Northern Ireland...so we're in a different country?

Well, I was completely ignorant of Irish history while living in the U.S. Actually, embarrassingly ignorant! I spent the second half of my spring break in Northern Ireland...which is part of the UK. I'm actually taking three different classes relating to the Northern Irish Troubles and feel like I could write a text book on it now, so I am now well aware of the situation and feel much better about myself(:  I mean, you can't learn about every country's history...but the Northern Irish Troubles is a HUGE deal!  It really saddens me how not many of my friends back home have heard of it either, and I would say it is arguably still going on today. The Troubles have only recently come to an end, but violence still occurs occasionally and the hearts of Irish people are still hardened.  The first two days of my trip were purely academic, and extremely overwhelming.  We began by taking a tour of Stormont, the Parliament in Northern Ireland.  Here we got to meet with two political figures on each side, the unionist and nationalist side, that is. (Unionist support Ireland as uniting with the UK, nationalists want a united Ireland. There's literally a dozen political parties and factions on each side though, it hurts my brain sometimes!) While each speaker was obviously biased, it was interesting to see their point of view.  I always ask questions when given the opportunity, and they both were more than willing to answer. I'm not going to go into detail about what they said or the questions I asked, because that's not what I got from the trip (considering I don't really remember the details...).

But after only the first day, I was more confused than ever.  A war of propaganda was being played, a battle for hearts and minds.  While there may have been a peace process, it was still clear that discrimination still existed.  The murals in Northern Ireland were a testament of that.  The murals were a force of intimidation during the Troubles.  They served other purposes also, acting as memorials and political campaigns.  These were some of the murals I saw on a "black cab tour." These tours are a part of dark tourism, people coming to see the remnants of a time of violence and destruction.  We also went to the "peace wall," dividing the Catholic and Protestant communities.  There's even a gate that closes at night! People throw rocks over the wall, and it used to be petrol bombs that were thrown, knowing that it would hit someone on the other side - someone of the opposite faith.  The peace wall was covered in graffiti, and we even got to add our own comments! I chose to put 1 Corinthians 13:13.  It seems crazy to me that Catholics and Protestants have been in such a bitter war against one another, when they are both of Christian roots and believe in God.  It hurts my heart to know that God's people, living across the road from each other, experience such hatred that they are willing to kill.  It seems that religion is only a label, but a label that will get you murdered.  Hundreds of innocent civilians were murdered for carrying that label, but we are all God's people! I even stood next to sights were bombings occurred.  I stood at the place where 4 innocent people were murdered in a shooting - two moms with their two kids at a furniture store. How is that justified?! At each site, I knew all I could do was pray with all my heart. For the victims, their families, and most of all - tolerance and peace.

On a more lighthearted note, I also got to be a tourist in Northern Ireland and experience the beauty of the coast in Portrush. The Carrick - a - Rede Rope Bridge, the Bushmills Distillery, the Giants Causeway, the Dunluce Castle, and the Glenariff National Park were all just as amazing as they sound! A picture speaks louder than words in this case...

  

  My hot whiskey at Bushmills...not to my liking...

 The Giant's Causeway!

Dunluce Castle!

Glenarrif National Park!

When in Rome...

 Ah, spring break has arrived!! It's so strange to be spending my spring break in ITALY, while all my friends in Texas haven't even begun spring break and will most likely be in the U.S. I feel so incredibly blessed to be traveling to all of these amazing places every weekend, as tiring as it gets! (But I'm not complaining, hehe!) I spent the first half of my spring break in Italy, and what an adventure!  I've been to Rome before, but when I was 13, so I can't quite remember any details and I knew it would be an entirely new experience.  I was mostly excited for the religious aspect of my trip (being the nerdy Religion major I am,) and wanted to see the Vatican and catch a glimpse of the Pope! (No, I didn't see the Pope, I missed him by a day! &I'm not Catholic, but being a Religion major I can appreciate the beauty of Catholicism!)  The trip was packed with travel mishaps, pasta, gelato, and tours of ancient buildings - you could say it was a spring break that I'll never forget.

