Pesto is the best though... (October 3) Italy pt. 2

We woke up the next day ready to explore Florence! Since Briana and Delaney had been there for over a month they knew everywhere that we should see, which is awesome when traveling to new places (like in Munich we did not know anyone, so we felt that we missed out on some of the must-sees of the area). Anyway... we started the day by climbing the tower in the Basilica of Saint Mary the Flowers--The Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore--which is next to the Duomo. Some people climb the Duomo instead because the top is higher, however the girls told us that we would want to see the Duomo + Florence from above (like climbing the Empire State Building and not being able to actually see the state building..) so this was the better choice. Hundreds of steps later we understood what they meant. The view from the top of Florence was amazing, I don't even think amazing explains it. The city looked like a painting and the mountains in the distance only added to the beauty. We walked around every side of the lookout area and could see for miles and miles.. I had now seen Cork, Munich and Florence from the top and was able to compare. They are all SO different, but the way that green blankets Ireland-- this shade of peach does to Italy. Both are stunning in their owns way.
Following the climb we grabbed breakfast at an American diner (in Italy lol, but it was nice to have some traditional States food) and then had a quick photoshoot on the terrace of their apartment. We next went into town where Sarah and I decided that we wanted to try fish pedicures... We sat down with our feet hovering over the water for an extremely long amount of time and then with racing hearts and loads of anxiety lowered our feet in (I made Sarah go first..) Once we found out that the fish did not actually have teeth it became a tad less horrid, but it was not really enjoyable. They all swarmed and it felt as if an electric current was running through my feet, like when I get that treatment done at the chiropractor. We then shopped our way through Florence, where I found a nice leather shop. Upon walking in and meeting the designer/owner, him picking out a jacket for me and placing it on my body I of course had to make a delightful purchase ("treat-yo-self ). He rubbed a lighter off the sleeve to prove to us that it was true Italian leather and then proceeded to give us discounts and then his card with an email if anything went wrong. Great salesman, but the smell and feel could have sold the jacket by themselves. Once we worked up an appetite, the girls brought us to one of their favorite food spots and I tried my first pasta in Italy. WOW. Sarah and I split a vegetarian ravioli dish and (this deserves its own line)

PESTO PENNE. ** drops the mic **

GAME* CHANGE * ER * (insert clapping hands emojis in between each word for extra emphasis)

The pasta was perfectly cooked, slightly chewy or al dente (as dad would correct me). The sauce was light, buttery and had just the right amount of pesto. I do not think that I refuse to order this meal anywhere  until I return to Italy or find somewhere with an amazing Italian reputation (maybe Federal Hill in Prov, MAYBE). It was that good. It was that pasta dish that you always dream of being heavenly in Italy. It made the trip that much more memorable. The pizza may have been a 9.9, but baby this was a 10. I can't even talk about it without getting teary eyed. I wonder if it thinks about me as often as I think about it.... I am losing it. PESTO will forever more be my favorite type of pasta sauce (I used to be a die hard alfredo girl growing up. Ask the fam. This is a big step.) We all enjoyed our meals in silence, savoring every single bite and sipping some afternoon wine.

The day continued beautifully. 4 of us girls decided to go get a couple bottles of wine and spend the sunny day people watching and relaxing on the Arno, with a fabulous view of Ponte Vecchio. We talked and laughed and drank for hours..while tourists walked by staring at us since we had open alcohol bottles in public (I swear it is legal there! Dumb tourists, you are obviously doing Italy wrong lol). We stayed here for most of the day, then met up with the rest of the group to go up to Piazza Michelangelo to watch the sunset and take part in the GELATO FESTIVAL, which just happened to fall on the weekend we were visiting (thank you Jesus). We only caught the end of the sunset because the walk took longer than expected, but trust me.. the gelato made up for it. There were over a dozen stands each with their own three types of homemade gelatos for us to sample. The event was almost overwhelming. Every flavor was more rich and delicious than the one before. Dark chocolate, mocha, raspberry, nutella, peanut butter, salted caramel, coffee. You name it, they had it. We tried little spoonfuls of each and then bought a card which allowed us to get 5 mini cups as well, those were extremely hard to decide upon because they were all SO good!! After an hour of so we couldn't eat any more/were going to be sick, #NORAGRETS. Certainly the most enjoyably earned stomach ache of my life. We grabbed something small for dinner, for those who could even look at food at this point, and then went back to the apartment.
Side note, I was having such an amazing time in Italy that I had my mom and I both trying to call the airport all day and night to attempt to switch my flight to a later time the following day. My Monday class was canceled and I did not want to leave!! Unfortunately, we were unable to make any switches.
We went out for one last time, left the bar early to grab some late night pizza (Had to. Last pizza in Italy maybe EVER) and then said our goodbyes before our early wake up. The alarms went off before dawn the next morning, we took a train back to Pisa and then were on our way back to Dublin. This was certainly the first time that we had traveled away and I wasn't dying to get back to Ireland.

