The flight to Vienna was full of Franciscan Students. I went through a little culture shock seeing all of my friends again the first few days at the Kartause. When we first arrived there, the little kids of the professors greeted us with yellow roses. When I got my room assignment with Victoria I found out that I am in the same room Laura was. :-). The first few days were crazy busy. The school took us to Melk Abbey and Durnstein. In Durstein, we hiked a mountain to the ruins of a castle where Richard the Lionhearted was kept prisoner. I swam in the Danube River with some friends and had a blast singing Irish pub songs on the way back to the Kartause.
The first weekend the school took us to Vienna. It was pretty cool being back there after five years. I met my RD named Tony Ertell and found out that he was good friends with Laura in college. Such a small world!
The second weekend I went to Salzburg and Munich. I had some awesome Austrian food in Salzburg and Fr. Brad took us on a walking tour of the old city. My friend Mary and I ate an awesome chocolate dipped pretzel that was like the size of my head. In the evening, I went to the Augustiner with a bunch of people and had good beer and sausage sandwiches. Munich was beautiful. Me and Victoria walked around with a bunch of our guy friends. We listened and danced to German Jazz music while random tourists took pictures of us for their photo albums. lol. We ate and drank at the Hofbrauhausse and then went to a festival along the river. In the evening we got gelato and Mark Radabaugh had to help me back to the bus because I had blisters and was walking on cobblestones with heels..woops.
On the way back to Gaming in the morning, we stopped at Mondsee. We had mass at the church of St. Michael's where Maria VonTrapp was married at. Then we had lunch and swam in the warmest lake in Austria. So much fun. The sun was shining and we just relaxed and swam for awhile. The town was really quaint and pretty. Back at the Kartause I hit the books and the laundry. :-/
Monday, October 18, 2010
Monday, September 6, 2010
Killarney
The second day in Killarney we rented bikes and biked through the Killarney national park. We saw Ross Castle... hehe it gets better. A abandoned abbey :-) and Muckross mansion. It was just my day. At muckross mansion there were horse and buggy rides to Tork Waterfall so I spent some quality horsey time there. Tork waterfall was beautiful and the entire national park was just gorgeous. Muckross looked like something out of pride and predjudice. I got a wonderful supper of lamb and fire roasted potatoes and we spent the night indoors having a good time eating bread and cheese and drinking wine.
The next day we headed to Kilkenny for our last night in a hostel. In kilkenny we saw Ross hotel. lol. anyway we went out for the last time in Ireland. We went to like the oldest/largest pub in Kilkenny which had three different types of music on each floor. so cool. One american country. One irish drinking songs. and the other american hip hop. When a polka song came on me, Maura, Travis and Peter hit the floor and pleasently surprised all of the irish people with our "amazing dancing". lol.
Unfortunately the next day we checked out of the hostel and headed back to Dublin :-(. It was kind of a weird feeling knowing it was our last bus ride in Ireland and the place that had become so comfortable to us was soon to be a memory until years down the road when we come back. We got back to the hotel where the luggage was and packed everything up. Around nine we went to the airport and found a spot to spend the night. Saw some other FUS students and hung out with them. We watched Leap Year and got some food. Alex and I got about an hour's sleep curled up on the floor. In the morning we checked in and went through security. The plane ride wasn't much fun because it was freezing, my seat wouldn't go back, and I had a cold. Well that really wasn't the reason why the flight wasn't fun. Ireland was the best place in the world I have ever been. The beauty of the nature, the unbelievably friendly people, and just the life over there is so awesome. I would live over there for a couple months in a heartbeat. We all still miss it so much but the memories are priceless. haha it seems like everytime any of us are together we have a toast to the emerald isle and all the good times she gave us. God has blessed me so much in this trip as well as this semester. I hope to remember it always and one day... hopefully within the next five years. I'll go back. =)
The next day we headed to Kilkenny for our last night in a hostel. In kilkenny we saw Ross hotel. lol. anyway we went out for the last time in Ireland. We went to like the oldest/largest pub in Kilkenny which had three different types of music on each floor. so cool. One american country. One irish drinking songs. and the other american hip hop. When a polka song came on me, Maura, Travis and Peter hit the floor and pleasently surprised all of the irish people with our "amazing dancing". lol.
