The Dublin Weekend!

I just got back from a long weekend in Dublin with my friends Laura and Margaret. We had such a great time! We left Paris late Friday night, when we got to Dublin we checked into our hostel...that was interesting! We stayed in a dorm style room with 7 other girls from around the world, there were two girls from Australia, another three from Italy, and two from Germany. The first night was the worst because by the time we arrived everyone was asleep so we had to find our beds in the dark! The second day we all started talking, it was really interesting to get to know people from all over the world.

On Saturday we walked all over Dublin. We stopped at Saint Steven's Green, this is such a beautiful park, there is a little pond in the middle with ducks and geese! It rained off and on but we took some great pictures and had a great time walking around. We also visited the Guinness Storehouse, the lease on the building is for 9000 years! We had a great dinner at a traditional Irish restaurant, I ordered Shepard's pie, not my favorite but a must for being in Ireland!

Sunday we visited the Cliffs of Moher...we thought it would be pronounced "Moore" but in fact it is pronounced "Mo-Hair" every time our guide said it we would break out laughing. Our guide was Eric, he was born and raised in Dublin...he was so funny, he told us that if you couldn't understand him sorry but he was talking as slow as possible. He ended up giving us some interesting Irish history lessons while we were driving to and from. The Cliffs are on the other side of the island from Dublin, so the drive took about 3 1/2 hours, although it was nice because we were able to see the country side...something non-existent in large European cities. He stopped off at the Burren Code as well, this area sits right on the North Sea and has rock formations everywhere. It was so cold, but we got off the bus to take a few pictures then continue on our way to the Cliffs. When we reached the Cliffs of Moher Eric told us how lucky we were because it wasn't raining, he said it rains almost everyday at the cliffs. It may not have rained, but it was windy! There were times where you felt you could be lifted up and blown away by the wind! It was so worth it, the view was out of this world! The pictures I took actually look like the postcards I bought, which never happens! Everyone was kind of laughing at us because we were all taking what we called "grandma pictures" (pictures that you could frame and give to your grandma). While it was an exhausting trip, it was an incredible one, Ireland is a place that I have wanted to visit, I am glad I can now say I have been there.

We start our fall break on Friday, I am leaving for Spain with my friends. We will be spending the first three days in Madrid, the second three in Valencia, and the last three in Barcelona. During this time I will not have internet access, so if you need to reach me I will get back to you when I get back to Paris. Love from Paris...

I told you I would blog a lot...

So just wanted to add a funny antidote that would happen to me!

I just got home, it is around 2am here in Paris. I spent an enjoyable evening roaming around the Bastille neighborhood, it is an "up-and-coming" area for the young Parisians. Margaret, Hillary, and I found a great little Spanish bar that served sangria, it was really nice to sit down and chat for a few hours. Anyway, that is really not what I am writing about...

I went home as usual, no problems with the metro, the walk was just fine...tons of people around. When I got into the building I went up to my floor and put my key in the door. IT DIDN'T WORK!!! Parisian doors can be tricky, because their padlocks are so thick and the keys can often be hard to turn...so at first I thought it was just me. Naturally I tried again, still no luck! I kept trying for about fifteen minutes then really started to panic! I couldn't figure out why this was happening, I have come home around this time all semester (only on the weekends, don't worry Gram)! Even if Michele's key is in the door, it should open. Finally after being outside for about 20 mins, I called Michele. She didn't answer, so I left a message explaining that I was sorry but my key wasn't working. She is really good about answering her phone, she even keeps it by her bedside when she has American girls living with her; but this weekend her grandson is in town visiting, and he sleeps in her room. I am sure she turned down the volume so he would not be woken up, thinking she would still hear it. I sat outside for about another 7 mins going over all my options. I decided that I would call Michele again if I didn't hear from her in the next couple of minutes. So there I was sitting in the dark outside my apartment in Paris. Finally after what seemed like hours, she called me back. I could hear her from inside the apartment talking to me. I was whispering "I am out here, it is my key...see hear it, it won't open" (all in french of course). When she let me in the apartment, she explained that her son (also visiting) went outside to smoke and locked the padlock when he came back in not thinking. She kept apologizing and thought I had been outside for hours waiting. It was actually a great bonding moment for us, because she isn't very affectionate, but she gave me a big hug and a kiss on the forehead to told me to have sweet dreams.

Anyways, thought you might get a kick out of that! Love from Paris...

The wifi has arrived!

Well hello everyone,

I finally have wifi!!! One of the students from the university that Michele used to teach at came to the apartment to look at the wireless box. Of course, the fix was so easy! Michele was frustrated that the fix was so easy and that it couldn't be done sooner. This past 6 weeks have really shown me how dependent my generation is on the internet.

Things have been going great here. I have started to do some traveling, at the end of September my friends and I took a trip to wine country. We visited Chenonceau, I learned about this castle in high school so it was really great to actually visit. It is sometimes called the ladies castle because the castle was predominantly designed by women. Chenonceau also has its own winery and wine cellar. We went to a wine tasting down in the old wine cellar, for only 1 euro we were able to taste the Chateau's 2002 wine. It was delicious, and normally I am not a red wine person. I bought a bottle for Michele, I figured she would like it because it was similar to the wine she likes. We stayed in Tours, which was about an hour and a half from Paris by high speed train. This was my first experience staying in a hostel...it was very interesting! We had our own room, which was nice from a privacy point of view, but the bathrooms were down the hall. I never lived in that style of dorm when I was at Madison, it took a little getting used to!

We got back from Tours on a Sunday and left for Strasbourg on that Friday. Strasbourg is in North-Eastern France, about two hours from Paris by high speed train. This area was originally controlled by Germany, and only went back into French control after WWII. I heard more German than French spoken! This trip was organized by CIEE, so we toured an old castle/fortress and visited this crazy park: Monkey Mountain. This park has 245 monkeys who are given free range of the park. When you enter the park, they give you the rules and hand you some popcorn. The monkeys come right up to you and take the popcorn! We all decided that it was one of the craziest places we had ever been!
(The first picture is from Monkey Mountain and the second is in front of Chenonceau)

Now that I have internet, you can all expect more updates! Love from Paris...