cumakista Pass

Derrynane House & Beach

Ladies View, Ring of Kerry

Torc Waterfall

Killarney National Park

Muckross Castle

Overall, it was a fantastic weekend. So many sites and experiences crammed into one weekend. I arrived back in Cork throughly exhausted but completely content. Now, time to pack and get ready for a weekend in Scotland!

Spring break is over and I have some mixed feelings about it. I am sad that I am ending my beautiful travels in Eastern Europe but also surprisingly happy to be back in Rome and on campus. The everyday hustle and bustle of Rome can be a monotonous and overwhelming at times and this goes for every city, not just Rome. I was happy to leave to get a change of scenery for a bit! I went on a Loyola facilitated study trip with the wonderful SLA Chandni and because we went to so many different places I thought I would write a little snippet about every place we went.

Belgrade, Serbia

Belgrade was the first stop on our spring break trip and I loved being in this city! I had no expectations going into this trip and Belgrade set the bar very high for all the other places we went. There is an incredible amount of history, war, sadness and resilience in the Balkans, and I got my first taste of that in Belgrade. Our tour guide Jelena was very young when the Kosovo War occurred and she shared some fascinating stories of her life. It is crazy to think that when I was four years old, people in a different country were living through war. You read about war in history books but when you hear first hand stories, the information is more impactful.

Belgrade is a young city that has a vibrant art/graffiti scene and nightlife. Each building has beautiful pieces of art, some next to bullet hole remnants from the war. I do not know how to put this in a more eloquent way, but people in Belgrade are just so exceptionally cool. There is a sense of life and happiness that is refreshing! We also met with these Serbian exchange students that did a year of high school in America. After hearing all the history and the death that has happened in this city, they were interesting to talk to because they talked about everyday life in Belgrade. The things that they missed about America, (Mainly Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups) simply showed that love of culture has no boundaries.

Novi Sad, Serbia

Novi Sad is a small town about an hour away from Belgrade. We took a day trip and walked around seeing various churches, mosques and historical buildings. One of the important monuments in Novi Sad is this clock tower and I will not lie, it was a hike to get up here! This tested my lack of athletic skills a lot, but the view was breathtaking. Jelena was telling us that during the summer there is a music festival that is well known in Europe. How cool would it be to have a music festival in a fortress? Sure puts Lollapalooza to shame!

Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina 

Sarajevo is the definition of a beautiful ski town, it is about four hours away from Belgrade by car and the whole ride looked like a fantasy. Snow capped mountains and trees is always breathtaking. We went to an old military tank fortress on top of a mountain, it was all quite surreal, something you do not see on a normal tour. Sarajevo too was plagued with war in 1993 and our tour guide Skender was young when the war was occurring. When we live in this “modern world” it can be baffeling to think that ethnic cleansing occurred just 20 some years ago.

In Sarajevo I also met my current new baked good obsession, Burek. Burek is this beautiful meat, croissant swirl and just thinking about not having it in Rome is making me feel some kind of way. Oh the memories of my love, Burek!

Split, Croatia

Our last stop was Split, Croatia and it was perfect weather up until the day we left! For most of the trip it was cold, snowy and rainy but in Split, as you can see from this photo, it was nice and sunny out. The people in this city are incredibly dressed and I think it is because there is one main street that everyone walks down and you are bound to run into someone you know. A big thing to do here is island hopping, but we were advised to come back during the summer and do that then instead. Split is a popular beach town but is also a popular stop for backpackers. I would love to come back and see what this city is like during the summer!

That is all for now!

-Lindsay

Hello there!

It’s been awhile, but I’ve been very busy traveling all over Western Europe! It has been quite the adventure and each place I’ve been has been so unique.

Two weekends ago, I spent a long weekend in Edinburgh, Scotland. Edinburgh was full of history, local flair, so much nature. It was definitely my favorite city I’ve visited in my time here. Oh, and it was SO HILLY. After two days we had walked twenty three miles up and down the city. My legs didn’t recover for at least three days..

We also climbed up the very windy Arthur’s Seat (definitely a highlight of this semester), ate more than I thought was possible thanks to a Buzzfeed list of incredible food (http://www.buzzfeed.com/katiei49192fcf4/21-things-to-eat-in-edinburgh-right-now-104zr), and experienced our first pub crawl! Following the kilt got harder after pub 6, but it was a great way to see the city 🙂

Four days after I got home from Scotland, we flew off to Ireland to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day! We spent the weekend in the sleepy town of Cork and then took the train in on Saturday to Dublin to see the festivities.

In Cork, we did some shopping and some authentic eating (as usual). We went to Blarney Castle, which is one of the oldest castles in Ireland, and climbed to the top to kissed the Blarney Stone in hopes of obtaining some eloquence (fingers crossed).