I fell in love with Italy, hard. I am still so happy with my choice to study in Cork. I don't think that I could live in a busy busy city like Florence for an entire semester (I know my jeans say I can't lol) but it was a lovely visit to say the least. I will find a way to come back one day.. Here's to hoping that our coin in the drain counted for something! Italy you will be missed <3

Bye for now!

You can't soar until you learn to fly..

                                                      F.L.Y= FIRST LOVE YOUSELF

You need to love yourself first. Sure, it is nice to have a family member, friend or significant other who will be there to lift your spirits or complement when you get a bad hair cut, fail an exam or gain a few pounds. BUT at the end of the day, you need to learn to be there for yourself. When you are alone, when you look in the mirror, when you make a tough decision -- you are in control of your own thoughts. No one else. So you must see the best in yourself and stop looking for others to do so. Until you fully love yourself despite every single one of your faults, you can't truly love others or let others really love you. With a full face of makeup and heels or last night's makeup and a frizzy bun... love it all. The gap between your teeth, the curve of your hips, the way your hair always curls when it's humid.. love those too! Confidence comes from within and once you're able to see your beauty even on your worst days, then all will begin to fall into place. See the opportunity to grow from hard experiences, the change to make yourself proud when you're terrified. See the strength in your muscles to lift your body out of bed in the morning and your power within to smile even when you feel sad. You are only given one change at this life and you will spend every second for the rest of it with one person, yourself. So love the one you're with.  

This DOES NOT always come easy, trust me. BUT if you try every single day to just accept all of yourself ..one day you won't have to try. Just quit listening to others, good or bad, and allow yourself to find comfort in being there and comforting yourself even when it is the hardest to do so. 

That is all.. back to midterms.

Bye for now!

..A big pizza pie, that's amore.. (Oct 1-2) Italy pt. 1

We hoped on the 5 am bus from Cork to Dublin on November 1st, beginning our trip to Italy. I could not have been more excited! My sophomore year of college I had wanted to participate in the 2 week, SIE, trip through Bryant to Italy and had not been accepted.. Instead of choosing another SIE program, I saved the money that I would have spent on that trip and promised myself that I would go to Italy when I was abroad in Europe and here I was keeping that promise. We took a flight from extremely sunny Dublin to rainy Pisa (switch it change it rearrange it) and arrived in the early afternoon. We fairly easily figured out the train to Florence with the help of a few Airport employees and a call to Brianna once we realized that we have NO IDEA what their address was in Florence or any clue how close they lived to the train station LOL. I suppose we thought we would just figure it out on the way. Since our phones only work with WIFI connection outside of Ireland we would have been in some trouble, except Brendan luckily has a pay-as-you-go phone that can be used all over Europe that allowed us to call DaRin for help. We did not go to see the leaning tower in Pisa because it was a fair distance from the airport and were eager to get to Florence and see our friends. We got on the almost 2 hour train ride to Florence and were greeted outside the station by smiling Brianna, oh what a SIGHTTT!!! (cue that song, you know the one)..Gosh, it had only been two weeks since Oktoberfest, but it was great to see her friendly face again. Big hugs were exchanged, we grabbed a quick bite to eat and then she led us to their apartment. I was immediately mesmerized by Italy.. The architecture, romantic streets and quaint cafes looked exactly as I had imagined. Once at the apartment Delaney ran into my arms like a long lost lover and they showed us what they were working with. The apartment is very new and in great condition! There are two double rooms, so they are in one and then two other girls live in the other.  They have a gorgeous view off their balcony that you can see the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella from and is level with dozens of classic italian roofs. Though roofs back home are nothing to admire, these are worth noting. They are burnt orange and remind me exactly of what I pictured Italy to look like from above. Little did I know, that this aerial view of Italy did not compare to the one I would be seeing the next morning. We caught up on what we had both done the last two weeks, us having gone to The Ring of Kerry and them Cinque Terre. Next, we met up with Alaina, Becca (also studying in Florence) and Lilly (visiting, studying in Barcelona) who are all fellow Bryant students that are studying abroad. They took us to a restaurant called Rubaconte for dinner which was delicious and dangeroussss. For 15 euro we got antipasto appetizers for the table, 3 different large bowls of pasta (my first Italian food experience!) and UNLIMITED wine. We took full advantage of this deal (they may never be able to return...) and celebrated Bryant taking on Italy with 11 bottles of wine. WHOOPS! While laughing, eating and drinking we planned our next day’s trip. We decided that we would go to Rome.. not an easy trip 20/40 minutes away, but a city 3 hours away that would involve us waking up VERY early, buying train tickets, getting on the correct trains and then finding any item of historical significance from the station. We decided that this was a GREAT plan and all promised to meet outside the station at 8.. 
We then went to a few of the girls’ favorite bars/clubs around Florence until the sun came up. 