Unfortunately the next day we checked out of the hostel and headed back to Dublin :-(. It was kind of a weird feeling knowing it was our last bus ride in Ireland and the place that had become so comfortable to us was soon to be a memory until years down the road when we come back. We got back to the hotel where the luggage was and packed everything up. Around nine we went to the airport and found a spot to spend the night. Saw some other FUS students and hung out with them. We watched Leap Year and got some food. Alex and I got about an hour's sleep curled up on the floor. In the morning we checked in and went through security. The plane ride wasn't much fun because it was freezing, my seat wouldn't go back, and I had a cold. Well that really wasn't the reason why the flight wasn't fun. Ireland was the best place in the world I have ever been. The beauty of the nature, the unbelievably friendly people, and just the life over there is so awesome. I would live over there for a couple months in a heartbeat. We all still miss it so much but the memories are priceless. haha it seems like everytime any of us are together we have a toast to the emerald isle and all the good times she gave us. God has blessed me so much in this trip as well as this semester. I hope to remember it always and one day... hopefully within the next five years. I'll go back. =)
Thursday, August 26, 2010
More of the Emerald Isle
Day 3- (from journal entry)
I don't think it can get any better than this. I'm sitting on a rock wall overlooking the Dingle Penninsula. The beauty of this place just overwhelms me. The rocky coast, the mountains that look so different than home with mist and fog comin off their peaks in the morning dew. The breeze is a bit nippy this morning and it tickles my face. It just doesn't look real. I guess I don't realize how beautiful certain places in this world are. An Irishman just walked by and we started talking about Irish history and the Molly McGuires. These people are so friendly. By the way, a cow is randomly staring at me just far enough away that I can't touch him... crazy. Last night at the pub the band played "My Fair Lady" while the entire pub as well as us sang along. I think we were accepted by them after that ;-)
Later that morning we walked to the cliffs on the penninsula. We took a ton of group pictures at a WWI bunker. The cliffs were unbelievable. We chilled for awhile and prayed the rosary. Then I just took time to look out at the water and pray and rest in God's beauty and peace. Later Peter and I found a cave on the side of the cliff that went all the way down to the water. It look prehistoric and just amazing. Once we got back to Dingle we bought food at the Spar and had a picnic on the bus to Killarny. Lol eight people in the same room. In Killarny there was another amazing Irish band, but quite a bit more people. When we got back to the hostel, we all had a blast goofing off, laughing, and making memories and many inside jokes. :-) it was a good day
I don't think it can get any better than this. I'm sitting on a rock wall overlooking the Dingle Penninsula. The beauty of this place just overwhelms me. The rocky coast, the mountains that look so different than home with mist and fog comin off their peaks in the morning dew. The breeze is a bit nippy this morning and it tickles my face. It just doesn't look real. I guess I don't realize how beautiful certain places in this world are. An Irishman just walked by and we started talking about Irish history and the Molly McGuires. These people are so friendly. By the way, a cow is randomly staring at me just far enough away that I can't touch him... crazy. Last night at the pub the band played "My Fair Lady" while the entire pub as well as us sang along. I think we were accepted by them after that ;-)
Later that morning we walked to the cliffs on the penninsula. We took a ton of group pictures at a WWI bunker. The cliffs were unbelievable. We chilled for awhile and prayed the rosary. Then I just took time to look out at the water and pray and rest in God's beauty and peace. Later Peter and I found a cave on the side of the cliff that went all the way down to the water. It look prehistoric and just amazing. Once we got back to Dingle we bought food at the Spar and had a picnic on the bus to Killarny. Lol eight people in the same room. In Killarny there was another amazing Irish band, but quite a bit more people. When we got back to the hostel, we all had a blast goofing off, laughing, and making memories and many inside jokes. :-) it was a good day
Monday, August 23, 2010
Oh Ireland
Where do I even begin? Well...I guess I'll begin at the beginning. Lucia and I arrived in Dublin on the 17th and met up in the airport with our friend Natalie. We had to stow the luggage at the Travel Lodge before we took the bus to Galway to meet up with the rest of the group. So at the airport we found the city bus we needed. It took three tries to get on because the first time the driver pulled away and left us there. Second time we tried to hand him a bill and it only took coins. By the third time we had learned our lesson and piled our 6 suitcases and 3 backpacks into the bus to the obviously anoyed looks of the people on the bus. Of course the bus dropped us off on the side of the highway and the Travel Lodge was on the other side. So we treked it across the four lane highway and grass just to find out we had the wrong Travel Lodge. Oh dear. Time for a taxi.
