Finale

“How was London?”

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked this question since arriving back in the states a few weeks ago. I knew it was coming and I was excited to talk about it, but now the only answer I can muster up is “It was really great!” and I leave it at that. How do I even begin to explain the last four months to someone without talking them to death? How do I convey the gratitude that I have and the immeasurable amount of personal growth I experienced from living independently (for the most part) in a foreign country that I grew to love and think of as a second home? I’m still trying to figure that out and I’m not sure that I ever will truly find the right words to encompass my time abroad.

I wrote most of the following post while I was still in London and I finally got around to finishing it up…

Hi again! It’s been a while since my last post and I’m quite sad to say that this will be my last one while abroad in London, England. I am currently sitting in the waiting area at Heathrow Airport, awaiting the announcement of my gate number. I feel really odd saying that because it truly seems like just yesterday that I was sitting at the wrong gate in JFK with a ton of jitters and apprehension about what lied ahead of me. Now, four months later, I am calmly waiting to return home and reunite with my friends and family after being apart for so long. I am very excited to be back but this post isn’t going to be about that. I wanted to take the little time I have left at the airport to write about my study abroad experience in London, and how it changed my life for the better.

I think that I’ll break down my thoughts into a list of some of the top moments of my semester abroad. It’ll be much easier to cover everything and hopefully keep your attention. So here I go!

(These are not in any particular order…)

·         Okay so first of all I’m going to have to say meeting Rupert Grint twice in a pub was definitely one of the highlights of my semester life. Just being able to walk up and talk to someone I never dreamed of meeting in real life in such a chill atmosphere was incredible. As a huge Harry Potter fan it was definitely the cherry-on-top of a very Harry Potter filled trip. Between my trip to the Warner Brothers Studios in Watford to see the making of Harry Potter and my weekend in Edinburgh where I saw the Elephant Café and the inspiration for Diagon Alley, the past four months have been absolutely filled with magical adventures. My inner twelve-year-old was smiling from ear-to-ear the whole time.

·         The friends that I made this semester are a huge reason why it was such a successful and happy time for me. I was apprehensive that I’d have the same friends I made during orientation throughout the whole semester, but we all stuck together and I couldn’t imagine what it would have been like without them. Anna, Megan, Matt and Amy were four of my closest friends in London and each hold a special place in my heart.

I talked to Anna on Facebook before the trip and neither of us realized that we’d be spending so much time together over the next four months. I thought that she was a little out of my league friend-wise because she was so pretty and in a sorority. That sounds silly now and I think that’s another beautiful thing about this trip, because I don’t categorize people as often. You really shouldn’t judge a book by its cover and isolate yourself from socializing with people who aren’t too similar to you. Anna ended up being my roommate during orientation and we’ve been best friends ever since. She has challenged me in ways that not many people have in my life and I think that our differences make the friendship worthwhile. I learn so much from her every day and I don’t know if I would have been organized or motivated enough to see as many beautiful places as I did without her. She’s always on top of things and has a ton of energy so on our trips she would really push me to experience as much as I could while we had the chance. I was frustrated at times because she was so much more athletic and able to cope with the aches and pains of traveling better than I could. When I look back on it all I’m thankful to her because I don’t think I would have gotten to see as much if I had just stopped to rest a lot. The fact that we traveled so much together really made us close because we experienced things that only we can understand and relate to. She wrote me a beautiful goodbye letter that brought me to tears in the cab on the way to the airport. She wrote that some people come in to your life and leave so easily but that she doesn’t believe that will happen to us. I couldn’t agree more! It’ll be hard to stay on the same page when we’re not living anywhere near each other but I feel like we’ll always be able to meet up and have a great time traveling or reminiscing. I’m excited to write her letters and send her silly messages when we both have texting again.  She’s a special person and I’m so thankful we ended up as roommates that first day.