7 a.m. came WAY TOO QUICKLY, the thought of skipping Rome that day may have actually (embarrassingly) crossed my mind, but we got each other up and seized the day (after bagels, water and coffee and then more coffee)!! We missed the first and second train that we had planned to take the night before, but finally got onto the third and quicker (but more expensive) train which would get us to Rome in an hour and forty minutes. That ride was not much short of miserable, but ROME was at the end of the journey so I put a smile on my face and got ready to explore. Upon arrival we looked around, attempted to type known landmarks in our GPS’s and then all blindly agreed on a direction. Thanks to luck (our Irish luck most likely) we ended up at the Colosseum, yes.. we wandered and ended up at the Colosseum- I love when that happens! Walking up to the enormous ruins was unreal. We walked around the inside of the Colosseum for over an hour. Standing in silence at the enormous display surrounding us on all sides, listening to Becca read the history of the Colosseum from her touring Italy book and discussing what we thought different areas used to be used for. It’s an incredible experience to stand where so much history took place and gain a deeper understanding of the past. Once outside, we walked to the Arch of Constantino which is very close and again read up on the history of the monument. When walking around Rome, there were ruins everywhere that you walked and/or looked. I felt a bit ungrateful/unprepared for not knowing the meaning or names for most of the areas, however I did my best to ask around and simply appreciate how long the items had been there. Next, we grabbed lunch locally (where I got a delicious salad and no wine- still not feeling 100% since the night before and I had been promised life changing pizza for dinner). Following food we set out to find the Trevi Fountain.

I had spent all morning trying to think of my wish.. Most of my wishes either felt too selfish or not personal enough. How can I wish for my family's health when there are people dying of disease every day? How can I wish for me to find true happiness when there are children without food to eat? I knew that this wish was not going to decide the fate of the world.. but it suddenly felt like a lot of pressure. If I could change one thing about my own life what would it be? Or if I could change one thing about the world, what would it be? WOW, those questions carry a lot of weight and I could not get myself to answer either. I rolled this wish over in my head for hours, struggling to decide what I really, really wanted. I found out that I would be promised to return to Italy if I threw the coin so I could thankfully take one wish off my list of possibilities, but that still left so many good ones! The worst part? I couldn’t even ask anyone’s opinion, which I had been doing A LOT recently regarding many aspects of my life, because of course if I said it out loud then it wouldn’t come true.. and heaven forbid if I got a damn good wish I wasn’t going to risk ruining it LOL. But that’s when it hit me. I didn't actually need anyone else’s opinion on what mattered to me. No one knows how I feel in my heart or stomach or head. They don’t know what deep down is most important to me. They may be trying to help me make a decision that is what they believe to be best for me, which I truly appreciate.. but it also allows me to blame them if I make the wrong choice. I needed to make that decision (and many others) for myself. To really dig down and think about what I believed to be most important, so I did. 