We also spent a day in Dublin, Ireland. The morning was entertained by the Guinness Storehouse, aka the greatest beer house ever. If any of you ever find yourself in Ireland, don’t miss this fun!! We cheers’d to St. Patrick’s Day at 10am and then continued to roam the city, checking out quite a few pubs with the rest of Ireland and America. We even managed to fit in St. Patrick’s cathedral. It was a great and green day!!

I’m heading off to Barcelona on Wednesday to spend my spring break in the sun (I hope!), wish me luck 🙂

Megan

It’s been a very long time since my last blog post, and for that I am truly sorry. Too busy having the time of my life? I suppose. But now that my excitement has died down and I have major essays looming, I thought I could squeeze in some updates…

So, how great is London, you ask? It’s simply the greatest. I wouldn’t trade being here for anything in the world, and the thought of returning to Oak Lawn for an entire summer away from Europe physically pains me. And it’s not just London I’ve grown to love, either.

Over Queen Mary’s spring break last month I had the opportunity to take my first trip outside the UK! Two friends and I flew to Prague and then stopped over in Amsterdam before returning home to London (“home to London”—isn’t that just the best thing you could possibly say??).

I’ve seen some pretty beautiful places in England this semester, but I can now say with confidence that Prague is the most gorgeous place I’ve ever visited in person. I loved everything about the city, from the breathtaking castle views all the way down to our hilltop hostel. Experiencing Prague was honestly one of the best weekends of my entire life. We saw all the major sights like the Astronomical Clock, Old Town Square, the Charles Bridge, the Jewish Quarter, and the John Lennon Wall.

Since we were in Prague from Thursday to Monday, it felt like we had all the time in the world, which made it more of a marathon than a sprint. We had time to hit all the sights during the day and hit the town at night! On Saturday night we took part in the world-famous Prague Pub Crawl, which touted over 200 twenty-somethings to five of the city’s best nightclubs. (And if you think that’s a lot, the guide told me he was once in charge of 500+ people on a Thursday night tour… Try imagining that happening in Chicago!)

We made friends with other young people from Canada, South America, and the UK, just to name a few. That night was certainly a marathon, and also one I’ll never forget! Fun managed to lurk around every corner in Prague. After a long hard day of trekking up hills and across uneven cobblestone, we treated ourselves to traditional Thai foot massages, because we were on vacation and we could. And that might have been the most relaxing 30 minutes of my life.

Another highlight was walking far and wide to find a restaurant we heard referred to as “Monks and Beer” near the castle district. A few hills later we found ourselves at the foot of what looked like a private residence, but a few signs led us downstairs to a hidden but fully functioning dining experience in the wine cellars of an old monastery! We drank famous blueberry beer and sampled traditional Czech food like goulash and dumplings, all by light of a few candles. Everything about Prague was surreal, and I grew very attached to it in only four days! I didn’t want to abandon it for Amsterdam, but alas, our plane tickets beckoned…

Amsterdam was a SPRINT. We landed in “the Venice of the north” late on a Monday night, exhausted from travel and our weekend in Prague. But we only had until Thursday afternoon before returning to London, so we had to conjure up a second wind and get our butts in gear. And once we got going, Amsterdam became just as beautiful! It is definitely a city of museums, and we managed to see five in just two and a half days (six, if you count the massive seven-floor Openbare Bibliotheek Library). We could have spent two weeks wandering exhibits and galleries, but there was just too much too see.

On our first day we spent hours admiring every inch of the Van Gogh Museum, which houses the biggest collection of his works in the world. We followed up with a long afternoon wandering around the Albert Cuyp Market, widely recognized as being the largest daytime market in all of Europe. We sampled everything from traditional Dutch stroopwafels (a warm flat waffle filled with caramel and smothered in chocolate, also DELICIOUS) to spicy Tex-Mex street tacos. I even bought a wooden tulip!

But luckily, our day wasn’t over. We managed to book late tickets to the highly-popular and world-famous Anne Frank House. And as happy as I am with all the fun we had on this trip, visiting that house was the most important thing we did all week. You simply cannot go to Amsterdam without it on your itinerary. It’s one thing to learn about Anne and the Holocaust from the safety of a classroom and entirely another thing to physically walk through the annex and stand in those rooms. Absolutely nothing else can compare to it.

We filled our Wednesday with still more museums and walking tours around the city. We even tried mixing with locals in the trendy Jordaan neighborhood, but I’m pretty sure they sniffed us out. Before we had to leave we managed to take a nighttime stroll through the infamous Red Light District and a morning boat cruise around the canals. It was so heartbreaking to leave, but I also couldn’t stop dreaming about my bed back home in London!