I met Megan at Wagamama during orientation and I spent more time with her during the other activities we had planned. I joined her, Anna, Matt and Noelle for the self-guided tour around London during the first week and we’ve been friends ever since. Since her, Matt and Anna live in Alexander Fleming, I would take the tube over to Old Street to meet up with them for travel planning, comedy night or just to hang out. I really liked Megan from the start because she was so easy to get along with. She’s very sweet and good at holding a conversation. We like a lot of the same things so it’s always nice to talk to her about Jimmy Fallon clips or how she almost went to St. Michael’s for school. She goes to Emerson in Boston so I’m excited that I’ll be able to meet up with her easily when we’re both back in the states. She writes for Her Campus and I spent countless hours looking through all of the articles she’s written and I must say that she is quite talented. I feel like I’ll be reading her stuff in big name magazines one day. I think that as the semester went on we definitely bonded more and more with one another. Now when I say something silly she’ll just roll her eyes and laugh and say “Sheilaaaa!” That’s something I’ll miss a lot. I love joking around with her and I know that she’s always there to listen when I need her. I hope she knows that I’m there for her too, even though she doesn’t talk as much as I do, haha!

I met Matt during orientation as well and my first impression was that he seemed quiet and really nice. I didn’t realize that he was the same person who had posted such a friendly introduction in the Facebook group pre-departure. When I finally made the connection I was surprised because he wasn’t as forward as I thought he would be. As I got to know him I realized how amazing he is at everything he does. He’s so organized, driven and creative and hearing about all of his experiences with modeling, acting, graphic design and everything else he does was incredible. He really inspired me to aim high and work hard. I also admire how he is so personable and easy to converse with. We could go on for hours swapping stories and making jokes. It’s rare that you meet someone as well-rounded and down-to-earth as Matt. I’m really happy that we’re friends and I know that he’s going to go so far in life. I’m excited to see where he ends up and I’m totally going to brag to all of my friends about how I knew him way back when. (I’m kidding, Matt. I won’t have to brag because I’ll probably be your manager and at the very least I’ll be “Auntie Sheila” to your kids.)

Finally, I met Amy during orientation as well. She was really sweet and I remember thinking she was so friendly and talkative amongst the group of nervous study abroad students. It ended up that she had three out of four classes with me and we lived in the same building. I don’t know what I would have done without her in my film theories class and all of them for that matter. We definitely relied on each other to get through three hour lectures and long tube rides to Harrow. She was always really supportive and caring when I needed a friend and I hope that I was there for her too. We had a lot of weekend trips planned throughout the semester so I didn’t get to spend as much time outside of class with her as I would have liked but our trip to Edinburgh was a nice treat! I hope that since we live rather close to one another in America that I’ll see her from time to time. She’s a great friend and I wish her all the best!

·         Another thing that I loved about study abroad was all of the little things that were easily accessible on a daily basis. Whether it be museums, shows,  concerts, the zoo, or a walk through the park, I always felt like I had something new to see and I didn’t have to go too far to experience them. All of the things I just listed were either free, student discounted or completely worth the money and time. I will miss that when I’m back in Wappingers because I won’t be able to just hop on the tube and go somewhere new for a few hours. Being surrounded by historical and beautifully maintained places all of the time was a real blessing.

 ·  Liz came to visit me and we go to see one of our favorite artists, Ed Sheeran, at Royal Albert Hall. It was absolutely incredible and definitely one of the most memorable experiences I had in London.

·         My host visit was one of the best experiences I had while abroad. I made two amazing friends when I met John and Christine and I am so thankful for the time we had together. We bonded over Hanson and they showed me so much love and hospitality. They even took me to see Harry's Styles old bakery in Holmes Chapel. That was really awesome to see. I couldn’t have asked for a better host visit and I am so happy that it has extended beyond the confines of one weekend. They recently came to London and took me to the Viking Exhibition at the British Museum. How cool is that? They are such special people and they will always be dear to my heart.  I will miss them very much but I know that they will come visit me one day. After all, I have to take John to West Point and go to a Hanson concert with Chris!

·         One of my favorite memories of the past semester was my experience at the red carpet of the Brit Awards. The cold and suffering we faced outside of the O2 Arena is a distant memory now and I can appreciate our perseverance.  We waited outside for over 14 hours and it was something that I’ll probably never do again, but I will never forget it. At the end of the day I walked away having met One Direction, so that’s definitely a happy memory for me.

·         I still can’t get over the fact that I heard British accents every day for four whole months. I will forever think of elevators as “lifts,” lines as “queues,” checks as “bills,” trunks as “boots” and fries as “chips.” I really loved the way that British people spoke and I will definitely miss hearing their beautiful accents all of the time.
 

·         I loved re-visiting The Breakfast Club and Nonna’s Kitchen a few times during my stay because they definitely became two of my favorite restaurants. I felt like a real Londoner once I’d gone to each multiple times. I’ll miss the smoothies and banana bacon French toast from The Breakfast Club and the pizza and gelato from Nonna’s Kitchen. Mmmm gelato….

