What a journey this has been this past few months! I cannot believe that I am already home from Ireland. Don’t get me wrong, I am super happy to be home and be with my family, pets and friends, but I am also kind of sad to be away from such a fun and vibrant city. This week’s blog post is going to be formatted differently as I did a lot of traveling the last 12 days of my time in Europe!
MAY 15 – 27
GERMANY
On May 15, I finished packing up the rest of the stuff from UCD, finished cleaning, checked out of my residence hall and headed to the airport to meet my sister in Berlin! Ellen came with me for the Berlin portion of our Europe trip which was really fun. On our first full day in Berlin, we went to the DDR Museum, the Berliner Dom (Berlin Catherdral), did some shopping (all the classics: Zara, Birkenstock, H & M), walked along the Berlin Wall, and finished the day at Checkpoint Charlie. It was so interesting to see yet another city that was divided by a wall. The remaints of the Berlin Wall was super cool – there were tons of amazing and colorful murals! Such a neat way to turn a negative structure into something powerful. The next day, we went to the Reichstag dome, the Brandenburg Gate, the Memorial for the Holocaust, the Victory Column (we even went up to the top of it!) and had lunch at a nice German restaurant. We said goodbye to Ellen that afternoon as the rest of us took a train to Prague and she was headed back to Dublin! My favorite things in Berlin would have to be seeing the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie and going up into the Reichstag dome. It was super fun getting to hang out and travel with Ellen one last time before she back to the USA. My favorite food items from Berlin was this giant singular meatball dish and pretzels.
CZECH REPUBLIC
Emma, Sarah and I took a train to Prague on May 17. The train ride was about 4 hours long which was really fun! I always enjoy a nice long train ride as it gives me plenty of time to read, listen to music, and take in the ever-changing landscape just outside the window. Our arrival to Prague was very overwhelming as there were many people in the train station and loads of stag and hen parties (bachelor and bachelorette parties)! Once we got to our hotel, we got some pizza from a local pizza joint and rested up for the next full in Prague. Our first adventure in Prague was crossing the Charles Bridge to get to the Prague Castle. The bridge was really cool as it had many different statues – many of which were depicting stories from the Bible. We then walked up the hill to get to the castle only to find a Starbucks nestled in the hill in an old building! We of course went in and enjoyed our coffees and teas on the patio overlooking the city. It was quite beautiful! Then we walked through the grounds taking in the beauty of the castle. We didn’t end up going in to any of the buildings in the castle as our lunch took too long and we had other sites in Prague that we wanted to see before leaving. Our next stop was to get a traditional dessert called trdelnÃk – a deep fried ice cream dough cone with soft serve ice cream on top! It was delicious! After walking around the city for a while, we took a dusk boat ride along the river which was probably one of my favorite things we did in Prague! The next day, we went to the Jewish Synagogue museum and the Old Jewish Cemetery. It was so neat getting to walk around and learn more about the Jewish culture in Prague. After walking around the Jewish cemetery, we met up with our driver who drove us from Prague to Salzburg with a quick stop in Hallstatt. My favorite dishes in Prague would have to be Czech style goulash and the trdelnÃk dessert!
AUSTRIA
After about a four and a half hour car ride, we reached Hallstatt, a stunning village in the Austrian Alps. We went up a cable car to the top of one of the mountains to get a better view of the town and the mountainside. It was so beautiful!!! It honestly kind of seemed like a set of a Disney princess movie… so magical! We walked around the Hallstatt for a while before meeting up with our driver again to head to Salzburg. Our hotel in Salzburg was beautiful AND it was the outside filming location of the house from The Sound of Music… Julie Andrews walked were I walked!! SO cool!!! That night we walked around the grounds a bit before heading to bed. As Salzburg was the filming location for a good portion of The Sound of Music, we tried to go to as many of the filming locations as possible. The next morning, we went to The Mirabelle Gardens and pretended that we were in the Do-Re-Mi song… it was quite fun! Then we walked around Salzburg, passed by Mozart’s birthplace and home, did some shopping, went up to the fortress and enjoyed the scenery of Salzburg. After enjoying an interesting dinner, we walked back to our hotel to plan the rest of our time in Salzburg and Munich! The next day, we walked around the grounds, read our books in the library for a while and then headed to the train station to catch our train to Munich! My favorite dishes in Salzburg was this sausage style dish and apple fritters!
