Walking through Mougins, France

My dad has a pretty cool job in the hotel industry (I could go into more detail than that, but that's not the point of this post) that means he gets to travel and stay in some really nice hotels. Right after my family was in Ireland, I tagged along on one of his business trips to the South of France. Could I get any luckier?!

We stayed in Mougins, France at an isolated golf resort. Because we didn't have a car, we relied on taxis, public transportation and Dad's work friend Nick who had a van to get us where we wanted to go. 

I had done research on the nearby cities of Cannes and Nice, but hadn't even thought that there would be something cool to do in Mougins itself. Man, was I wrong! On Thursday night, Nick, his wife Dorzin, Dad and I all went into the Old Village of Mougins for dinner. We parked and then rode an escalator up to the top of the hill. From the hill, all of Mougins spread out below us and the lights of country homes lit up the night. 

We chose a typical French restaurant in the center of Old Mougins for dinner. I had a risotto for my entree and Panna Cotta for dessert. Both dishes were absolutely delicious and set the tone for the rest of the trip; I was going to eat well that weekend! 

When I saw Old Mougins, I was itching to photograph it. So, I returned the next day with my camera and the intention of taking pictures of every nook and cranny of the medieval city while Dad, Nick, and Dorzin worked.

The city is a spiral of buildings and cobblestone streets. As I meandered around, I would wind through a new alleyway, twist through a new street, and still end up next to a familiar landmark! The city was tiny and I covered it quickly, but the warm sun (which hadn't visited Galway in a little while) and the shady streets kept me and my camera busy all day! 

(image source)

I was able to capture the circle of buildings on the hillside from the fringes of the city, but I think the aerial photo is a better descriptor, don't you? 

This is the first street I walked down in Mougin on Thursday night and I immediately knew I wanted to come back!

Stone buildings; knotted trees; outdoor cafe tables. I mean, what else could you ask for? 

Old Mougins is an art connoisseur's dream. Every side street and alley held multiple art galleries and shops. I popped into a few, nodded "Bonjour!" to the artists and browsed before heading back out into the sunshine. They were filled with incredible works! 

The old architecture fascinated me, especially the shutters! For some reason, I really like the peeling paint look on wooden shutters. It's not something I would want on my own house, but it's strangely beautiful. (My Grampy was a painter and he'd shudder to hear me say that! (See what I did there?)) 

Then again, freshly painted shutters are just as beautiful. Especially when they come in fun colors! 

I don't think there was a right angle in the whole city! Between the old buildings and the circular roads, everything had a slight bend to it. I loved the worn-in feel, but it was hard to imagine what the city was like hundreds of years ago.

How could it be anything other than a chic French city with sophisticated cafes, fancy restaurants, and expensive art galleries?

Oh yeah, and a few homes thrown in?

 Everyone deserves to enjoy some French Country Living at least once in their life!

I told you I had a thing for the shutters in France...

But I haven't told you about the mopeds yet! I really wanted to channel my inner Lizzie McGuire and hop on the back of some beautiful stranger's moped and take it for a spin around the South of France. But I watch WAY too much Law and Order: SVU to do something that stupid. So I settled for a few pictures instead.  

And then, because I'm a little nosy, I had to find out what was down that alleyway and past that house. I stumbled into an adorable cottage and then another winding street that brought me back to the first road, as if by magic.

When midday rolled into the afternoon, the shady streets were becoming a little chilly and my flip-flop'd feet were starting to get really cold. So, I wandered into a cafe called Zest. The owner of the shop, who also owns a nearby art gallery, is Canadian and could tell by my shoes that I was an English-speaking customer. Since my (very) elementary French had semi-isolated me throughout the day, I was thrilled to chat with someone who spoke English fluently. 

I learned that in France only certified and trained bakers are authorized to sell bread and croissants so Zest sources their pastries from a baker down the road. Brad Pitt is reportedly a huge fan of this baker and the bakery has pictures of him visiting the shop. Brad and Angie have a house not far from Old Mougins on "Millionaire's Hill." So naturally, I had to order a croissant. If it's good enough for Brad Pitt, it's certainly good enough for me. And it was delicious! 

After warming up at Zest, I continued my stroll through the shady streets. I loved the sign painted onto this old post office! 

This photo was taken from the same overlook as the night before. It's amazing how much more you can see in the daylight! I could see both the mountains and the sea (two of my favorite places) from this vantage point. How cool is that?!

It was a great first day in France and I'll be back as soon as my finals schedule allows to tell you all about the rest of the weekend! 