·         Anna and I got free tickets to see a taping of BBC Three’s “Sweat the Small Stuff,” hosted by Nick Grimshaw and it wouldn’t have been possible for us to get in without the kindness of strangers. We showed up thinking that we were guaranteed entry, but we realized that we didn’t have priority bookings. The line was so long and we were about to throw in the towel when Beth, a girl I’d spoken to in line earlier, approached us and said that her and her father realized that they had two extra tickets. We were shocked at how kind they were to us and I really loved talking to them and sitting with them during the taping. They were so funny and kind. I’m glad that I found Beth on social media because I definitely owe her a concert or a place to stay if she ever comes to America.

·         Weekend trips to other countries such as Ireland, Scotland, France and Italy were a really huge part of my time abroad. I got to see so many famous landmarks and experience different food, languages, infrastructures and cultures in such a short period of time. Thanks to the cheap airfares we found and the low-cost hostels, my friends and I were able to spend a lot of our weekends traveling. We definitely became so much closer while traveling and I am thankful that I got to share those experiences with such lovely people. From the pastel-colored houses and vineyards on the cliffs of Manarola, Italy to the green, sheep-filled pastures of Ireland, I saw the beauty of Europe on a budget and in a small amount of time. It was thrilling and unforgettable. Traveling ignited the spark inside of me and now I’ll live with wanderlust until the day that I die.

·       Anna and I went to the South of France and Italy for ten days at the end of my trip. We started in Marseille, France where we stayed at an Airbnb apartment. Basically, Airbnb is when someone rents out a room or their apartment to strangers for a low price. It’s a great option for low-budget travel accommodations if you are traveling with someone and are willing to take a risk. Our experience at Sebastien’s apartment in Marseille was far better than we could have hoped for. While we were there we met Isaac, a teacher and poet from Nice, France (our next stop) who was writing a book about happiness in his free time. He was so kind to us and his English was really good. When we arrived in Nice, he met up with us and we found out that he has a three-year-old daughter named Camille. She was precious! We spent the day with them and walked through Nice holding Camille’s hands and listening to her stories and songs that were completely in French. Isaac bought us gelato and translated Camille’s stories as much as he could. At one point she gave us both flowers for our hair and told us that she wanted us to take them home and plant them in our gardens. My heart melted when she said that.  I was so grateful to be spending the day with such kindhearted people who were willing to spend time with people they barely knew and show us around their city. I will never forget Camille’s little giggle, her Frozen shirt, her fire-engine red curls and her cute little French song about fish. I could see that Isaac loves her so much and that they are both loved by the community as well. The next day, Isaac took Anna and I to a Russian Cathedral in Nice and told us how he loves to go there because it is so peaceful and beautiful. When we left, he gave us two tickets worth 20 Euro each for the Aquarium in Monaco. We were so overcome with love for this man who treated us like family and asked for nothing in return. I wish him all the best in life and I hope that one day we’ll meet again. 

·         The view from my room was incredible, and definitely a highlight of living in Marylebone Hall. I saw at least three rainbows, amazing rain clouds that suddenly appeared in the bright blue sky, and the buildings and landmarks of London, sparkling against the black night sky.

·     

    I really enjoyed the Royal Parks and I wish that American parks were as beautiful and well-maintained. I could stroll around Regent’s Park for hours and never get bored. Primrose Hill on a beautiful, warm day can’t be beat. People lounge and picnic all over the green grass and football games are always happening all around. Parents push their children around in strollers and buy ice cream cones at the little concession stands. The brightly colored flowers and gorgeous fountains are breathtaking. I especially loved the little paths that would trail off into various areas of the parks as if you were in Wonderland.

·     On our second day in Rome, Italy, Anna, Matt and I decided to visit Vatican City. We were sick of waiting in long lines and paying for entry to everything at that point but when we walked up to the piazza, we flowed straight through security into the crowd as if it were the easiest thing in the world. Amazed at the amount of people there and still reeling from our quick and free entry, we neglected to realize that it was Wednesday and Pope Francis' General Assembly day. Trumpets started to play and he appeared in his little Pope-mobile and worked his way through the crowd, blessing babies and greeting the people. Matt and I almost cried because it was truly one of the most amazing things we've ever experienced. We stayed for the small mass and got to hear the "Our Father" sung in Latin. It was so incredible to be there and witness that without even knowing that we were in for.

