Wild{ly Cold} in Wisconsin

Hello again. Long time no… write? Read? Not see...

I don’t know about anyone else, but it has been a fast and furious few months! And there’s no slowing down (traffic jam, speed bump or scenic routes) in sight!

Life has been going great, if only I could remember what I’ve been doing! Personal life-wise, not much going on, sorry to say. The holidays came and went with all the fun and good food that they always entail. Mom and dad are doing well, if only mom would stop trying to find new and inventive ways to injure herself. Austin has a new job and seems to be enjoying it, or at least enjoying the income (you can never quite tell with that one). Sherlock and Watson are doing fantastic and finally getting along a little better now that Watson outweighs Sherlock (and he’s only a little over a year old).

 

Work life-wise, things are busy as ever. We finally had our BRC audit (product safety and quality management system), which has been a year (or longer) in the making. With only a mild mental breakdown or two, we passed with flying colors and are already ramping up for this year’s rendition, which is why I have a reason to write again! A coworker and I were shipped up to our corporate offices to observe (and maybe help but not really) with their internal audit as they prep for recertification. More importantly, it gave me a fantastic excuse to go see a friend in Wisconsin for the weekend! Ironically, she’s a friend I only have because of our divisions transition into BRC, so we’ve come full circle, I guess!

Despite spending part of the week curled up in the bathroom with food poisoning (or the stomach flu, we’ll never really know), I was more than excited for the good food and fun that the weekend entailed. After driving from Green Bay to Wausau, Sam and I ate some delicious tapas and tacos at a local restaurant in Stevens Point before spending the evening watching Split at her apartment (sorry for kicking you out of your bed, Jed. Sort of. It was comfortable).

The next morning, we had breakfast at an adorable little dinner. The place was… unique, with bald eagle wall paper and a wide variety of coffee mugs (no two were the same from what I could see). The other patrons were some of the most interesting characters that I’ve had the pleasure to eavesdrop on (sorry for the bad manners grandma!). The food was pretty good, but the environment definitely made the experience!

Next, we packed up and headed to Madison for the weekend – better food and better bookstores! It was a beautiful drive to get there, especially with all the snow on the ground (yes Sam, I know you’re sick of it). Google took us a weird route through the countryside, but the barns and rolling white hills were gorgeous. After a brief stop at target (had to get a swimsuit for the hot tub!), we checked into our hotel and headed into downtown Madison for an afternoon of adventures!

Beautiful Barn w/ Quilt in WI

We started out our adventures at Michelangelo’s Coffee House (we’ve got the coffee and wine bar in Norman). It was an adorable coffee shop off the main road through downtown Madison. Their tea was pretty good (I got peppermint, to help with the stomach stuff) and Sam’s scone was delicious! We kind of just wandered down State street, looking in shop windows and hunting for a decent bookstore. We popped into one called Browzers Bookshop for Used & Rare books, a local independent bookshop that was incredible. Honestly, we probably could have spent hours just in that bookstore! The shop had some old, beautiful books on the shelves, and it was so peaceful and quiet. The adorable woman running the store told everyone who came through about a book (I think signed by Einstein?) worth $1000 they had for a year that she finally sold. She was so excited about that story!

We wandered back down the other side of state street and stopped in another bookstore, A Room of One’s Own. It was another cute, unique little bookstore, but with more of the modern-day collections. Sam and I found two books with which to restart our book club (we have a commitment issue apparently). We also both made an impulse buy of a little gadget to hold open the book for you which was adjustable to the various “standard” book sizes, which was so cool!

We had an early dinner at a local Indian food restaurant, Mirch Masala. It was on the upper level of one of the buildings off State St. Like usual, Sam and I over-ordered on food, but it was totally worth it. To be fair, this was my first real meal since Wednesday night. And it was mouthwateringly good. We had samosas, which were hot and like a warm hug in your mouth. After the samosas, we both tried some soup, daal (lentil) for Sam and chicken for me, which was fantastic. Next, Sam was white girl basic and had chicken tikka masala (she said it first and it was so good) and I tried chicken biryani (basmati rice with chicken, nuts, and spices; also incredibly good); obviously we had to order all of this with a side of naan bread, both traditional and garlic. Like I said, our eyes were bigger than our stomachs, but we made a decent dent and took the rest for leftovers.

At this point it was maybe 630pm and we headed back to the hotel to read our books, run to the gas station to get some snacks, and pass out for the evening. Real party girls, I know. We were in bed by 10…

Sunday, we were up and moving pretty early (see previous note on bed time lol) and headed to the Lake Geneva Ice Castle. It was another beautiful drive, albeit on a very cold day (I think Madison topped out at 11 degrees that day; we started at -3). We had breakfast and coffee at a coffee/bike shop at Lake Geneva called Avant Cycle Café. Tea wasn’t as good as at Michelangelo’s, but the scones were delicious! We wandered up and down the street, stopping in a few little shops, before heading out of town to a local brewery Sam wanted to check out (wasn’t quite what she expected).