Overall, I couldn’t have asked for a better spring break. I may never get the chance to see Prague and Amsterdam ever again, but I would go back in a heartbeat.

More astronomically long posts to come…

I know it has been awhile since I have last been able to blog but I have been slammed with both schoolwork and other crazy events. When I last checked in I was about to head off to Scotland. Scotland was 10 times more fun then I ever expected. To be honest, I had zero expectations for the weekend and I was completely blown away from my visit. The trip started with a scare, the scare being that I sat next to two Scottish businessmen on the plane and I could barely understand a single word they said. Both tried to make a joke with me and I laughed (hopefully appropriately?) and then they had to ask me about 3 times before I could understand that they were just wondering where I was going and how many of us there were. Getting off the plane, I turned to my friends and told them that this weekend would be a bit rougher than expected. However, as the next few days went by I realized that while I still had trouble understanding some words, those two men must have the thickest Scottish accent on this earth.

The reasoning behind the trip to Scotland was because our friend Kristen actually has two friends who live in Glasgow. As a result of this great luck, one of her friends was nice enough to pick us up from the airport and drive us to our hostel. My expectations for hostels has also officially sunk over time. When we arrived at our hostel we were a bit worried seeing as a Buzzfeed article had been published about the hostel and it’s not so great living conditions. Upon arrival, our hostel check in was actually across the street from where we would be sleeping. The room had 4 bunk beds, and since there were 7 of us we would only be living with one stranger–an upside compared to Dublin. However, I cannot begin to explain how wrong we could possibly be. Our roommate, who we named Pitbull because he was fat, bald, and annoying, was quite possibly the worst person you could ever share a room with. He snored louder than I have ever heard a person snore in my entire life. I don’t think he was breathing for part of the time. He would not only snore continuously and loudly, he would also shout in his sleep and make other disgusting noises. I maybe slept 3 hours the first night.

However, a bad nights sleep did not prevent us from having a fantastic first full day in Scotland. We woke up bright and early on Friday and took the train from Glasgow to Edinburgh. It was a quick 40 minute train ride and we arrived with the whole day ahead of us. We first went to the Edinburgh Castle, which I once again knew nothing about, and was a little irritated when I found out I had to pay 16 pounds to get in. However, I was completely wrong as the castle was INCREDIBLE. It had about 6 mini-museums throughout the castle so I was able to learn about the history of Scotland’s military, the history of the castle, go into rooms where POWs were held, walk through a few war memorials, tour beautiful rooms, and see the crowned jewels (which later sparked the debate about whether you would rather have a scepter or a wand). We spent a few hours wondering around the castle and taking a number of photos. The castle also provided a gorgeous view of Edinburgh which has a perfect mix of both new and historical buildings. But just when you thought the day couldn’t get any better, something glorious happened– Harry Potter.

After lunch, where everyone in our group tried and actually enjoyed fried haggis, we ventured around Edinburgh to find a cafe called Elephant House. I am glad some people in the group were prepared because little did I know, but Elephant House is actually the cafe where JK Rowling first wrote the beginning of Harry Potter, on napkins. After wandering around a bit we found the cafe where we all sat down with a cuppa and pretended that we were as brilliant t as JK (we’re not). The coolest part of the cafe is actually the bathroom. Inside all of the walls, people have written notes to JK or quotes from Harry Potter. It was the first, and probably last, time that I took about 8 pictures of bathroom walls. Marypaz and I even wrote a note ourselves on the bottom of a wall. Some of our friends may have been embarrassed by how much Marypaz and I were fan-girling, but they were nice enough to not make it obvious.

Our day in Edinburgh ended with us shopping around and not buying anything because the pound is way too expensive. We went back to Glasgow and had a nice dinner and quiet night out at a local bar that had a live band. We went back to the hostel and tried to fall asleep (before Pitbull returned) so we could be energized for the following day. The next day we spent walking around Glasgow. We looked in a few museums, toured some outdoor sites, shopped, ate, and drank. It was a nice relaxing day and we were able to see all that the city had to offer, a special thanks to Kristen’s friend who was able to show us around. We left Glasgow the next morning, bright and early, to head back to Dublin then Cork, and reality.