When we finally stowed our luggage at the right hotel, in the right room, we got on our first of many Bus Eireann rides. We met up with the rest of the group in Galway and went to a long awaited pub. I never thought that vegtable creme soup with hearty brown bread could be so wonderful. It was like heaven in a bowl, especially when accompanied with a Heineken. We watched some Irish dancers and then headed for bed.
Day 2- In the morning Lucia and I went window shopping in Galway and ate breakfast at the hostel. When the eight of us were back together, we caught a bus to the Cliffs of Moher. We only had about 35 minutes until the next bus so we split up to get pictures from different angles. Omg! like pre-historic, massive, Lord of the Rings style 700 foot cliffs. The wind was so strong we thought we were going to blow off the side because there are no railings. Luckily we didn't. When we left the Cliffs we went to Dingle and got another taxi to our hostel which was six miles farther out on the peninsula. On the way what should happen but we encounter a herd of sheep in the middle of the road switching pastures. Little children were running after them and chasing them with sticks. Unreal.
We made it for sunset on the rocky shore and had a photoshoot for awhile. Then we got a bite to eat in the pub, which was actually our hostel as well. Crazyness. The best fish and chips I've ever had in my life though. We all discovered our favorite beer in Ireland- Schminicks. The night was so much fun because it was such a little coastal town where all the locals went. A three- generation Irish band played amazing music and the locals fell in love with us when we started singing the words to My Fair Lady. Some of us acquired Irish accents and others just thought us amusing. We finally went to bed because we had more places to go in the morning.
When we finally stowed our luggage at the right hotel, in the right room, we got on our first of many Bus Eireann rides. We met up with the rest of the group in Galway and went to a long awaited pub. I never thought that vegtable creme soup with hearty brown bread could be so wonderful. It was like heaven in a bowl, especially when accompanied with a Heineken. We watched some Irish dancers and then headed for bed.
Day 2- In the morning Lucia and I went window shopping in Galway and ate breakfast at the hostel. When the eight of us were back together, we caught a bus to the Cliffs of Moher. We only had about 35 minutes until the next bus so we split up to get pictures from different angles. Omg! like pre-historic, massive, Lord of the Rings style 700 foot cliffs. The wind was so strong we thought we were going to blow off the side because there are no railings. Luckily we didn't. When we left the Cliffs we went to Dingle and got another taxi to our hostel which was six miles farther out on the peninsula. On the way what should happen but we encounter a herd of sheep in the middle of the road switching pastures. Little children were running after them and chasing them with sticks. Unreal.
We made it for sunset on the rocky shore and had a photoshoot for awhile. Then we got a bite to eat in the pub, which was actually our hostel as well. Crazyness. The best fish and chips I've ever had in my life though. We all discovered our favorite beer in Ireland- Schminicks. The night was so much fun because it was such a little coastal town where all the locals went. A three- generation Irish band played amazing music and the locals fell in love with us when we started singing the words to My Fair Lady. Some of us acquired Irish accents and others just thought us amusing. We finally went to bed because we had more places to go in the morning.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Packing, packing, packing
So.. I guess I didn't realize how much there was to pack for being in Europe close to four months. I have not only been sorting through tubs of summer, fall, and winter clothes, but also shopping for the new ones that I need before I go. Yep so walmart is getting quite a lot of business from me lately because I don't want to be stranded in Europe without shampoo :-). Besides the packing there has been a ridiculous amount of planning going into my Ireland trip for hostels, buses, flights, and meeting spots. But the planning is about done now. This week is going to be crazy doing last minute shopping, taking care of my horse Jammie, working, spending time with the family, and... of course...packing. I plan on updating this blog about once a week so check back often. I hope this will be a way to stay close in touch with my family and friends from home, Franciscan and everywhere in between. I love you guys and will miss you tons!
<3 Abby
<3 Abby
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