Avant Cycle Cafe

We headed back to the lake for our Ice castle appointment at 230. From what I could tell, it’s made right on the lake, which was cool. You walk through a tunnel into the main area of the castle, which is open to the sky, while slogging through a 6-12 inches of ice chips. Not snow, not slush, straight ice chips that don’t give you any support while walking like snow does. It was a workout! But it was worth it for how beautiful the castle was! It was small and not quite what I expected, but totally worth the trip. We probably only stayed inside for about 15 minutes, but we were losing the feeling in our feet! Now, I dressed warm. I had on my fur-lined Timberland combat boots, wool socks, a nice new INSULATED coat that I bought specifically for this trip, and a ski cap. It was COLD (yes, I know an ice castle is made of ice and ice is cold - sue me). It was absolutely beautiful to walk through, with archways and little rooms throughout.

To regain the feeling in our feet, we hopped in the car and headed back to Madison for the evening (with big plans, let me tell you). We stopped to eat at a Venezuelan/Latin American cuisine place called La Taguara. Adorable restaurant with DELICIOUS food. There used to be a similar restaurant in Norman called Amazonia (just discovered it was closed when I googled it to remember the name). It was very traditional food without the typical American flair, and it tasted so good after freezing our buts off at Lake Geneva.

We headed back to the hotel for an evening of reading, hot tubs, and movies before another early bedtime. The next day, we had brunch at Café Hollander, which was good but not the best food we’d had for the weekend. The restaurant had a great vibe though! We did a brief bit of shopping at Lush before heading back towards Steven’s Point and Wausau for me to catch my flight. All in all, a fantastic weekend!

Cafe Hollander

Hello, it's me. Wondering what happened to 2017...

I realized today that it has been months since I posted on my blog. So much has happened and I have been busy with post-college life, which apparently means I lacked the time and thought to write. I will admit, I have tried to write several times but I never really liked the way it sounded. I suppose writing about my adventures this summer just did not compare to the excitement I had to share when I was abroad. However, that is no excuse for not writing at least something! On that note, here we go:

Final Semester of College: My final semester was fantastic. I had a light load course-wise, which I had not entirely expected to be able to do after studying abroad. I only had 12 hours and every hour was a class in which I was truly interested: Career Planning, Interethnic Communication, Cultural Awareness, Honors Research, and Ballroom Dancing. Career planning was a beneficial class to take my last semester, although I almost wished I had taken it sooner. There was some information that I feel should be more widely known for college students early in their career, but it was still helpful to get some job search, resume writing, and interviewing tips. I had been interested in taking ballroom dancing for years, but it never fit with my schedule until this semester. It was probably my favorite non-major class that I took in college! Interethnic communication and cultural awareness were two classes that looked at the same subject from a different viewpoint, both of which were interesting. They covered a wide variety of communication problems that arise between cultures and how to be aware of and avoid them.  Not to mention, these classes truly benefited my honors research to make it an absolutely phenomenal project to culminate my degree. I really enjoyed conducting my research and am truly proud of how it came out, although most people would find it mind-numbingly boring to read.

May 13^th: I graduated. Yes, I actually enjoyed my degree. Yes, I will be paying for it for years to come. No, I did not go on to grad school. No, I did not have a job ready to go when I finished. And no, I still do not know what I want to be when I grow up (I think I may know the answer to that question by the time I am ninety). My degree was part of the largest college on the campus (of course) so it took several hours, not including the time waiting in the gym downstairs so we graduates could crowd out onto the stadium floor. My aunt, uncle, grandparents, and godfather all came into town, which is always great. I had not seen my godfather in years, so it was amazing to spend the weekend with him and the rest of the family. Three cheers for the end of school, even though I actually enjoyed it!

Graduation with my favorite professor, 

Dr. Bisel. I took five of his classes.

May 29^th – June 1^st: Las Vegas. My friend and I treated ourselves to a trip to Las Vegas to celebrate our graduation. Neither of us had ever been and I am not sure either of us will ever go back, but it was definitely an adventure. Not to say it was a bad trip, but it was not quite as amazing as we had hoped. We went to the Grand Canyon, saw a couple of shows, ate at some buffets, and had an overall pleasant time. The Grand Canyon was beautiful, although our trip was not as advertised. The shows were definitely the best part of the trip, which was not exactly surprising (other than gambling and drinking, they are the main reason to go to Vegas!). Oh, and the buffets were amazing, too. Expensive, but well worth the money considering how much food you had the option of eating (and I absolutely ate more than my fill). I will advise that you do not fly Allegiant if you go. Our plane was several hours late both going and coming, and they were not very forthcoming with the reasons why. But hey, that is one place to check off of my adventures list!