When we (myself and two friends, Kathy & Kandice,) first arrived in Rome on a Thursday night, it was a challenge to find the "Bed and Breakfast and Hostel."  One of our classmates had a family friend in Rome who drove us from the airport to the general location of our hostel, and we realized we were literally 5 minutes walking distance from the Colosseum - score! However we didn't see a sign for the hostel anywhere in sight.  When we finally asked a local shop owner, he directed us to a random door in the wall.  We walked up several flights of stairs, and saw a small plaque with the words "Bavaria B&B." Since it was locked, I continued to bang on the door for a minute until someone came out...I wasn't going to spend the night in the staircase!  Luckily the manager was present and we got all settled in..into the tiny hostel with four rooms and only two bathrooms.  Interesting, to say the least.  But we barely spent time in the hostel, and the next morning our free breakfast was also a disappointment.  A packaged pastry, yogurt, and cereal is what got us through the day.  But hey, what do you expect for less than 20 euro a night at a Bed and Breakfast?!

The first day started out great, we hit all the main tourist spots and I loved every minute of my touristy picture taking.  The Colosseum, Palantine Hill, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, and the Pantheon all lived up to my expectations.  I literally took 50 pictures at the Colosseum, and made my friends take several...okay over 20...pictures of me in it!  And I got to be the princess of Rome, as shown below(:

We took a free walking tour of Rome at night, and I loved hearing bits of the history of these ancient places. Rome is truly such a historic city, and beautiful with it's Italian lights shining with pride.  After the tour, we were wandering the streets looking for some pasta, and came across a shop with this pasta displayed outside...
< < <


Okay, not the kind of pasta we were looking for!  But one of my friends decided to buy it as a comical souvenir for a friend, and when walking in the store we had no idea what we were in for.  It was an alcohol store, normal enough looking with several fancy looking bottles.  But the woman working the cash register, Vanessa as we would later come to know, was an absolute joy.  She wanted us to try EVERYTHING in the store, and by the end of our time in there we had about 15 samples of different alcohol.  Welcome to Rome, Americans!  The alcohol was unlike anything I had ever tasted, from strawberry, to pistachio, to viagra....?  I ended up buying three little bottles of chocolate liquor, and I'm sure being tipsy convinced me it was a good idea at the time.  Vanessa was one good saleswoman!  After feeling a little sick from drinking on an empty stomach, I forced my friends to leave the free samples behind and join me in a search for our first Italian dinner.  Let's just say Italy will never disappoint with it's pasta!!


Next up - THE VATICAN!!!! I knew the Vatican was a separate city-state, or something of the sort, but it really is a world of it's own.  Literally separated by high towering walls, I approached feeling intimidated but excited at being somewhere so important in religious history. It was an amazing experience, but I was definitely overwhelmed at the vastness of the Vatican museum.  I was expecting to just walk into the Sistine Chapel, but it took several exhibits to get there.  As I've mentioned in previous posts, I'm not much of an art appreciator, but the Vatican had brilliant art!  Nothing quite beats Michaelangelo's work, and I may have been yelled at a few times for taking these pictures...

After an exhausting day of exploring the Vatican, we headed to a little piece of American culture - the Hard Rock Cafe!!! A yummy veggie burger and chocolate/peanut butter dessert later, I was content with a wonderful day and was ready to wake up early the next morning for  day trip to Tivoli...

NOT. So we booked a tour to Tivoli through a tour booking agency when we first arrived in Rome. On Sunday morning, we were up WAY too early for comfort, and got lost finding our way to the meeting point of our tour.  When we arrived at the offices, we were told the tour was cancelled and they couldn't get ahold of our booking agency to let us know.  We would eventually be refunded, but at the time we were very unhappy campers.  Well, you win some you lose some, so we made a new plan and attempted to find the biggest flea market in Rome - The Portuese Market.  After walking a great deal to find the place, let's just say the BIGGEST market is not an exaggeration.  I would say we walked for about a mile, and it was just rows and rows of the same silly items.  Clothing, shoes, home appliances, and everything useless to myself. Except I did see a wolf shirt, so tempting! After another somewhat disappointment of a market, we went back to the Trevi fountain to see it during the day time...only to be met with rain!  So eating our gelato in the rain by the Trevi fountain, we decided to retire early for the night so we could be up early the next morning and take a spontaneous train to FLORENCE!

Florence, my favorite day of my Italian experience! We arrived florence to a dismal sight of rain, and I knew it would be best to start the day by buying an umbrella.  There were guys littering the street selling umbrellas, and I thought 5 euro was a good deal anyway.  After less than 2 minutes, my umbrella was turned inside out!  And then after anther 2 minutes...it broke in two!  If anything, the 5 euro was worth it for the hysterics of laughter the experience caused.  So embracing the rain, we walked to the main attraction of Florence - the Duomo. What a grand building to testify praise to God! I was automatically jealous of my TCU friends studying in Florence; this was one of the greatest architecture masterpieces I had laid eyes on in Europe. 463 steps later, I climbed to the top of the masterpiece and was able to see the entirety of Florence! Such a gorgeous site, but an awfully tiring climb to the top. Well worth this view though...