Trinity Long Room and Successful Family Photos

My presence here means that I survived my big trip to Switzerland, Germany, and Poland! It was an amazing experience and I can't wait to tell you all about it. BUT, because I like chronological order, we're going to ignore that week. Instead, we're going to rewind back to when my family was here.

To set the scene: a wonderfully lucky, sunny day in February. My family was even happier about the weather than I was because our house at home was legitimately buried under the snow. Our area had been pounded with snowstorm after snowstorm and the icicles hanging off our gutters were massive. As much as they love winter, they were excited to get a break from the snow and freezing temperatures!

One of the coolest things we did, aside from the Guinness Storehouse obviously, was to see the Book of Kells and the Long Room in the Trinity Library.

Fun Fact: you can only walk on the green next to the library if you have a masters degree from the college. The security guard who shared this with us also cracked that it was all his son's creative writing degree was useful for!

I thought the Book of Kells exhibit was fascinating and read almost every description there was; I was especially enraptured by a video showing how a book was bound by hand. But, I was underwhelmed by the actual book itself. How boring is it that you can only see one page?

From the Book of Kells exhibit, you are escorted into the Trinity Long Room. The Long Room is a place I really wanted to see and it did not disappoint! My inner-book nerd felt so happy being surrounded by so many books.

When walking in, I was hit with the enormity of the room. It's definitely well-named! It felt like the room went on forever.

And everything was so artfully arranged. I spent most of my time snapping as many pictures as I could, trying to capture the beauty of the old books. 

As beautiful as it was, the Long Room didn't really feel like a library. There were no cozy chairs to settle into and it was clear that the books aren't read often, or probably even ever. 

It seemed like a shame to me to have all of those important words and profound thoughts, but no one ever reads them. All of those golden brown spines lined up one after another, towering far above your head, are impressive. But what if you were allowed to pluck one of those books off the shelf and lose yourself in it's content? Wouldn't you appreciate it more?

Don't get me wrong: I loved the Long Room. Just ask my family how much time I spent there! I just couldn't help but think about the part in The Great Gatsby where the drunk man comments on the books still being bound. Like the books in Gatsby's library, the books in the Trinity Library are just for show, they're never actually read. It doesn't make the collection any less beautiful though.

We stopped for a few pictures outside of Trinity and took our first successful family photos in a long time. Okay, maybe ever! 

For once, we all look happy and we didn't fight over the photos! 

We might be short, but we're a pretty good looking family if I do say so myself.

Not long after these photos were taken, I dropped my phone in the toilet (oops!) so the rest of their visit isn't well documented. The remainder of the week was spent in Galway, enjoying trad music in pubs and strolls down Shop Street. 

It was so great to have the fam here, and who knows, we might all be back in four years if Brian decides to study abroad in Galway! (If I have anything to do with it, he definitely will...) 

Prepare for Takeoff!

Hello from row 22, seat C!

I am on my way to Zürich, Switzerland where I will fulfil a lifelong dream of skiing in the Swiss Alps. 

From Zürich, my friends and I are headed to Berlin. I'll be visiting my Aunt Claudia in Berlin and can't wait to see her home! 

From there, we're taking a (very long!) bus ride to Kraków, Poland where we will visit Auschwitz. 

Lastly, we'll spend a day and a half in Warsaw, Poland before returning back to Ireland on Easter Sunday. 

3 countries; 5 friends; 10 days. Wish us luck and the trip of a lifetime! 

Guinness Storehouse

So it might be touristy, but when I decided to study in Ireland, I knew I had to go to the Guinness Storehouse while I was here. 

When my parents and brother came in February, we spent their first weekend in Dublin and I decided that it would be a fun activity for their first day in the country. 

The Storehouse is within walking distance from where we stayed in Temple Bar and is shaped like a giant pint glass. I thought it was really well put together and I had a lot of fun! Since Brian isn't 18 yet, he couldn't fully participate, but he still enjoyed it! 

On each floor of the Storehouse, there are tons of facts and exhibits to look at, but they were hard to photograph because it was so dark. Excuse the quality of some of the pictures in this post; some were taken on my phone and I'm still learning how to use my big camera!

One floor had what looked like portraits of people on a TV screen, but when you stood in front of them, they began to talk! The first one I approached really spooked me!

One of my favorite floors began with a long, dark corridor. As you walked down the corridor, a delicious smell wafted through the air. The hall opened into a bright white room containing four bowls that appeared to be smoking. Inside these bowls were the source of the smell in the corridor and the smell of Guinness. From this room, we were handed mini pint glasses and ushered into the tasting room.