Grand Canyon 

La Reve

Summer: Several small adventures with Madison no one really wants to read about. A couple of wine walks, a trip to Turner Falls, and a misguided attempt to reignite our youth at a pumpkin farm overrun with children. Really, you do not want me to write about it. Nor do I want to write about it, for that matter. Oh, and I was job hunting during this time too, with not much success clearly.

Turner Falls

 Wine Walks

Misguided pumpkin farm

Summer Add-In: So I realized while finding my pictures that I did have a couple of more exciting adventures. I went to see Ed Sheeran's concert in Tulsa, which was fabulous. I also participated in GISHWHES (the Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen). It consisted of doing either acts of kindness or crazy acts of weirdness to raise money for a non-profit organization started by the actor who started the scavenger hunt. I also went to the Kings of Leon concert with Jessica. Yay! Real summer adventures! Moving on. 

Ed Sheeran Concert

 GISHWHES Item: Symbol of Hope (for nerds) 

in your front yard

Kings of Leon Concert

November: New job. I found a job! Well, I think it might be more appropriate to say that a job found me, but still. I have a job! And never again will I believe someone when they tell me shopping is a waste of time, because that is how I found my job. Mom and I were checking out a new boutique in OKC. After talking with the manager for a few minutes, she started to ask me a few pointed questions about my experience and then gave me her husband’s number because he had a job opening that I might be interested in. One phone call and two interviews later, I had found my first job out of college as a customer service representative at Green Bay Packaging in Chickasha. Oh, and this makes two jobs now that I have found by going shopping! Also, Loki (my car) died, so we had to start car shopping this month. We did find one and started the financing paperwork before we left for Thanksgiving in Texas (this will be relevant soon, I promise).

December 4^th – 8^th: Racine, WI. One week at my new job and I was already on a business trip. I was sent to Racine, WI, to learn about the corrugated business and see an idea of how my GM wants to grow our plant. I spent time learning about everything that goes into a box, from the design and production to testing and sales. The whole process is a constant war between thinking “I didn’t know this much went into creating a box” and “This is such a straightforward process, why am I here”. Honestly, it was both fascinating and fascinatingly boring to learn about. On the bright side, I learned a lot and ate even more. I was seriously well-fed on this trip and I got to see Milwaukee as well, which is a really beautiful city. Actually, Wisconsin was just a beautiful state.

December 11^th –14^th: Green Bay, WI. Back-to-back trips! This trip was to the original facility in Green Bay, which is a huge production. Not only is it where our corporate offices are located, there is also a paper mill, a corrugator, a sheet plant, a folding carton plant and several warehouses (I know you do not know what this is, but just to give an idea of size). The corrugator and paper mill were really fascinating to see, especially after learning about how boxes are made. However, I am fairly certain that the men at this plant had no idea what to do with me. I was sort of shunted from department to department, with no one really knowing why I was there and what they were supposed to do with me. More of a lesson in what we do not want to do at our plant, but it was a really cool and modern production to see compared to our tiny facility in Chickasha. Oh, and it snowed while I was there! I actually got to see snow for the Christmas holiday, even if it was not actually in Oklahoma.

December 16^th: Car buying. A month later, I finally got to sign the paperwork on my new car, a 2017 VW Passat. The finance department at Fowler Volkswagen in Norman is absolutely useless. We had an amazing experience with our salesperson. He was very helpful and knowledgeable, without ever giving off the sleazy cars salesman vibe or pressuring us once we had walked away. However, after we started dealing with the finance department, it all went to hell. They would not answer phone calls, would not get their paperwork in order, and they were going to send someone to Chickasha for me to sign the paperwork (since I was leaving for WI) and they never showed up or called me! When we finally managed to get a hold of them and tell them we were coming to sign the paperwork, they told us the finance manager had to be there (which he was not) because he had our paperwork (for some reason) and we had to come the following day. Even when we went, we never saw the finance manager and they were reprinting all of our paperwork, so clearly he was not necessary to the process (Mom thinks it’s because we were labeled problem customers and he needed to be there in case we cause problems).  Seriously, it was like they did not want me to buy the freaking car. And even after we finished the paperwork, I had to go back twice more because they forgot things! Hopefully, my future car buying experiences will go better. They definitely are not on my recommendation list, which is unfortunate since I would absolutely recommend my salesman.

So there it is. The adventures that I have had this year all wrapped up in one pretty bow. I will try to be better about writing, but I am not seeing any big (or small) adventures in my near future. We will just have to wait and see. Happy New Year, everyone! May your resolutions… go up in smoke because mine already have.