After a gelato break, we decided to brave the steps of the adjoining bell tower...414 more steps!  Probably wasn't the best idea after a gelato break, I was panting the whole way!  But ah, another spectacular view well worth the discomfort of the 414 steps!

Our last site to be seen was Baptistery of San Giovanni, St. John. This has been my favorite art thus far, it was a beautiful ceiling of God's glory!  Gold glittering in my eyes, the image of Jesus was overwhelming.  Glory be to Him!

Voldemort's Grave.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it's true. I visited Voldemort's Grave and might've teared up a little from excitement.  Edinburgh, Scotland was an absolutely amazing weekend, filled with stress, sickness, running, and pure joy to cover all of that.  I went with two friends, Lauren and Conor, and we flew into Glasgow, not really having a plan of what we wanted to do.  We decided to take the train to Edinburgh when we first arrived, because we had heard of a free tour there.  Not going to lie, the free tour wasn't my favorite thing. Our tour guide was absolutely hilarious, but the tour was about the history of Scotland and that really wasn't of interest to me.  But the sights were great! Edinburgh castle is stunning, it was my first real castle sighting!!! And the best part of the tour...THE HARRY POTTER SECTION. So I fail as a fan because I did not know J.K. Rowling was from Edinburgh, and we went to the very place where she sat and wrote the first two Harry Potter novels.  We even went to the graveyard that provided her inspiration for Godric's Hollow....and MAD EYE MOODIE.....AND PROFESSOR MCGONAGALL....AND THOMAS RIDDEL AKA VOLDEMORT!!!!!!!!!!!! So freaking cool, I went to Voldemort's grave!!!! I was one happy human in that graveyard! If you know me at all, you know I'm obsessed with Harry Potter, so this was basically a dream come true.

On day two, we decided we loved Edinburgh so much that we would return, specifically because I wanted to hike to Arthur's Seat.  Now none of us were sure what that was, but we had heard it was a beautiful view.  While approaching the extinct volcano we wanted to hike, my eyes went wide.  Okay, so it was going to take longer than the 30 minutes I had planned for.  But that two hour hike was WORTH IT.  Granted, it was probably the hardest hike I have ever done, even beating the Grand Canyon, but Arthur's Seat was spectacular.  Arthur's Seat is the highest point, and you can see the entire city for miles and miles.  It made me think of that children's song "He's got the whole world in His hands;" such a reminder of our God who is in control of the entire world!!!

Our flight was at 7 am the next morning, and the airport was over an hour away.  We always take Ryanair flights because they're the cheapest, but the airports are always in the middle of nowhere and difficult to get to.  Since we had to leave so early, we realized that the train, metro, and bus would not be running at 5 am. After scanning the internet and asking several travel centers, we came across a bus company that had a 4am bus to the airport!! But we had to walk to the bus station, which our hostel receptionist (our sketchy hostel...) said would be about a 20 minute walk.  So we left the hostel at 3:30am, just incase it took a little longer. WRONG-O. It was much further than we thought, and as we walked through Glasgow we got out first experience of the city. DRUNK PEOPLE EVERYWHERE. And when I say everywhere, I mean literally hundreds of people on the streets, in trashy clothes, smoking cigarettes, and passed out on the sidewalk.  It was a nightmare, and a scene from a bad movie.  As we realized that the bus station isn't as close as we thought, we had to RUN.  Pushing drunk people out of the way, we sprinted to the bus station for a good ten minutes. I'm still sick, so I just kept commanding myself not to throw up and keep running.  We made it without a minute to spare, the bus left right after we got on it. Good times, Glasgow. Good times.  But besides that travel mishap, Scotland is the new love of my life.  I actually liked it more than Paris!  I think I'm just not a city person, and I'd much rather be surrounded by nature than buildings.