All of those things remain in my heart and my mind and I am so thankful that I could experience a life in which reality was better than my dreams. London was a challenge for me at first and I feel like I accomplished something by growing to love it there. I flourished as a person and I hope that all that I learned about life, travel and myself will stay with me forever. I would go back in a heartbeat and I know that I will be there again one day. It will never be the same again, but that’s the wonder of travel. Every place brings a new adventure and if you go back looking for the same old thing you will always be disappointed. Travel is spontaneity and adventure. Travel is packing enough for ten days into a small Jansport backpack. Travel is making friends with strangers who change your life forever. Travel is trying new food and realizing that not all pasta in Italy is amazing. Travel is feeling like your feet are going to fall off if you climb another monument to see a panoramic view of a city. Travel is the realization that home is the best place in the world after months of exploring.

I want to be a traveler. I refuse to stay in one place for the remainder of my life. I will go back to Europe and beyond. London taught me to embrace things outside of my comfort zone and to live each day to the fullest.

I am forever changed.

Until we meet again London,
xx Sheila

A sunbeam to warm you, a moonbeam to charm you

Trinity College was founded in 1592.

I put my headphones in, sat back and closed my eyes. The train began to depart from the station and I felt it slowly crawl out of the darkness and into the light of the early morning. I opened my eyes and looked out of the window. What I saw was one of the most beautiful and calming sights I have ever seen. There were the greenest pastures filled with sheep, cattle and donkeys. Small farmhouses, isolated from the rest of society, sat perched upon little hills overlooking small bodies of glistening water. The clouds allowed the sun enough room to shine some rays down over this heaven I was in and I only peeled my eyes away from the beauty outside of the train when I felt the exhaustion of the previous week creeping up on me. I let my eyes close and my mind drifted to the beautiful world outside. I expected to open them and see buildings and graffiti, but every time I did, all I saw was green.

I soaked Ireland up like the rare rays of sun I've seen while in Europe and I loved every minute of it. The country was beautiful. From Dublin to Galway, I saw the most that I could see in three very short days. After spending the previous weekend in Paris, France, Ireland was an interesting change.

While Paris was filled with bread, landmarks, flowers, macaroons, wine, a lot of walking, sunshine and cobblestone streets, Ireland was filled with green pastures, extremely friendly and forward people, cloudy days, rainbows, Guinness, stew, pubs, sheep and seemingly untouched land that was so picturesque that it's hard to believe I didn't dream of it all.

We began our journey to Ireland early Friday morning (3:45AM), just like we did for Paris. I took a bus to Liverpool Street Station to meet Anna and Megan. From there we took another bus to London Stansted Airport to catch out flight which was close to 8AM if I remember correctly.

Navigating our way through Dublin!

When we flew over the coastline I saw my first glimpse of the green I've already mentioned so many times. It was breathtaking. As we got closer to the ground, Megan saw bunnies hopping around the grass near the runway.

We got through the airport really quickly and boarded a bus to Dublin. The driver and the ticket salesman were both really friendly and welcoming. We were on the bus for maybe half an hour and we got off at Trinity College. We walked around the campus for a little while and the old stone buildings were so beautiful amongst the little greens and bare trees. Students were walking to class and bikes were lined up against iron fences. It felt nice to be on a college campus like that because at home, St. Mike's is so small and familiar, and in London the campuses are really spread apart.

After our stroll through Trinity's campus, we walked across the street to KC Peaches for lunch. My friend Alex, who also goes to St. Michael's, is studying abroad at Trinity and suggested KC Peaches to me before we came. It was a great suggestion because we were starving and the food was amazing! It was an awkward time to go because it was after breakfast but before lunch so we helped ourselves to the cold pasta and salad bar. I got tomato mozzarella penne, pesto penne, feta salad, and rosemary seasoned potatoes. I also bought a blueberry apple juice which I'm craving right now as I write this because it was so good!

Lunch at KC Peaches in Dublin.