Adieu to Kalamazoo

My cousin, Teri, got married recently and it made for one fast weekend. We left Oklahoma at about 10 o’clock in the morning, after taking Sherlock for a ride because we found him climbing in the front window of the Jetta.  Clearly, he did not like that he was being left behind. We drove pretty much straight through to St. Louis, stopping for a couple potty breaks along the way before stopping for dinner at the Hard Rock Café.  All I could do was compare it to the ones in Europe, since that was my only experience with the HRCs.  It was small, and didn’t have as much memorabilia as the one in Florence.  However, it was very similar to the one I ate at in Barcelona, so there’s that.  The food was fantastic regardless!

We made it all the way to Bloomington, Illinois before we stopped for the night.  We stayed at a Double Tree Hotel and walked what felt like a mile to get to our room.  I’m pretty sure we went down three full length hallways before we even got to ours.  And the elevator was on the other end of the hotel from our room, which definitely made the stay interesting.

The next morning, we got up, ate breakfast at Panera Bread, and hit the road to Kalamazoo. Thankfully, we were only about 4 hours away at this point, which was nice.  And the people on the road were averaging about 90 mph, even though the speed limit was 55, so we made great time. Unfortunately, we also had to drive through construction on the outskirts of Chicago, so 4 hours got to be a little longer.  We finally got to the hotel at about 4 pm (Oklahoma time) and dad got in line to check in. It was a very busy weekend for the hotel. 

They had 900 people check out that morning and 250 were checking in.  Half of the rooms weren’t even clean yet.  However, we had to give it to the staff as they were doing a great job considering the circumstances.  The valets were running from place to place, trying to make sure everyone was covered and got a cart for their luggage and whatnot.  By the time we got up to the room, it was 430 (still in Oklahoma time) and we thought we had some time to sit down before we had to be at the rehearsal dinner.  However, then we realized there was a time change.  It was 530pm Kalamazoo time and the dinner started at 6.  No sitting down for us.

We were fashionably late to the rehearsal dinner, but so was most everyone else.  It was in a dueling pianos bar near the hotel and was filled with people by the end of the night.  It was really great to see the family again, although I didn’t really get the chance to talk to Teri, the cousin who was getting married.  The drinks were great, the food was fantastic, and the company was alright (it was awesome). We talked, we laughed, I met my uncle for the second time, and then I was exhausted.  Two days of driving made for a very tired family.  We went back to the hotel and I worked on some homework before we went to bed for the night. 

Here's that uncle I mentioned.

The next day dawned wedding day.  Thankfully, it wasn’t until 3pm, so we slept in and then went to the nearby mall to walk around and get our legs moving.  We had a light lunch at Olive Garden and had the most amazing waiter.  He kept our drinks full, checked on us frequently, and had a fantastic personality.  Definitely wish we could have more of those back here in Oklahoma. 

The Hindu wedding ceremony came first, which was on the roof of a building, in the 50 degree, windy Michigan weather.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day, sunny and no clouds, but it was definitely a shock after leaving 90+ degree Oklahoma. Thankfully, I was smart enough to wear some fleece lined legging with my dress and to bring a jacket with me to the ceremony.  Most of the other girls there were not quite so smart.  There were many girls in their short dresses and high heels and little lace shawls trying to huddle together on the roof to keep warm.  I was relatively comfortable though!

It was a beautiful ceremony, although the Hindu priest was rather clueless, along with the rest of the wedding party.  He didn’t show up in Michigan until the morning of, and even the Indian people present said that he was rather scattered throughout the ceremony.  Dad (mine, not hers) got to walk the bride down the aisle.  Apparently it’s some sort of tradition that no one knew about beforehand. Dad was certainly surprised!  My cousin didn’t even get to see her wedding sari until she was putting it on, but it was absolutely gorgeous.  I have no idea what was happening in the ceremony, but it was still fun to watch.

After the Hindu ceremony was over, we headed across the street for a cocktail hour while the bride and groom got changed.  I’m pretty sure the poor bartenders served a couple hundred Moscow Mules, as that was Teri’s favorite drink.  I’m really surprised they didn’t run out of ginger beer and vodka!  They also had some fantastic little snacks going around during this, which was both good and bad.  The snacks themselves were delicious and authentic Indian foods, for the most part.  However, they were so good and in such easy supply that I definitely ate more of them than I should have.  No regrets, though!

Next, we went upstairs for the Christian ceremony and reception.  Again, Teri’s dress was absolutely gorgeous and the food was amazing.  At that point, it was more or less like almost every wedding reception.  There was an open bar, an ice cream bar, and a late-night mac-and-cheese bar, although we left before the mac-and-cheese bar got set up.  I was so full at that point, though, that I’m not sure I could have eaten any more food!