In the tasting room we were instructed how to properly taste Guinness. They advise breathing in, sipping through the head of the beer, and then inhaling a second time. Personally, I didn't really taste a difference using this method, but it's possible I was too busy taking pictures to really give it a try. 

Perhaps the main attraction within the Storehouse is the Guinness Academy where you learn to pour the perfect pint. To pour a perfect pint, you inspect the glass for cleanliness, hold it at an angle against the tap, pull the tap towards you until the glass is about 3/4 full. The beer then has to set before you hold the glass directly underneath the tap and push the tap backwards to top the beer off. Let it sit for a little bit longer and then serve it to someone else or enjoy it for yourself! 

 Mom, Dad, and I all gave it a go.

We successfully poured our perfect pints! It was actually much easier than I expected it to be! 

We left the Academy to drink our pints. I fully believe that the Guinness from the Storehouse is better than the Guinness in Irish pubs just because it's so fresh. What am I going to do when I get back to America and none of the Guinness is fresh!?

On the top of the pint-glass-building is a 360 degree Gravity Bar. Through the glass building, you could see all of Dublin. I pointed Trinity College and the few other landmarks I knew out to my family. Luckily, the windows were engraved with descriptions of what we were looking at. Even though the views were incredible, we didn't stay at the Gravity Bar too long because it was super crowded and you could barely move. I was lucky to sneak up to a window for a few pictures.

Just below the gravity bar are a few cafes and restaurants. We chose to eat lunch at Arthur's Bar because they were advertising 5 euro Guinness Burgers that sounded too good to resist.

The decor in the restaurant was really cool so Brian and I explored it while waiting for our food. 

Finally, the most delicious burgers were placed in front of us. We all agreed that we needed to recreate them at home. 

We happily left the Storehouse with full stomachs and a few souvenirs. Touristy or not, it was a great way to spend an afternoon! 

Saint Patrick's Day in Galway

As you all know, Saint Patrick's Day was on Tuesday. March 17th is always a big deal in America because all of the Irish-Americans celebrate their heritage and everyone else celebrates the Irish tradition of getting drunk. Before coming here, I was warned that Saint Patrick's Day isn't the same in Ireland.

River Corrib may not have been dyed green, but 'Paddy's Day' is still a BIG day here in Ireland. (I've been told that you would say 'Saint Patrick's Day,' but never 'Saint Paddy's Day.' If you want to shorten it, say 'Paddy's Day.') It's a bank holiday so all classes at college are cancelled and everyone celebrates at the pubs.  

We watched the parade in the city center in the morning. It was very much geared towards little kids and most of the people marching in the parade were under the age of 14, but some of the characters and people wearing masks were a little creepy. If I had watched it as a child, I definitely would've been creeped out! But it was still a fun morning, especially because the sun was shining and it was warm! 

I assumed that the parade would be all traditional music and lots of green, but every minority in Ireland was represented. Marching bands, Salsa dancing groups, and Polish societies all passed by us. It was interesting that in Ireland they celebrate other cultures as well as their own, yet in America the day is based totally on Irish stereotypes. 

After the parade, we headed to Taaffe's for some trad music. Since Taaffe's is famous for their live trad music, it was packed, but we still had a great time dancing and singing along to these guys. They were awesome and even played some SawDoctors! 

We then met up with our Irish friends and continued to pub-hop for the rest of the afternoon. Since it was too nice to stay inside dark pubs all day, we found places with outdoor beer gardens and enjoyed the sun. 

All in all, I couldn't have asked for a better Saint Patrick's Day and it's a really cool thing to be able to say that I was in Ireland for it! 

A Weekend in Wicklow

Because Ireland is such a small country, most of the Irish students go home on the weekends. In February, my housemate Sally invited Maddison, Kelly, Nicky and I home with her to Wicklow. We had an amazing time and I totally understand why everyone goes home on weekends. I mean, they get to socialize during the week and then lounge all weekend- it's the best of both worlds! 

Settle in for long post filled with lots of pictures. Maybe grab a cuppa tea if you really want to feel like you're in Ireland! 

After only a 2 1/2 hour train ride across the country, we arrived on Friday afternoon and our first activity was to bake brown bread. In the short time we had been in Ireland, we had already fallen in love with brown bread and were so excited to make it ourselves. 

As someone who isn't a huge baker, I found the recipe to be really simple and the final result was super delicious! Maybe if you're lucky (aka if I find the time), I'll share the recipe here soon! 

We made the baking process into a competition by splitting into two teams. Despite using the same ingredients, recipe and process (and a slight mishap when our pan tipped), Team Kelly and Mary DEFINITELY made the better loaf. 