On our way out of KC Peaches I grabbed a huge chocolate chip cookie for the road. I shared it with Anna and Megan and we all agreed that it was pretty dang good. As I finished up the cookie, we walked towards the bus stop for the Hop-on, Hop-off sightseeing buses. We bought student priced tickets from the really friendly man at the sales bus and he wished us the best during our visit. We boarded the next bus and sat on the top level. The driver was named Barry and he was really fun to listen to. He told us about the landmarks we were passing and sang some Irish tunes as well. We saw St. Patrick's Cathedral, St. Stephen's Green and the statue of Oscar Wilde just to name a few places.

We got off the bus at the Guinness Storehouse and had to walk a little bit because the pipes burst near the entrance and the cobblestone streets were slightly flooded. It was kind of cool to see the way the sun was glaring off of the water and we passed many horses and carriages. I felt bad for the horses because they all looked dirty and tired. It must be horrible to be cooped up in the city all of the time. I wished that they could roam around all of those pastures I saw flying into the country.

We bought our tickets into the storehouse and checked our bags with the information desk. We walked through at our own pace since it was a self-guided tour and we got to see the whole process of making Guinness through their informational and visual displays. The ingredients in Guinness are hops, yeast, barely and water. I hope I'm not forgetting any!

We got in a queue to taste a sample of Guinness and when we entered the bar area there were four little pillars with scented vapor coming out of them. They were all of the scents that can be found in Guinness. We were asked to smell them all because it would help with the tasting experience. When we got our little samples we moved into a theatre-like room and placed them all on little pedestals of various heights. It was a really cool sight to see once everyone had set there's down on one of the surfaces. The employee working in that room taught us how to properly drink Guinness in order to get all of the taste out of it. Basically, you're supposed to lift your elbow up so that it's equal with your shoulder, inhale the smell of the beer and then take a mouthful of it, swallow, and exhale. He advised us not to take sips because the white, foamy area on the top is the hops and it is really bitter. When you finish your Guinness there should be most of the hops left at the bottom of the glass. I enjoyed the taste of the sample but I did feel as though it was a little too bitter for my liking.

Fun fact: Did you know that Arthur Guinness' wife, Olivia, gave birth to 21 children and only 10 survived to adulthood? That's really sad and I must say that it's hard to believe one woman could give birth to that many children without exploding! She was pregnant for sixteen years of her life.

When we reached the top of the storehouse, we entered the sky bar. The sky bar's walls are windows so you can look out over all of Dublin. It was an amazing sight to see. We got our free pints at the bar and the bartender made little shamrock shapes in the hops at the top of our glasses.

We found a table to rest our drinks on and took a ton of pictures of the view. It started to rain but since it was so abrupt and basically a sun shower, the most amazing thing happened right afterwards.

I bet you can guess what I'm going to say...

A rainbow appeared! Yes, a rainbow. In Ireland. It was the most cliche yet miraculous thing I have ever seen. The end of it came down right to the street below us. Since we were up so high we had the greatest view of it!

Can you see the rainbow?

After a while of trying to drink all of our pints of Guinness, we surrendered and decided to head back down to the bus stop. We made a quick stop in the gift shop and then headed down to get our bags.
On our second journey on the bus for the day, we saw more sights including the train station, Heuston, that we had to go to the next morning to get to Galway. We also saw the cast iron, Ha'penny Bridge which is a pedestrian bridge that was built in 1816 over the River Liffey. It cost a half of a penny to cross it once upon a time, hence the name (Wikipedia). 

We got off the bus again at Kilmainham Gaol, which is a former prison that has been turned into a museum. According to Wikipedia, it has been run since the mid-1980s by the Office of Public Works (OPW) and played an important part in Irish history, as many leaders of Irish rebellions were imprisoned and executed in the prison.

We paid two Euro to get a tour of the prison and it was really interesting. We started in the museum portion and I read about how the windows in the prison were a reformation to earlier prisons. They were installed with the intention to allow the light to fill the dark cells and tame the evil within the prisoners. The large ceiling skylight in the newer, bigger room of the prison that has been famously seen in many movies and music videos was installed with the same intentions of letting God's light in to reform the prisoners.

When the jail was built, the hope was to reform prisoners instead of lock them away without any hope of rehabilitation or re-entrance into society. The jails previously had been overcrowded and disgusting. Unfortunately, Kilmainham did not succeed as well as it's founders had hoped because of the rebellions in Ireland as well as the famine, which contributed greatly to the overcrowding. People thought that if they were imprisoned they'd be fed and given shelter during such hard times. This led to horrible conditions within the prison.

Our tour of Kilmainham Gaol was really interesting.