I finally got it just as we walked up to the fountain.. well what resembled the fountain. It was under construction! In fact, when our GPS went off and said we had reached it I turned to the man next to me and asked where the fountain was, he smiled and pointed at the yards of metal scaffolding and fencing directly in front of us. What a disappointment :( So we found comfort for our sadness at a nearby authentic bakery, where Sarah and I split a homemade Cannoli! SO MUCH YUM! We then walked back to the fountain, with new spirits, and all took out coins. We found a grate in the ground near the fencing and all closed our eyes, dropped the coins and made our wishes.. with hope that the water tunnel may connect to those of the fountain below ground. We continues to aimlessly explore Rome for a few more hours and take photos of countless ruins in which we knew no names, but were still breathtaking and extremely interesting to admire. In these couple hours we lost Lily for a solid 40 minutes, well misplaced her.. we got caught up in admiring and left for a new location while talking to each other and forgot to fully gather the crew. No worries though! Less than a mile away we realized that she had not joined our new spot and then two of us ran back to search and rescue. She was a good child and stayed in the same spot, so they found here fairly quickly. Though she was left alone in a strange country for almost she remained cool, calm and collected as only Lily could do in this situation.. LOL. She then informed us that she had figured out to plan to get back on the train and return to Florence on her own if we hadn't come soon enough, HA HA HA thank god she didn't do that! 
We went into a closeby church before calling it a day, which was simply stunning. Through the day I kept tossing around in my head which I thought was more beautiful, the natural landscapes of Ireland or the man made artistic architecture in Italy. Sarah reminded me that I did not actually have to choose, which is good because I truly can't. Both left me speechless and in awe. The intricate details and attention to detail given to all aspects of every single building, especially the churches, in Italy was unbelievable. 

I could write pages about the pizza that we ate that night. Not exaggerating at all. Cue ALLLL OF MEEEE, LOVES ALLLL OF YOUUUU. I am telling you that it was, as promised, life changing. I will never look at another pizza the same. No other pizza will ever make me feel the way that did. It was an experience, one that I will never forget. Becca and I split two personal pizzas, one Margherita with added Spinach and the second was similar but with spicy salami (DO NOT knock it until you try it.. tasted like pepperoni’s sexier brother). We sat in almost complete silence, besides odd noises of joy every few minutes and the clank of wine glasses being lifted so that they could join the parties in our mouths.

My heart was Kerry-ed away.. (Sept 25-27)

Day 1:

We got on a bus around 2 pm leaving from UCC's campus and settled in for a two hour bus ride to someone called the Craig Caves on Castleisland. The drive had gorgeous views of the Ireland countryside which, little did I know, were nothing compared to what I was going to be seeing that weekend. I have never had the opportunity to explore caves before, so this was a pretty cool experience. We learned a lot about how it came to be found and created, which I do not remember, while we took a guided tour underground. The guide told us myths that go along with the cave, I made a few innapropriate remarks regarding the rock statues and we went on our way (couldn't help myself.. she didn't laugh though). After leaving, we stopped at our first sightseeing spot to take photos which was at the top of a sheep covered hill overlooking the water. Next, we finished our drive to the hotel in Cahersiveen and had a nice dinner. We started talking to other students who weren't in our API group and found out that almost everyone was studying at UCC. We exchanged stories from Ireland so far, talked about home and enjoyed delicious mousse-like cheesecake. After dinner, we all went into a big room where to local "Gaelic football" players spoke about the sport and then allowed students to try playing a bit. This was followed by hours of swinging each other around at Ceili dancing class while a live band played traditional music (so much fun!).

Day 2:

We were up fairly early and got dinner as a group before hopping back on the bus. Our first item on the itinerary was the Skellig Ring Tour which included Valenta Island, Geokaun Mountain, Fogher Cliffs and the Skellig Experience Center. The island had a view of a little town with colorful buildings and an even more exciting view of the, newly fascinating, Skellig Michael Rocks. At the experience center we watched a documentary about the rocks which are 12 miles off this coast. We learned that it's history traces back to 500 AD and that men went there to pray and commit their lives to God. Centuries of men built a monastery and 650 stairs by hand out of rock! They said that people go out to the rock to visit and you become speechless when you realize the amount of work that the men put in and the sanctity +devotion they must have felt when they were secluded miles from land without any protection from the elements. The trip is probably so breathtaking because its 650 steps to the top as well lol. Scenes from Star Wars 6 and 7 were actually filmed here, which is pretty cool even though I've never seen a single Star Wars movie.. (We are considering trying to make it back to this area to make the climb in the near future.) You can see the rocks in the distance of our photos! Next, we walked up a never ending mountain/hill to the best view I have seen yet. It was one of those moments where you are so in awe of your surroundings that you have no thoughts or words (which does not happen often for me). I was completely surrounded by untouched nature and overwhelmed by the scene. We sat and stood for a while without speaking, just taking it all in as best as we could. I couldn't help but fall deeper in love with Ireland and really appreciate how fortunate I am to be able to have this experience. I will always remember that moment and that view. After my life was changed forever and I became one with nature.. we went back to the hotel and ate some lunch.