The past week and half has been crammed with school work and days of fun. Saint Patrick’s Day was obviously exciting and Cork had a huge parade in the center of town with food stands all across the city center. Classes were cancelled for the day, as St. Paddy’s Day is considered a bank holiday, so we had the whole day open for drinking, I mean adventuring. While St. Paddy’s Day is very exciting in Ireland, it is important to understand that it really isn’t that big of a deal compared to St. Patrick’s Day even in Chicago. While there was a huge parade and downtown was packed, no one wore an obnoxious amount of green or Irish gear. It is instead a day of celebration but much more calmer than stereotypes may have you think. We woke up and ate a huge Irish breakfast, courtesy of chef Casey, and mimosas before we headed down to the parade. We were able to sit at a nice rooftop bar for a few hours during the day, since it was exceptionally pretty out, and just relax in the good atmosphere. We went out later that night and had a blast, but we did have class the next morning and real life waiting for us.

After spending the next few days writing a number of papers, I was able to take another day off and go up to Dublin to visit a friend. Allison, a friend who is studying at the Rome center, was in Dublin for 2 days so I was able to spend the day with her and show her around. Although I am no expert, only having gone to Dublin once before, we did do a lot. We walked through Dublin Castle, Saint Steven’s Green, ate some pub food, and, of course, went the the Guinness factory. I could only stay for a day so I headed back that night. It was, however, a nice break from school work.

Finally, two of Marypaz’s friends from Dublin, who we met last time we were up there, came down to Cork to visit. They arrived on Sunday night so we went out to dinner and then to a bar and tried to prove to them how fun Cork is (Dublin people aren’t the biggest fans of Cork). They seemed to have a fun time and we are in the works of making future plans to visit them again in Dublin in April. Since they’ve left, it has been a few days of heavy school work. This is the final stretch as I am trying to complete all of my papers before my parents arrive on March 31st. Super excited to see them and super excited to be done with all this work. As my mom said, it is rude that school is interrupting my 5 month vacation.

So, it’s that time again for me to update you on all of my adventures over here.

Since coming back from Denmark, I’ve been keeping busy working on scenes and classes and that dreaded task of looking for an apartment and internship when I get back to Chicago.  But, I have had some fun, as well!

I did finally live out my childhood dream of visiting Warner Bros. Harry Potter Studios.  It was actually magical.  We drank butterbeer, rode brooms, visited Dumbledore’s office, the Gryffindor common room, and, of course, the Great Hall. To give some perspective of how much fun we had, we stayed for 5 hours.  I’m happy to say I will be returning with my parents when they visit.

A few of us also took a day trip to Oxford where we explored some of the more famous colleges and landmarks there.  We found Harry Potter magic there, as well, ironically.  Much of the architecture for Hogwarts was inspired by colleges at Oxford or even filmed there.  You might recognize this staircase from the second movie 🙂  If we weren’t big enough nerds already, we worked on a Lord of the Rings puzzle as we ate lunch at the Eagle and Child pub, where J. R. Tolkien used to frequent with C. S. Lewis.

Oh! I almost forgot to mention that we went to Brighton!  Wow, we’ve done a lot in the last few weeks.  Despite it being a bit chilly, I was so happy visiting the ocean.  The best part was definitely the Pier and boardwalk.  We rode all of the carnival rides multiple times, ate sugary and fried junk food, played arcade games, and enjoyed just being kids for a night.  It was definitely a much needed escape from the stress we have been under recently.

In the last 7 days, I have seen a record 5 shows!  Started off Monday seeing Harvey. Tuesday was musical night with Miss Emily and Miss Saigon.  After a short break, I went to see 3 new monologues by Peter Barnes at Trafalgar Studios on Friday.  Saturday, all of us adventured out to Shakespeare’s birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon and saw the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of The Jew of Malta.  And today will be the fifth of the last 7 days as my roommates and I see Kevin Spacey in Clarence Darrow at The Old Vic. I think I’ve fulfilled my quota of theatre.

Stratford was delightful.  It’s a rather quaint town with lots of small shops and tea rooms. It was relaxing to do some light shopping as we visited the historical houses and churches, including visiting the cursed Shakespeare grave at Holy Trinity Church.  Although out of all of it, I most enjoyed afternoon tea at the Anne Hathaway tea room, complete with dainty cakes, scones, clotted cream, and all of the finger sandwiches I could eat.

It’s starting to reach the end of the program and all of us are starting to realize we only have a few more weeks here. This next weekend we have a four-day break for the Easter holiday and I’ll be taking my last solo excursion to Edinburgh and St. Andrews to visit my friend Meghan. I recently learned that St. Andrews is not only the place where Prince William met Princess Kate Middleton, but is apparently where golf was invented!  There will be many pictures of golf courses.

Lastly, I got a new jumper from Primark.  It’s perfect for the drizzling spring days that are becoming more frequent as it gets warmer and warmer here.

Cheers

Note: A jumper is a sweater.  A sweater to the Brits is a sweatshirt.  It’s confusing to me, too.