So after arriving back in Dublin at 8 am, (it was actually a 30 minute flight,) I received a text from my friend Kandice saying she found a church close to our flat! Service was at 7pm, which was perfect since I usually don't arrive back in Dublin until mid afternoon on Sundays.  We went to Grosvenor Baptist Church and it was so good to be back in a community of believers!  It was a small church, especially smaller to what I'm used to, and it was just what I needed.  The pastor's message was on Job and persecution, and he even introduced himself to us after!  It's the type of church where everyone knows everyone, so we probably stuck out!  We went to the college bible study after the service, with free dinner, and it was such a blessing to meet some Irish brothers and sisters in Christ! We discussed poverty & the Gospels, and I loved being able to bring my experience from Fort Worth and Christ Chapel to the discussion.  It was sincerely one of my favorite nights of being in Ireland, and I couldn't be happier to have found a blessed community here!

Well, it will be my spring break after this Wednesday, and time is flying by.  Unfortunately, Italy is being hit with extreme snow, and my plans are to go to Rome on Thursday! Hopefully everything will still work out, because I'm really looking forward to some yummy pasta!  I'll update ya'll after!! xxo!!

Bonjour! Merci! Parlez-vous anglais?

Well, that was the extent of the French I knew before adventuring off to Paris for five days.  Surprisingly, the language barrier was not difficult to break, and it wasn't too much of a challenge! I had a wonderful time in France, but I am so glad to be back home in Dublin. I just typed home and referred to Dublin, a city in IRELAND....ah, so strange. I really do feel like this is my home now! Anyways, I spent five days in France and did every Paris tourist thing I could think of (weather permitting!)


Instead of just listing off the places I saw, I want to try and explain my reaction to each.  I have 600 pictures to document my time there, and a picture is worth a thousand words, so I don't want to simply explain "This is the Notre Dame....blah blah blah." So here's my best shot at being creative with my memories!

When arriving in Paris, I was immediately overwhelmed with the thought of transportation.  What even IS a metro?! I just took my first train in Ireland, and now I need to figure out the metro system?! There's a system?! Yes, I am that naive.  Luckily I was with other girls who knew what they were doing, being from New York. So I happily followed along and didn't really pay attention to where we were going as long as they knew the way.  Take the 12, transfer to the 6, and then transfer to the 2 for only two stops...it was like a different language. Picture adults talking in Charlie Brown....blah blah blah. So I just smiled and nodded.  For some reason I thought I would be walking everywhere, like I do in Dublin. Paris is a huge city though, so there's my naive moment #2....

We really didn't have a set plan, so we began by wandering the Latin Quarter, since that was on my list of things I wanted to see. At least I had a list!  We came upon the Saint Suplice Cathedral, and it was one of my many God moments in Paris.  Everytime I see a cathedral my heart rejoices in praise for Him!  In Paris, I discovered I'm not an art person.  Looking at paintings and sculptures is fun for a few minutes...then I'm on to the next adventure.  But what I am fond of is architecture, decorative art, and stained glass.  Especially anything that has to do with a church.  Walking into the Saint Suplice I imediately began praying and started a conversation with my Savior.  I'm always in awe to see His beauty displayed in cathedrals, and to see a body of his people praying infront of an altar.  Religious imagery is one of my favorite parts about traveling in Europe, and the different crosses and crucifixes are always fascinating for me.  Saint Suplice set the tone for my entire trip, reminding me who this is really about.  It's never about me, and it's ALWAYS about Him.  I was so thankful to have that reminder and the beginning of the trip, and spending some quality quiet time with him in such a grand setting was the perfect beginning.

Walk, walk, and more walking.  We kept walking in circles, which can be really frustrating when you know you absolutely NEED to see every tourist attraction you possibly can. Finally stumbling upon the Luxembourg Gardens.  Another thing on my list, check!  Nature is definitely a place where I find God, and I loved the bare trees and the bitter cold biting my skin.  Did I mention it was absolutely freezing? I'm talking like -4 degrees Celsius.  SO whatever that is in Fahrenheit, it's below freezing! But we walked through the gorgeous gardens anyways, and I soaked up Gods amazing creation, smiling the whole time.  I even saw someone feeding the birds AND singing the feed the birds song. I felt like I was in a French romantic film...minus the romance part?  The cold really was a damper on the activities I wanted to do, because after about 30 minutes outside it became unbearable for my toes to stay alive.  If I ever go back to Paris, it will be in the summer just so I can wander different parks.  These are some of my favorite pictures of the gardens and the estate...

 We then began to look at our map and decide what we wanted to see in the area. Next stop: the Pantheon.  This art museum was amazing, but there is where I started to realize I'm not that into art. It was beautiful, but without taking a tour and all the signs being in French, I didn't even know what I was looking at.  I spent some time reading Ephesians in there, and that was my favorite part! (Gotta love having a Kindle!)