The Wedding Party

They had also set up a really cool photo booth for the guests, along with a bunch or hats and decorations for people to use when taking the pictures.  People would leave one half for the bride and groom and take the other half for themselves, which I thought was a great idea.  Oh, and my cousin Tommy put on one of those blow-up T-rex costumes and started wreaking havoc, including tearing down a string of lights.  At that point, we left since we had to drive all the way back to Oklahoma the next day, but we heard that the party lasted until at least two in the morning, travelling to a couple different bars along the way.

Guess which one's my cousin Tommy!

We ate breakfast with the family the next morning before hitting the road, which was an adventure unto itself with the Moses clan.  People bustling this way and that trying to get the food on the buffet, get everyone drinks, take care of the trash, make coffee and mimosas, and just generally getting things done and getting in the way at the same time.  It wouldn’t be an event with the Moses family without a little chaos! 

Unfortunately, after breakfast, we had to start our 14 hour drive back home so I could get to class for my presentation the next day.  And work on homework in the car along the way. And try to make sure my group members were doing their part.  Oh, and work on my part of the presentation. It honestly wasn’t that bad of a drive on the way home.  It felt shorter than on the way up, so that was nice.  Especially considering we drove straight through. 

The happily married couple at another 

ceremony the next day!

Mom and Dad Arrive in Italy

On Friday morning, mom and dad finally made it to Italy!  In case you didn’t know, this is mom’s first time out of the country other than to Cozumel on a cruise and to the Azores when she was two.  Dad, of course, has been everywhere.  Anyway, I met them at the airport in Rome so I could help them get back to Arezzo.  Unfortunately, they didn’t recognize their own daughter when they finally saw me.  I mean, I was holding up a handmade sign that said MOSES and everything, but still nothing. (I was going to print off a professional looking sign, but they stole the computers and printers out of the monastery)  After they finally saw me (after raising my sign as high as I could reach), we hopped on the Leonardo Express train to get to the train station in the center of Rome.  Despite having traveled for over 15 hours, they still had another 3 hour train ride before we got to Arezzo. 

We sat on the very hot train for just under three hours.  As I worked on a little bit of homework and then listened to the music, mom and dad passed out.  Especially dad.  In all fairness, they hadn’t exactly gotten a whole lot of sleep on the airplane, but it was still entertaining for me.  Not to mention, mom’s complaints about train bathrooms were hilarious.  She didn’t realize that they literally just dump straight onto the tracks so there’s a bit of a breeze coming up the hole!

By the time we finally reached Arezzo, we were all pretty tired so we headed straight towards their B&B.  We managed to check in mostly okay.  I translated most of what the woman was saying for mom and dad because she did not speak a lick of English, at least until she started trying to tell us something about some fee to the booking website.  I’m not entirely sure why she felt the need to tell us about this, especially considering it was obvious that we weren’t really understanding.  I had to call Colin, our GRD, to come to the rescue.  Apparently it wasn’t anything important, but we wanted to be sure that mom and dad didn’t still owe anything.  He was definitely a lifesaver!

Mom and dad were in desperate need of a nap after that, so I left them at the B&B while I headed back to do homework.  We met up again for dinner at a restaurant called Il Cantuccio, which is absolutely delicious and their cheesecake is to die for.  Mom and dad were falling asleep at the table, so I went back to the monastery and half-way worked on homework.  Mostly it consisted of staring at my rather horrible essay before deciding it wasn’t going to get any better, submitting it, and then watching Get Smart to make myself feel better, which then lead to watching Stardust until 2 am.  Probably not the greatest decision in my life, but oh well.

Today, mom and dad walked over to my family’s pastry shop for breakfast and they fell in love with them, just like my newfound muffin top and I did.  They both had one of Stefania’s delicious muffins and a cappuccino.  We walked to the Saturday market that I haven’t visited since the first weekend that we were here in Arezzo, which was a lot of fun.  It’s a huge market and we actually did find some fun things to buy, including a polka dot blazer.  For lunch, we stopped at Bar Stefano for some pasta before separating again so I could work on a paper for art history (which I’m supposed to be doing right now, but it’s not going real well.  I need another two pages but I’ve run out of things to say and my introduction is going nowhere).   Anyway, we met up again for a tour of the monastery where most of the students live and I study and hang out. 

We then went for a little walk down the Corso Italia which is the main shopping street of Arezzo and then stopped to get some stuff for a snack that ended up being pretty much dinner.  We bought mozzarella, (extremely hard) bread, some Pecorino cheese, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and pesto to go with the tomatoes that mom had bought at the market and just had a little snack while it rained.  It was nice and peaceful, listening to the rain and sitting with my family.  We were full at this point, but mom and dad would need something with a little protein so we ventured out into the rain to get some piadinas (they’re like a cross between a wrap and a quesadilla, but delicious).  