Following food we visited Cahergall Stone Fort, which was a giant circle of stone walls- one on the inside and one on the out. We were able to climb to the top using the different levels that still remained on the inside of the fort and got a pretty cool view from the edge.. I am telling you, the green is just greener here! My mother will LOVE the grass when she comes to visit me soon. It never really gets hot enough for the grass to burn, so dad could never cut it too short! Woot woot, solution-- we move to Ireland LOL. Our API guide, Shane, is a history professor at UCC and is an awesome resource especially on these trips. We can ask him almost anything regarding the places we go and he knows loads of information! Forts and castles are sweet, but hearing their history and stories that go along with them in Irish culture is what I really enjoy. After the fort we went to Ballycarbery Castle.. where I proceeded to step in a giant pile of cow poop :) :) :) and spent most of my time at this locations washing one of my Tom sneakers in the stream #MEMORIES.. maybe I will laugh one day. We had free time for a bit so we went to O'Connell Memorial Church, found a local pub to watch Rugby and then ate dinner with everyone back at the hotel. Following dinner we had my favorite activity on the trip, a "Life in South Kerry" and sing along with a local singer. He handed out sheets with the lyrics to class Irish songs and we all learned the words as he played the guitar and told the history of Kerry and about his own life there today. This was a lot of fun! My favorite part was that he performed the song Galway Girl, which is from my favorite movie P.S. I Love You (the first time I realized I wanted to visit Ireland was after watching this-- that's why I was so set on my England, Ireland, Wales, France trip after Senior year). He was no Gerard Butler, but I enjoyed every second of it and sang my heart out.

Day 3:

The last day we went to Derrynane House, home of late Daniel O'Connell which was pretty interesting. We learned that O'Connell (one of Brendan's ancestors) is very important in Irish history for leading the campaign for Catholic Emancipation and is often called "The Liberator". My favorite part about this was the "sleigh-looking" carriage that was GIANT and had a velvet, purple chair attached to the very top (cropped out of my photo.. but the same chair is shown on the ground). He used to go through town sitting atop the carriage in the chair! LIFE GOALS. We then walked through the woods, which had "fairy houses" scattered throughout. These were adorable, Ireland has strong myths and legends that many still believe to this day, I tried to get into a class about it at UCC but it did not work :( I opened one of the fairy doors, obviously, and a kind student on my tour informed me that I upset the fairy and now would be cursed. COOL! I gave them a odd smile and then whispered "sorry" as I walked away, ya know just in case. We walked down to the beach nearby (Derrynane Bay) with a stunning view of the mountains, but for some reason my favorite part of this location were the nearby ruins of a monastery grave. Not only were the scenic spots from this higher area, but I felt really at ease and calm in this area. I am not sure why, but I spent 30 minutes or so simply walking around the graves, admiring the views and reading the inscriptions.. It was extremely relaxing and also was able to feel very in touch with the history of the area when doing this. 

Overall, we had a great weekend. I learned a lot about the area and also was able to see numerous historical landmarks and scenic, stunning views. I completely recommend going to the Ring of Kerry if you ever plan to visit Ireland. The sights are exactly what you picture when you think of the mountains and rolling hills. So grateful that our program planned this entire weekend for us and can not wait to see more of Ireland soon! Our next trip within this country is to Fota Island Safari Park in Cork...  but next weekend we go to FLORENCE ITALY!! Ahh I am so excited to see Italy for the first time and also see my Bryant friends again :) I am hoping that Italy is as incredible as I am imagining.

Traveling so much and not sleeping full nights is getting tiring, but every time I start to complain I stop myself. I have NOTHING to complain about. I will sleep when I am back home in the states or dead, for now I will keep exploring every second that I can!

Bye for now!