Brown bread might be my favorite food in Ireland (and I really LOVE fish and chips so that's saying something!). It's great to have at breakfast because it keeps you so full!

On Friday night, Sally's mom, Margo, made us Spaghetti Bolognese that was seriously incredible; I think I must have had three huge helpings. Some of Sally's friends come over that night and we got to know them a little bit. Both Sally's family and her friends were super welcoming to us and didn't seem to mind that four of us were crashing for the weekend.

We woke up early on Saturday to go to Glendalough, which is only about 45 minutes away from Sally's house. Even though we never left Ireland, we did pass through Hollywood!

On the way up to Glendalough, we stopped at a scenic overlook. Even though the fog was sitting on the mountainsides, the views were still incredible. 

We found a wooden trail that acted as a skinny bridge from one part of the overlook to another. Naturally, everyone channeled their inner Beatles.

That is, until I got involved and made the whole thing totally ridiculous. Naturally. 

From my vantage point up there, I could see a deer gently walking through the grass. I was a little scared of it, but everyone told me to take a picture of it. If you look really hard, you'll be able to see it!

After a few more twisty roads, we arrived in Glendalough. When I was getting ready to come to Ireland, I had a guidebook that mentioned all of these places with crazy names and it sort of stressed me out because I didn't know how to pronounce them, but now I know a lot of them. Glendalough is pronounced Glen-da-lock and it's a gorgeous area with tons of hiking trails in the Wicklow mountains. 

Monastic City contains a crumbling monastery and the famous Round Tower.

Many of the old buildings and castles I've seen in Ireland are falling apart (in the most beautiful way possible), but the Round Tower is surprisingly well preserved.

The monastery is more typical of the other stone structures I've seen. The fact that it is crumbling doesn't make it any less gorgeous though. You can even still see some of the intricate molding in the picture below. 

From Monastic City, you could see the mountains in all directions.

The monastery and the Round Tower.

Just for scale: see those little ant-like figures at the bottom of the tower. Those are my friends! Now, I know we're not the tallest bunch, but you can still see how massive the tower actually is.

Now, that thing above us that looks like a big window? That's actually the door. Sally told us that the monks saved the town during an attack because they were able to hide everyone in the tower and then pull the ladder into the building behind them. How cool is that? 

We then took an easy stroll down the boardwalk from Monastic City to the lake.

This charming cottage is actually a visitors center with a sprawling green field behind it. This was also where the wedding in the movie Leap Year was filmed! 

And finally, the lake! Look at how gorgeous that is! 

On Saturday night after returning form our full day at Glendalough, we had takeaway from the Chipper down the road. A chipper is a fast food restaurant that serves deliciously greasy fried food and of course "chips" (fries). Sally had told us about this particular chipper before she even invited us to Wicklow and I have to agree with her, it's the best chipper in the country. (At least compared to the others I've been to). This chipper sells something called curry rolls, which are essentially rice and curry sauce wrapped in batter and fried. Sounds amazing, right? I'm hoping one Sunday night, Sally will come back to Galway with a bag of curry rolls to share! 

On Sunday, we had a full day before we had to catch the train back to Galway. We started the day off at Duckett's Grove, a nearby haunted castle. Apparently, when Sally and her friends were in secondary school, Duckett's Grove was a popular place to sneak into at night and spook yourself out. As much as I love ghost stories, the dense fog was eerie enough for me! 

Despite the spooky feel of the castle, it was still stunning. Sally said that in the summer, people picnic and play on the grounds surrounding the castle. 

Sally's friend told us that she saw a dark shadow in this window one night. I looked hard for a ghost, but didn't see anything. Can you?

Our next stop was Kilkenny Castle. This castle was totally different from Duckett's Grove because it's more of a museum. It's well-kept and decorated with pieces from the time it was in use. You weren't allowed to take pictures in the castle, so you'll have to trust me when I say that it was super luxurious. We walked through the exquisitely decorated bedrooms and the library. They even had a room solely to display their wall-sized tapestries and then another long room to show off the massive portraits of lords!

Once we finished wandering through the castle, we wandered the streets of Kilkenny. It was a lovely town, but I didn't take enough pictures of it. 

We browsed a bookshop and some makeup shops for a little bit before heading back to Sally's so her mom could drive us to the train station.

On the way out of Kilkenny, we spotted this reminder to "Carpe Diem". I'd say we did a pretty great job of that this weekend!

Sally, thank you again to you and your family and friends for hosting for the weekend. We had such a fun time and Wicklow is a beautiful county!