GERMANY (AGAIN)
Back in Germany again, but this time in Munich! We arrived in Munich around 1 pm, checked into our hotel and set out for the day. As many of you probably know, Munich is famous for its Oktoberfest that goes on during the fall and the beer that is associated with it! While in Munich, we were able to try 3 of the 6 historic beers of Munich! We had the Paulaner, Hofbräuhaus and Augustiner. They all tasted pretty similar to the non beer expert (me), so I liked them all pretty well! On the first day in Munich we walked around, got lunch, did some shopping, and spent the evening at the Hofbräuhaus Brewery – they had live music and large pretzels the size of your head! It was awesome! That night was also the last time I got to FaceTime Jonny for a while as he left for a mission trip the next morning! It was a little sad but also super exciting for him! The next morning, we had to wake up super early as we had an early train to get to the Neuschwanstein Castle that is about 2 hours outside of the city! The castle was beautiful!! The inside was amazing… if we were allowed to take photos, I would have posted several with this blog post… just stunning!! After the tour, we had lunch before making the trek back to the city. For the evening in Munich, we went to a George Ezra concert in the Olympic Park! It was such a fun night!! George Ezra is one of Emma and I’s favorite artists, so it was really special to actually get to see him live in concert! The next day was spent walking around Munich, trying new beers and food and enjoying the atmosphere of the city. We went to St. Peter's Cathedral and to a part of the English Garden! After ensuring everyone got a stein while in Germany, we packed up and headed for the airport for our late night flight to London! When we arrived at the airport, we learned that our flight was actually an hour earlier than we thought, BUT the plane was delayed for two hours so all was well! Just a slight 20 minute panic! The flight went well, and we were all excited to be back in a country were the primary language spoken was English! My favorite dish in Munich was a penne pasta dish with white asparagus and tomatoes… and of course the beer and pretzels!
ENGLAND
Our day in London was an absolute DREAM for me. We started off by going to St. Paul’s Cathedral (something I’ve been wanting to go to since 2012), had high tea at Kensington Palace, walked around Kensington Park and then Emma and I went to the Royal Horticultural Socity Chelsea Flower Show! Sarah would have come, but she is allergic to flowers, so we figured it would be best to go on our own! The flower show was amazing!! SO many beautiful landscapes, designs and flowers!! Emma and I spent a little over 2 hours there, but I am convinced you could spend the entire day if you really wanted to experience it all! As a horticulture student, it was really special to me to have the opportunity to go to such an esteemed and special event in the horticulture industry! After the show, we met up with Sarah for dinner and a little bit of shopping (of course!). My favorite dish in London was everything served at tea. It was all so delicious!!
IRELAND
We had an earlyish start the next morning as we had to catch our morning flight to Dublin! I wish I could have spent more time in England, but I also really wanted to soak in my last few days in Europe in Dublin. When we got to Dublin, we checked into our Air BnB by St. Stephens Green and headed to Raheny to get my suitcases from Ciara’s family! The transition was smooth, and I was glad to have everything together again! Then we had dinner at The Old Storehouse, I had Cottage Pie, a Guinness and we split a piece of Bailey’s Cheesecake. Then we went to a few more pubs before calling it a day! Our last full day in Dublin was a Sunday, so I took Emma and Sarah to Christ Church Cathedral for service – so cool… I’m really going to miss going there on Sunday’s! Then we got lunch at Nando’s, saw The Book of Kells, went on a tour of the Tilling Distillery and walked around the Temple Bar area until dinner. We went to The Quays, another pub restaurant, for our last taste of Irish cuisine and Guinness! After dinner, I took them to Murphy’s Ice Cream which I think has the best ice cream ever! I got Irish Brown Bread and Raspberry Sorbet. Our last few stops included Tesco for snacks, St. Stephens Green and an attempted stop in M & S for some Phizzy Tails (it was already closed, sad). That night while packing, we realized my flight was different than Emma and Sarah’s so I ended up flying home alone the next morning! Because of this flight change, I was able to get Phizzy Tails before leaving – yay! The flight home was very easy and relaxing! I could not have asked for a better flight back (other than the 5 hour lay over… haha) Overall I am so thankful for my time in Dublin, and my adventures with Emma and Sarah in Europe! Through this experience, I have learned so much about myself, grown in my relationship with God and others and have seen God work in so many amazing ways. What an fabulous time. I think I took so long to write this final blog post because I didn’t want the feeling I got from studying abroad to go away, but I also felt slightly off for not finishing something that I had been working on for months... so here we are! Again, I am so thankful for this past semester and cannot wait to see what God has in store for me this upcoming few years at ISU.
*Last Weekly Tea Trivia:Herbal teas are not actually teas because they do not contain leaves from the plant, Camellia sinensis. Instead, they are infusions made from the roots, leaves, flowers, seeds, and/or fruits of various plants.
Cheers,
Anna