 Let me tell you what sums up my Paris experience...CREPES. I'm obsessed with food, I love it I love it I LOVE CREPES. I was literally singing a song about crepes until everyone agreed we would go get some, and that just began the amazing french food experience.  I will now include a compilation of the amazing french food experience my stomach enjoyed oh so much...

 MMM makes me hungry just looking at the pictures!

That night we went on a boat night tour of Paris on the River Seine, it was heated but still cold, and it was hard to take pictures through the glass :( But seeing Paris at night is definitely a necessity for anyone visiting, it was spectacular to see everything lit up.  And the Eiffel Tower sparkles at night!


Well, that was the end of day one and this is the longest blog post EVER...I hope I appreciate this in 30 years!


I am now going to be the lazy blogger :)
Day Two!
One of my top three parts of Paris - the Notre Dame!  Literally one of the most beautiful cathedrals known to man, I was in awe of God's beauty and spend a lot of time praying in here. The stained glass caught my eye everywhere I turned, and I was awestruck.  I kept repeating "Man, if this exits on earth, heaven really is unimaginable.." He is beautiful, and I was reminded of that constantly.

 Hit up another tourist spot after that, and of course I risked my life for a good photo op ;) But seriously, I ventured out into traffic to get pictures of the Arc de Triomphe, laughing the entire time and having so much fun!  Surprisingly I wasn't honked at, they're probably used to it.  All we did at the Arc was take pictures, but it was a lovely sight to be seen!

 We went to the Louvre that night, pretty much because you have to go to the Louvre when in Paris.  However, I found it extremely overwhelming and confusing.  I looked for a bathroom for a good 30 minutes, almost peeing my pants while searching. And the Mona Lisa? Uhhh...she's kind of ugly.  I'm not sure what's so special about her, but I took a picture because she's famous.  If she's famous I want to be famous! She really didn't impress me much. I guess I don't appreciate fine art, so the Louvre probably isn't the best place for me to spend a lot of time.  However, I did enjoy the decorative arts section! Napoleon III's apartment was gorgeous, and the religious artifacts were beautiful, as well.  But after seeing that, I was ready to sleep!  Because we were going to wake up early in the morning to go to the Eiffel Tower, and THAT was something I was excited for!

Ah, the classic Eiffel Tower! Such a grand sight, towering over Paris.  We took the elevator all the way to the top, where I thought I was going to have frostbite but luckily survived.  The views were gorgeous, and you could see all of Paris! It reminded me of how the Lord is in control of the entire world, and looking around it was a reminder of how BIG He is and how small I am!  I have literally dozens of pictures, but I'll just include a few of the best(:

We then hopped on the Metro and went to Versailles, another one of my favorite places!  Unfortunately the gardens were closed, probably because of the weather, but it was still worth the trip.  I loved everything about the palace, and wandered around for hours until my feet literally said no more walking and I was forced to return back to the metro station..

My friends then went back to Dublin and I stayed another day alone in Paris!  While nervous at first, I thoroughly enjoyed the alone time, especially having quiet time to have the Lord as my companion.  Sunday ended up being my favorite day as I went up to Montremarte...i literally walked 42 flights of stairs.  Yeah, I counted.  The Sacre Coeur was yet another favorite, and the view was breathtaking.  I spent an hour just reading in a cafe with an awesome view of the Sacre Coeur, it was such a relaxing hour.  I then decided to live a little, and I bought a ticket to see a show at the infamous Moulin Rouge that night!  While I knew it was a burlesque show, I did NOT realize it was a topless show.  I was put in the front row, or rather front table, (probably because I was alone..) and saw more boobs than the average man does in his entire life.  & I can appreciate beauty; these were the most beautiful women I had ever seen, but I wish I didn't always have to see their boobs...it was plain distracting!  Sometimes they were diamonds or a little bikini top, and I appreciated the classiness.  The show was brilliant, and I'm so glad I went.  Moulin Rouge is my ultimate favorite movie, and while the show has nothing to do with the movie I knew I'd regret it if I didn't go.  Being extremely close isn't ideal, because you see the reality of the show that's supposed to be masked.  Make up lines, dancers whispering in the back, and fake smiles.  But over-all, the show was so much fun and I had a blast, even though I was by myself! So I enjoyed my very own bottle of champagne, the obvious lip-syncing, and the boobs for two hours on a Sunday night as it snowed outside.  Sounds like the perfect end to my trip to Paris, am I right or am I right?!