View out Mom and Dad's window

Anyway, mom and dad headed back to their B&B and I headed back to the monastery, where I am currently sitting and procrastinating on doing my homework, like an awesome college student.  Unfortunately, this the only productive thing that I can do while procrastinating, and its time has come to an end as well.  Oh well, here’s some pictures of mom and dad’s super exciting first day in Italy as a parting gift:

My Final European Adventure... for now!

So where was I? Oh, that’s right… BARCELONA!

This past weekend was my last trip in Europe, at least for the foreseeable future.  While it was not my favorite place that I have visited over the past four months, it was still a good trip.  Honestly, the best parts were the amazing food and spending several hours just sitting on the beach in the sun. 

We started off the trip kind of rough, considering we had to get up at 5 am to catch a train to get to Bologna to catch our flight.  Quite the adventure, right? By the time we got to Barcelona, we were already exhausted.  After checking into our hostel, we went to get some lunch at a local restaurant and it was AMAZING.  If you’ve never had paella, I would highly recommend it, especially if you are in Spain.  It’s a really simple dish, but it was sooooo good.  I had the Chicken Paella, which is basically just chunks of marinated chicken in rice that cooked in tomato sauce with all sorts of vegetables and juicy goodness.  Totally worth all those starch-filled calories. 

After we finished eating, we hopped on a bus to go to the beach, which was amazing.  We sat on the sand and just watched the water for a while before getting up and walking down the boardwalk.  There were a ton of Indian men selling mojitos, beer, and these gorgeous squares of linen that had really beautiful patterns on them.  I purchased on that has a green mandala on it that I absolutely love, although I really wanted one with elephants on it.  Oh well.  We did have a bit of a shock when we saw this older gentleman walking down the beach completely naked.  I wouldn’t have been that surprised other than the fact that he was literally the only person that was walking around naked.  And he wasn’t even going in the water, he was just walking down the sand and occasionally pausing to just look out at the water.  Rather odd, if you ask me.

We eventually left the beach and headed back into the city center, where we saw a Flamenco dance.  All of the singing was in either Spanish or Catalan, I honestly don’t know which, but it was still really cool.  From what we could gather, the show was about a love triangle between a woman and two men.  The dancers were really great.  The woman was amazing, especially when she wore this dress with a long, fluffy train.  She was whipping it around and up and it looked really cool.  The men, on the other hand, were absolutely fantastic.  The skill that they had and the speed that they moved at was phenomenal.  Most of the singers were really great too, although the one woman sounded like a dying goat, which was a bit unfortunate.  Overall, a really cool experience!

The next day, we went on a Modernism walking tour of the city.  Definitely not the highlight of the trip, but we did get to see a lot of the city and some really cool buildings.  For a while, the buildings in Barcelona could not have any color on them.  I can’t remember exactly why this is, but it was still really interesting.  After this color ban was lifted, the buildings were covered in mosaic tiles that are absolutely beautiful to see.  At the end of the walking tour, our guide took us to a local restaurant for some tapas, which are basically just appetizers.  However, they were absolutely delicious.  We had a bit of a variety, including Bravas potatoes, croquettes, meatballs, and chorizo.  It was all so good, although not quite enough food.  On the bright side, by the time we ate, it was almost three o’clock, so we didn’t have that much time until we could eat again. 

For dinner, we went to the Hard Rock Café.  I know, we ate American food in Barcelona, but we’d already eaten all of the typical Spanish food and it sounded really good.  And it really was, although it was a surprisingly small restaurant.  We had met an Australian kid on our tour of the city, and he came with us to Hard Rock café.  He didn’t entirely understand why Hard Rock is such a big thing, although to be honest, neither do I.  However, it’s good food and the music is great.  He was a really nice guy doing his gap year in Europe, although he was also a bit of a baby since he had just turned 19 in February.

Next, we went to this really cool fountain show in the main square of the city.  It’s kind of like the show in Vegas, but it changes colors and is set to different kinds of music, including rock n’ roll and classical.  It was absolutely gorgeous to see, although we only stayed for about 20 minutes.  Honestly, how long can you admire a fountain changing colors and making different shapes? And at that point it had changed to classical music that didn’t quite fit with the fountain’s colors and movements.  But who am I to judge! Afterwards, we just headed back to the hostel since we had been out for most of the day.  No, we did not hit the nightlife that Barcelona is famous for, but I do not regret it in the least. We did, however, see a group of break dancers near the fountain show.  They were really energetic and fun to watch, definitely a great part of the Barcelona culture.  

