cheers to a proper good break ..

okay new post. this one’s a recap of fall break. wow what a week. let’s start with tuesday afternoon. we landed in newcastle (after flying from rome to milan and then milan to newcastle) via ryan air after 8pm and elise was there (cardigan and all) waiting for us at the airport. we took the metro back to the university and parked ourselves in her flat (which has the biggest kitchen/common room of life bee tee dubs). she cooked us amazing pasta with sugar snap peas (her specialty!) and then of course we went out. we pregamed with strongbo (new yummy obsession - its cider!) and then hit up a dance bar called blubambu. the dj was totally rockin and i had such an amazing time. newcastle nightlife is the shit, and i totally should have studied abroad there. the end. the next morning (wednesday - halloween!!) we did the touristy thing. we woke up a little late, had breakfast, saw the newcastle u campus (which is gorgeous and to die for), walked around grainger street, hit up grainger market, and went to the coast! we went to tynemouth, ate fish and chips for lunchie (yum!) and toured the priory and castle there in the afternoon. the coast was beautiful!!! and the castle was so kickass! it was really cold and windy there but it was all good. then we walked out to a lighthouse jetting out into the water and had the most awesome view of the sun setting over tynemouth. then we got back to newcastle, grabbed starbucks (finally!!) and we hit up marks and spencers for some cibo. its a department store with a supermarket built in it!! go figure!! haha anyway, we had dinner and then it was time to get ready for halloween festivities!! j9, laura and i dressed up as greek goddesses (from rome? idk man) and lisey was a dark sexy fairy. lise’s flatmates and friends were scooby doo and his crew, which was so cute! we went to a whole bunch of parties in flats around elise’s and we saw a whole bunch of loyola peeps chillin in their costumes so that was cool. then we headed back to louise’s flat (she’s my fave brit and im obsessed with her a little bit) and had some flaming sambuca shots with merlin and pete. mark and matt were enjoying their pixie sticks in interesting ways and we all just hung out for a little while before going out. we tried to get into blubambu but the line was redic so we hit up sam jacks instead. we got bracelets as we went in saying we got free shots for our first mixed drink we bought. sweet deal let me tell you. i had this yummy girly blue vodka drink a lot that night. we danced like crazy there for a while (they played backstreet boys!!) and then we headed over to popworld - a 90s themed dance bar - totally up my alley! they played amazingly awesome 90’s music which made me soooo happy, and there was this little pole that mark was enjoying for some time, which was quite entertaining lol. i had this other girly apple and vodka thing there which was sooo good. i kinda wish they would have those in america bc they were so cheap and sooo good! anyways, so we had an amazing halloween, newcastle style, but still incredibly awesome.

thursday morning (the morning after) j9 and i woke up early and headed on the train for edinburgh (pronounces edinbruh, apparently) in scotland to see clarice who was visiting her friend datta there for her fall break. after an hour train ride we arrived, and datta took us to the national museum (saw some van gogh and degas!), some monuments in a gorgeous park, the castle (though we didnt go in bc it was 11 pounds admission - i really wanted to go poo), and then we walked down the royal mile, stopping in shops along the way. we saw adam smith’s grave which doesnt mean much to me bc i dont like economics but clarice was happy lol. we had lunch at the elephant house which is where jk rowling used to write and think about harry potter when she had kids and was on welfare - before she hit it big and was famous. we also saw the hotel where she finished the final book in the harry potter series, which was sooo cool. then we hit up some regular shopping at h&m and lush etc and had dinner at tgi fridays. i wound up getting food poisoning from the burger i ate there, so my train ride home/evening was not pretty. elise, rachel, natalie, and laura met us at the train station and we toured the awesome bridges of newcastle at night. they were gorgeous. then we went for dessert (when i really started to not feel well) and heading back to elise’s flat. we retired quite early bc we had to get up at the ass crack of dawn for our flight to dublin, but i was sick all night long. it was not fun. i was a mess and felt like shit. it was the first time i got food poisoning and i felt just awful.