Many people were publicly hanged and executed at Kilmainham. Our tour guide said that it became a public spectacle more than anything and that the people became unnerved by the executions after a few controversial ones occurred during the time of the rebellion.

We got to see the small, cold, dark cells in the old wings as well as the newer cells in the big, most iconic wing of the prison. It was interesting to hear the stories of the prisoners who were held captive there. Some were young children who were thrown in jail for petty theft. The youngest was rumored to be 7 years old. Can you imagine that?

When we finished the prison tour we hopped back on the bus and saw more sights on our way to the hostel. We saw the President's house, the Dublin Zoo and some museums as well. We were lucky because we got on the last tour of the day so we had to get off at one of the last stops and walk to our hostel. We stopped into a few tourist shops and then hurried to get out of the cold.

We stayed at The Kinlay House which was located right near city hall and the Dublin Castle. It was a really big building with a winding, wooden, creaky staircase. We were in room 206 and we shared bunk beds in a room of 16 people. No one was there when we arrived in our room so we put our stuff away, washed up and headed out for dinner nearby. We ate at The Porter House a few blocks away and it was really delicious! Megan and I both got the Old Smokey Burger and I got mine without cheese and mayo. It had lettuce, tomato, pickles, onion rings and bacon on it. It also came with chips (fries) and we all shared some cheesy garlic bread.

We got back to the hostel, got ready for bed and settled in around 10PM before anyone was back in the room. Megan set an alarm for 6AM the next morning because we had to walk to the train station, and I figured I'd wake up when everyone trickled back into the room throughout the night so I put in ear plugs and rolled over in my bunk to face the old fireplace. The room was a little drafty and the pillow didn't give my head much support at all but I was asleep before I knew it. I was so tired that I slept through the entire night without waking up. When Megan gently shook my arm in the morning to wake me up I was startled because I felt like it was happening in my dream.

We quietly grabbed our stuff which we had packed up the night before and left the room. We got dressed and ready in the bathroom down the hall and headed downstairs to check out. The receptionist told us that it'd be easiest to walk to the station from the hostel, so he showed us a little map and we headed out. The walk was beautiful. It took about fifteen or twenty minutes at most and it was really calming to walk through the empty streets in the purple light of the early morning hours. We crossed over the River Liffey and saw maybe five people in passing. One older, Irish man said good morning to us with a big smile and I warmed up a little after that small act of kindness. We crossed another bridge to the station and the lights underneath were changing between green and orange. The reflection on the water was really nice.

I bought myself a cinnamon bun and some orange juice and we boarded the train around 7:30AM. That's where I began this post, so I won't ramble on too much about the journey from Galway to Dublin. It was simply beautiful and relaxing and I felt so comfortable there. I could have stayed on that train forever, staring out the window and listening to music while Anna and Megan peacefully slept next to me.

Here's some of the songs that I listened to on the train ride and later on the bus ride to the Cliffs of Moher. Maybe if you listen to them while you're reading this you'll be able to imagine how I felt while I journeyed through Ireland.



"Good Life" by OneRepublic, "Nirvana" by Sam Smith, "Home" by Phillip Phillips, "Wake Up" by Arcade Fire, "Before the Worst" by The Script (which mentions some places in Dublin), "Give Me Love" by Ed Sheeran, "Believe" by Hanson, "Big Jet Plane" by Angus and Julia Stone, "Bonfire Heart" by James Blunt, "High Hopes" by Paolo Nutini, "Come Pick Me Up" by Ryan Adams, "Always" by Blind Pilot, "All We Are" by Matt Nathanson, "Glitter in the Air" by P!nk, "The Great Escape" by Patrick Watson, "Happily" by One Direction, "Heart of Life" by John Mayer, "Helium" by Plain White T's, "Hey Jesus" by Tyler Hilton, "Home" by American Authors, "Running" by Delta Spirit, "Ho Hey" by The Lumineers, "Gravity" by Stephen Kellogg and The Sixers, "On Top of the World" by Imagine Dragons, "Open Season" by High Highs, "Wonderful Tonight" by Eric Clapton, "Over the Rainbow" by Ingrid Michaelson, "P.S I Love You" by Nellie Mckay, "Paris Nights/New York Mornings" by Corinne Bailey Rae, "Tiny Dancer" by Elton John, "Paradise" by Coldplay, "Rise" by Eddie Vedder

I bolded some of the best ones to make it easier for anyone who wants to listen to some, but those are all really great songs that I distinctly remember listening to at different parts of my journey.