On our final day in Barcelona, we just went back to the beach.  We spent a while just sitting on the sand and enjoying the sun and the sound of the waves.  There was a nice breeze that kept it from being too hot so it was absolutely perfect.  While the others slept, I read what was left of my book and enjoyed the sights.  Eventually, we got up and headed to a fresh food market that was just down the road.  We ate some empanadas (they were cold but delicious), some fresh strawberries, and some amazing churros.  They were fresh and delicious and completely bad for us, but oh my god were they good.  We got some traditional sugar coated churros and some chocolate ones as well.  Afterwards, we walked along the harbor, looking at the various people selling random things.  They had everything from knockoff shoes and purses to keychains and Flamenco fans.  Unfortunately, it was then time to head towards the city center again to catch the train to the airport. 

I know it sounds odd, but the Barcelona airport was my favorite one this entire trip.  It was enormous, but still very clean and quiet.  When we walked through security, it was like we were walking into a mall.  There was an enormous circle filled with various shops for clothes and food, and there was even an entire wine store! Despite the size of it, it was practically silent.  Alright, that’s all I’ll say, since it is just an airport, but still!!!

Overall, it was a pretty good trip.  There were a few downsides and it certainly wasn’t my favorite city, but I definitely enjoyed the time on the beach.  It was nice to have a little bit of relaxation considering all of the work that I have due in the next two weeks.  Why they made this a free weekend is beyond me, but whatever.  

Irish I Was Still in Ireland

Ireland, the home of my people.  Well, some of my people, since we only have a little Irish heritage based on what we could find.  Some of my Scottish ancestors moved to Ireland, but I’m not sure if we actually have any Irish blood.  But who cares!

This past weekend, I travelled to Dublin with a friend to escape Italy for the weekend.  We had a mild mishap with our Air BNB, mostly because we arrived later than expected and didn’t have a way to contact her to tell her.  However, once we finally arrived, she was the nicest person you could meet.  She greeted us outside, showed us how to jimmy the key in the lock to get it to open, and then showed us into our room where she had a bowl of popcorn waiting for us! How awesome is that?! 

The following morning, we got up and headed towards the Dublin city center.  After wandering around for a bit, we walked into an amazing Irish gift show called Carrolls.  Everything was green and covered with sheep and shamrocks!  We spent a bit of time walking around and I probably bought more than I should have, but it was definitely worth it.  Afterwards, we headed across the river to a tourist office that we had spotted to see what there was to do in and around Dublin.  We ended up buying tickets for a hop-on hop-off bus tour of the city, which was more than worth the money. We also bought tickets to go see the Giants Causeway the following day. We drove around the city with the driver providing a commentary as we drove past interesting sights.  Our first stop was a nice, quiet little park.  I have no idea what the name of it was, but it was very beautiful. 

We hopped back on the next bus and rode until we got to St. Patrick’s Cathedral.  In case you didn’t know, it is actually a sort of memorial cathedral for people who died in wars throughout the churches history.  I certainly didn’t know it so it was really interesting to walk around and see the various tombs and dedications to colonels, generals, and what not.  They even had this cool little tree that you could write a leaf for someone you had lost and put it on the ground beneath the metal tree.  

We continued our trek through the city, seeing Phoenix Park where the US Embassy house sits across the roundabout from the President’s mansion, which I thought was interesting.  There are actually over 1000 deer within the park that people were even going up to pet.  How cool is that?! By the time we got back into the city center.  Thankfully, that bus tour gave us a coupon for a two-for-one meal at a restaurant in Temple Bar that we definitely took advantage of.  It was a great little restaurant and it had really good food!  The waiter recommended the lamb shank, which came with scalloped potatoes and steamed vegetables and it was amazing! Top it off with a Bulmer’s Cider and I was one full and happy person!  We decided to go to bed early since we had to be up early for our tour the following morning.

At the crack of dawn the following day, we were up and walking towards the city center as the sun was just peaking over the water of the river.  It was a farther walk than we thought, so we had to book it to make it to our bus on time, although it was late anyway.  We were headed out of the city by 730 though, and on our way toward Belfast.  Other than a brief stop for breakfast and to pick up some snacks (we bought sandwiches for lunch), it was a beautiful and quiet ride north to Belfast.  We were given the option of either doing a Black Taxi tour of the city or to go see the Titanic museum.  Since I’ve never actually seen Titanic, I chose the taxi tour and I was very glad I did.