we woke up at 430am friday to head to the airport for our flight and i got sick again. i honestly didnt know how i was going to make it to the airport. but we made it there (barely for me, i felt so gross and so awful) and i napped while we waited for our flight and while we were flying. when i woke up we were in dublin, and i was feeling a bit better than the morning but still not great at all. we took a bus to our hostel and checked in but couldnt go into our rooms until much later. all i wanted to do was sleep for the afternoon and the room wasnt even ready. boo. so we got breakfast/lunch whatever you want to call it, and we planned out what we wanted to do while in dublin. finally our room was ready so we went in and napped for a while. i woke up before everyone else bc i wanted to shower bc i felt so nasty, so i went down to the communal shower (ew). it was such a yuck experience. the water had no temp control, so at first it was freezing and then it got so scalding i was burning myself. and you had to push for the water to flow and keep your hand on the bottom otherwise no water would come out. it was not what i was expecting at all. but hey, thats all part of the europe experience right? i promised myself i would be less neurotic and less high maintenance so i just went with it and was okay. we were sharing a room with 2 other people so that was a new experience for us too, considering we’ve had private rooms at all the places we’ve gone so far and have had private bathrooms as well. the room was cold and the pillows might have not as well existed, but it was fine. i was okay with it. i was going with the flow and just relaxing about it, which was a nice change for me. i felt bad for booking us just a poopie hostel, but the girls reassured me that it was totally fine and we joked around about it, so that made me feel better.

after my fun shower, we went out to dinner at a true irish pub in temple bar. we had great food, and i had my first irish coffee!! it was soo yummy! and as we were walking out the bar dj played “breaking free” from hsm which makes me so incredibly happy lol. its taking over the world!! haha. anyways, we met felicia, daniela, emma, and kevin while walking in temple bar which was cool. then afterwards we just walked around and toured the city at night, then crashed because we were so tired.

the next morning we were up bright and early, had breakfast, stopped at the earl, which had the most amazing chocolate chip muffins of LIFE, and then began our day of touristy things. first we stopped at the molly malone statue, where a cute little old man who reminded me of a leprechaun took pictures with us. he was adorable! then we saw trinity college, which has such a gorgeous campus! we walked around a bit and saw the building where the book of kells resides, but didnt go in. then we went to st. stephen’s greene which was a beautiful park full with lots of grass and a pretty lake and bridge. i loved itt! we saw the gardens and walked through for a bit, then j9 went to mass at christ church while laura, lisey and i ate amazing bagels for lunch and hit up the guinness storehouse! there was a long line outside so we were afraid we wouldnt make it in but it moved quickly which was good. we got in for 9.50 euro at student discount which was pretty kickass considering admission was 14 euro. anyway, we walked through and we learned about how they brew guinness and what they use to make it and it was sooo cool. we got to taste a rare draught of guinness from october 2004 which was so yummy. then we made our way up to the gravity bar on the 7th floor and had our free pint of guinness. it was my first pint ever and it was soo yummy! i loved it. then afterwards we ran to meet janine at st. patrick’s cathedral, and then we headed over to dublin castle for a guided tour. we saw the areas that are still in use today in the castle for the leaders of ireland, and then the tourguide brought us underground so we could see the remains of the actual first castle that was built back in the day. it was really interesting and so pretty! then we finally made it to dinner at another pub and just sat and listened to irish music. it was cool.

the next morning we took a tour of the irish countryside!! we went to wicklow and glendalough and saw lots of lakes and grass and pretty trees and scenery and it was just absolutely gorgeous!! it was definitely the ireland i wanted to experience. we saw an old bell tower and a monastery and it was so amazing. we had a great time. we got back in the evening, had dinner and then hit up temple bar for a couple of pints. temple bar was so fun and such a cool place to just chill and people-watch. i loved just being able to sit down and watch irish football with my favorite girls in the middle of ireland. it was so awesome. then we left dublin to go back to rome poo.

okay end of post number two. let’s move on to the third now oh gesu.