When we arrived in Galway, we almost immediately boarded a bus to the Cliffs of Moher. It was a two hour coach ride through the countryside, up winding hills, past those amazing green pastures you've heard so much about, through towns and villages in the middle of nowhere and past beautiful bodies of water. We even got to see a castle and drove through a small town that was hosting a huge marathon. It was a lovely ride and I was so happy we chose to do it.

When we go to the cliffs, we exited the bus and the driver told us we had one hour until he'd head back to Galway. We spent that hour well and walked all the way to the right where there was a little castle-like structure on a cliff and then all the way back to the left where we stopped at the first cliff we got to and took a lot of pictures. There was a little girl, I think she was Italian, who was sobbing her eyes out for so long. Her parents were trying to calm her down at first, but then they seemed to just be ignoring her. I'm not sure if she was having a tantrum or if she was cold and tired, but I couldn't help but chuckle at her in her pink hat and puffy little coat with little tears rolling down her rosy cheeks. She was sitting on a step while her parents walked up the path towards another cliff. I don't know if I'll ever forget her and I couldn't tell you why.

We soaked up the beauty of the cliffs and the misty air. The water was so blue and the waves were smashing up against the base of the cliffs. It was pretty epic to see something so naturally beautiful. The weather held out too and it wasn't too cold. Plus we had the whole two hour bus ride back to Galway to warm up.

 May God grant you always...A sunbeam to warm you, a moonbeam to charm you, a sheltering Angel so nothing can harm you. Laughter to cheer you. Faithful friends near you. And whenever you pray, Heaven to hear you.

We were walking back to the bus and I was telling Megan and Anna about this Lord of the Rings joke I had seen on the internet. I was saying "Swiggity Swaggins" to mimic Gollum's line in the meme and this older, Irish man heard me and said "Good ol' American English." I almost died. He thought I was being serious. We were laughing so hard the whole walk back to the bus.

We heard live traditional Irish music at Taafees in Galway.

When we got back we found our hostel, Snoozles, which was located a few blocks away from the train station. Despite it's funny name, Snoozles was the hostel of all hostels. It was big, clean and decorated really nicely. It felt so homey and safe. The girls at reception were extremely friendly and helpful. They gave us coupons for a free drink each at Busker Brownes, where we ended up going to for dinner. They also gave us a map and drew a little walking tour route on it for us.

We went to our room, 209, and it was so cute! It was filled with bunk beds, just like the Kinlay House in Dublin, but it was set up a lot better with cages for our belongings under each bed, cleaner bedding, a private bathroom and yellow cubbies.

After settling in a bit, we walked back to Eyre Square and to the pedestrian shopping street, which reminded me of Church Street in Vermont a lot. It was really quaint and clean. People were bustling about going into shops and pubs. We found Busker Brownes and got a booth in the corner right away. We each got some white wine (free with our coupons) and I ordered the Irish Guinness Beef Stew which was insanely delicious. Besides tasting so good, it warmed me up and filled me with contentedness while we chatted about everything from Ireland to the Westboro Baptist Church (not sure how we got there...).

After we paid we walked to Gino's and I ordered Ferrero Rocher gelato. It was SO GOOD. I fear that I will never taste anything as amazing as that gelato ever again.

We stood near a young (attractive) street performer with a guitar and ate our gelato while debating whether or not to give him some money. He played "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz which made me happy and both Megan and I gave him some coins. He nodded and smiled at us and I melted a little.

We walked towards the pubs in hopes of finding some live music and the first place we went into was Taafees. A few guys in there asked us if we were staying or leaving since we were standing apprehensively by the door and when we said we were looking for live music they laughed and cheered and said they were too. I felt as though they were just being friendly and were maybe a little drunk, and I didn't feel uncomfortable at all really. Anna, Megan and I are all pretty responsible so when we all started to follow them out of the pub I felt like we had pretty good chances of not dying.

We went into another pub and lost the guys pretty quickly. To this day I still have no idea where they went. On the way into the pub a guy greeted us and touched Megan inappropriately. Nothing too serious but it put her on edge and made me and Anna more alert. While we were standing by the bar and debating whether or not to stay, a gross older guy grabbed Anna's butt. She jumped and I looked at him while he stuck his tongue out and shrugged like like it was hilarious.