Belfast is very intriguing city.  I learned a lot about the city during our taxi tour, most of which I had never heard about:  I knew that the IRA was still active, but I never really knew anything about them.  In Belfast, they have a rather rich and interesting history.  Back in 1969, the government began building what they called “peace walls” to separate the Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods.   The Catholics were definitely on the losing side of these walls, as they were placed into tiny little ghettoes that packed in over 1000 people per square mile.  At some point during the years that these walls went up, Protestants began bombing and attacking the Catholics of one particular ghetto.  At the time, there were fewer than 30 IRA members in the city and they had no weapons whatsoever, so they could do nothing about the conflict.  It got to the point that the British army was sent to protect ghetto.  Since they could no longer attack this ghetto, they turned their sights on the other.  Less than three days later, they were prepared to attack other ghettoes but the IRA had been busy.  Within those three days, over 1000 IRA members were in Belfast and armed to the teeth to prevent further conflict.  How amazing is that?

Today, there are murals throughout the city.  They depict support for refugees, remembrances for those killed in political conflicts, and memorials for innocents killed, including for those killed in the conflict mentioned above.  These murals are not allowed to have anything racist, sexist, homophobic, or secularist.  They also are only up for three years before they are repainted, with only two exceptions: an imitation of Picasso’s Guernica painted by a Protestant and a Catholic artist working together and a mural that was painted in remembrance of the Jews killed in WWII. Both of these painting were up for 5 years.  We also learned about Bobby Sands, an IRA leader who was imprisoned and lead hunger strikes to protest their political imprisonment as well as later “blanket” protests.  He was even elected as a Member of Parliament while still in jail, although he died of starvation in prison before he could take his seat.

The last stop of our tour was at Cupar Way, the longest peace wall of the city.  This wall was painted by several artists with the graffiti that had been on the Berlin wall before its demolition.  They hope that eventually the peace walls of the city will receive the same treatment, which is supposedly on its way.  The wall is covered with signatures of people advocating for its demolition, which actually began under Bill Clinton’s presidency.  He facilitated a peace process between the Irish and British governments and the IRA and decided to sign the wall.  It has also been signed by various political leaders and celebrities, including the Dali Lama, Beyonce, and Barack Obama, and now me!

Finally, we made it to the Giants Causeway, which was absolutely gorgeous.  I have come to the realization, however, that Hollywood and the internet ruins everything.  I thought the stones would be bigger.  Don’t get me wrong, it was absolutely gorgeous and I had a blast climbing around the stones and up the nearby hill to get a better view, but still…  All of the rocks are shaped like hexagons, the side effect of an ancient volcanic eruption apparently. Clearly that geology class I took didn’t cover hexagonal volcanic eruptions.  It is such an odd and unique view, all those geometric rocks being crashed against by the waves.  Some are covered with lichen, some with seaweed or moss, and others are just black from the constant abuse by the water.  It was absolutely gorgeous.  The water was a gorgeous turquoise and I really just didn’t want to leave.  It helped that it was a gorgeous sunny day, I’m sure.  Wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun if it had been pouring down rain.  We had about two hours to wander around and eat lunch while looking at the rolling green Irish hills before we headed off again. 

Our final stop of the day was the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge.  Yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like.  It’s a rope bridge that links the mainland to a tiny, rather useless little island, although some fisherman in the 1700s thought it was worth building a bridge to.  There’s even a little boat on the island that has absolutely no access to the water below, so I’m not sure what the point is.  However, it was really fun to cross the rope bridge in the gusting Irish breeze alongside a bunch of shrieking people (no that isn’t sarcasm).  It was really fun and it had a great view of the water and the cliffs of the mainland.  We spent a few minutes enjoying the view before we took the harrowing walk across the bridge again.  Good thing I’m not afraid of heights! After that, it was just a long bus ride back to Dublin with a quick little bus tour of the Belfast city center, which we did not see on our taxi tour. 

Along the drive, the bus driver threw out some random little facts every once and a while.  One of them, which he almost had some of the passengers around us believing, regarded the paint marks on the sheep throughout Ireland.  He claimed that the Scottish would come over during the night and graffiti the sheep out of spite.  The people around us were almost convinced.  By the time we got back to Dublin, we were rather hungry and tried to find a new place to eat.  Unfortunately, most places were too packed even for standing room so we ended up back at the restaurant from the previous night.  We had some absolutely amazing fish and chips before having a quick walk through Temple Bar (I mean when in Ireland do as the Irish do right?) although we were still back at our B&B before 11. 

We just kind of wandered around the last day, including going to see Trinity College. It's an absolutely beautiful campus, right in the heart of the bustling city.  You can't even hear the world outside, which was amazing.  Overall, it was a really great trip.  I’d love to go back one day and see the area where our family lived, but it was too difficult to get to with the little bit of time that we had.  Ireland reminded me a lot of Scotland, although Scotland definitely had better scenery in my opinion!  Sorry for the little bit of a history lesson, I was just really amazed!