The people in Ireland were overwhelmingly nicer and more friendly than anywhere else I've been in Europe. However, the men were definitely the most forward of anywhere I've been and while I understand Anna and Megan's discomfort after being grabbed, I felt like the guys were just happy, drunk, disrespectful idiots. It was completely inappropriate but I did not feel as though they would follow us home or truly threaten our safety. Maybe that is a misguided feeling but it's just how I felt in the moment.

We decided to head back to Taafees and we found out that their live music was starting at 9:30PM. We ordered some pints of cider and sat down near the little make-shift stage and TV screen. We talked and drank our ciders and scoped out the people in the bar. A group of German girls came in and sat at the table next to us and gradually the bar filled up. The music came at 9:30, as promised, and it was certainly a treat. There were two men, one with an accordion and one with a guitar, and one woman with a violin. They played their hearts out and the woman ordered a huge Guinness which was overflowing as it sat on the little ledge next to her. The man with the accordion appeared to be the oldest in the trio and he was very angry looking while he played. He'd stick his tongue out a little and sometimes he's crack a smile when he locked eyes with one of the dancing audience members.

The common room in the hostel was really cozy.

Galway was beautiful, even in the rain.

Everything was going swimmingly until a really large guy fell into a table (not so accidentally) and spilled four pints of Guinness on the German girls and, of course, on me. My right leg was soaked as well as my jacket but it wasn't nearly as bad as the damage done to the girls next to us. We left soon after that because things we getting too crowded and we were tired.

We got back to the hostel and were there first again so we took advantage of the bathroom and got to sleep early. We slept until 7:30AM/8AM the next morning and got all dressed and packed up. We ate breakfast (toast, juice and cereal) in the dining room downstairs and then checked our bags with reception for the day. We sat in the common room for a little while Anna played with the guitar they have and I searched for a tune to play on the jukebox.

When we left the hostel it was raining. It was pretty miserable out but not bad enough to keep us from seeing the town while we had the chance. So we walked around literally the whole town in about an hour because of how small it is, and it was really nice. We went into the cathedral and heard mass being said in Irish. Then we saw the strip of colored houses by the water, which was rushing like crazy because of the rain. We saw the Spanish Arch and the museum which was unfortunately closed because it was Sunday. We made our way back to the area we were in the night before just as all of the shops were opening for the day. We went in some touristy shops and I got a green scarf from a nice, older couple who gave me a five Euro discount because the tag was missing. We also went into a bookstore and Butler's Chocolate Cafe, where I got a salted caramel and a hazelnut caramel to try. They were really good, which I'm sure you predicted I'd say.

We retrieved our belongings from the hostel and walked to the bus/train station. We purchased tickets to the airport and the ride was less than comfortable. The couple in front of me smelt horrible and they were clearly hippies. The guy had a really long, gangly beard and the girl's bright blue nail polish, rings and greasy scalp were one of the main sights I saw during the ride. They both reclined their seats all of the way so I was squished up right behind them. I pulled my sweater over my nose, put headphones in and slunk down into my seat with my head towards the window.

Photo Credit: Anna Alexander. Me on the left and Megan on the right.

The bus ride didn't take too long, thank God, and we arrived at the tiny Knock Airport after about an hour. We went through security with no other passengers in sight and sat at our gate. We had about and hour or so to wait until we could board so we talked, caught up on social media on our phones and bought some snacks. The flight itself was nice until the end, when it got really bumpy. Poor Anna was terrified. We landed safely at Standsted despite the wind and caught our bus back to Liverpool Street Station. I said goodbye to Anna and Megan and rushed to get out of the rain. I took the tube back to my beloved Baker Street Station and was showered and in bed before I knew it.

It was a radically different trip to Paris in so many ways, but it's left me dreaming of Ireland and longing to go back all week. If you ever have the chance to go, I'd strongly recommend it. I'll never forget walking up the stairs from the tarmac to the plane, staring at the fields around the runway and the setting sun and praying to God that I would be back one day.

Write soon.
xx Sheila

(PS: My dad used to sing to us every night before bed. One of our favorites was "Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral (That's an Irish Lullaby)" and Maggie and I sang it for the Oak Grove talent show when we were in third and first grades. It's a special thing to have a dad who sings to you and I couldn't help but think of him and that song while I was in Ireland.)

Galway, Ireland.