Dublin up

 With two girls named Ashley as travel companions, we embarked on another weekend trip. From Thursday to Saturday morning, I spent time in the place of some of my ancestors: Dublin, Ireland. Looking out the window as our plane descended on the Emerald Isle, it looked completely how I imagined; incredibly green, lush foliage, cool blue water meeting what must have been a stunning coastline. When we arrived in Dublin, the customs officer knew right away that I was Irish and promptly welcomed me home (he probably noticed my middle name, Farrell, on my passport and guessed from that. Needless to say, the trip started out on a high note, demonstrating how nice the Irish proved to be the entire trip.

For such a blitz trip, we managed to visit many of the Dublin highlights, starting with the Guinness Storehouse tour. Prior to going to Dublin, I never tried Guinness, so this was a totally new experience. Of course, the museum walks you through the steps of making beer from the ingredients to fermentation to the history of the Guinness family to a tasting process to fully experience the flavors of Guinness. Of course, no trip to the Guinness Storehouse would be complete without learning to pour the perfect pint at the Guinness Academy. To properly fill Guinness, the glass must be tiled at a 45 degree angel until 3/4 full and then it must settle. Once it settles, the ruby red, not black, pint is topped off. Of course, I learned and now can officially pour the perfect pint. After learning how to pour Guinness, we finish our drinks while admiring the panoramic view of the city in the Gravity Bar. After sampling the Guinness, I think it's safe to stay I'll stick to gin and tonics for now!

The beginning of pouring the perfect pint of Guinness

Perfectly Poured Pints

The gate to the Storehouse

While Guinness was certainly a highlight, we did so much more than learn to pour beer. We visited St. Patrick's Cathedral and the Dublin Castle, which is still an active political building. Being in Dublin, of course a trip to Trinity College was a must do. KU Leuven does not have much of a campus, due to the city setting, but Trinity has a sprawling campus with green space and a huge gorgeous library with cobblestone pathways to boot. On top of that, we wandered Grafton Street and O'Connell Street, two of the most famous streets in Dublin, filled with shops and wonderful street performers. The end of Grafton Street leads to St. Stephen's Green, which was beautiful, but boy was it windy in the park that day! So much so that the water from the fountains sprayed every which way.

The yard at St. Patrick's Cathedral

 Trinity College

Trinity College

From the garden at the Dublin Castle

Performers on Grafton Street--Dublin is one of the few European cities that still allows street performers!

A windy afternoon at St. Stephen's Green

Finally, no trip to Dublin would be complete without a visit to a pub or too. Our first night, we went to a pub called O'Neil's, where the food was a serve-it-yourself and there was live music and Irish dancing! During the performance, a drummer would produce a beat and the dancer would mimic the sound with the stomping of her feet on the floor; it was incredibly impressive!

Inside O'Neil's Pub

Visiting Dublin was an absolute blast! Being Irish myself, I certainly felt at home on the Emerald Isle and would love to come back again. Who knows, I might even like to live here one day!

Insta Recap #7

Hello world! Today, I bring to you my seventh installment of "Insta Recap!" I will be honest, I did forget about doing these posts, so I have quite a few photos I have not shared on the blog! I really enjoy doing these posts since it allows me to look back on the semester and some of the fun that I have had! Without further ado, let's get started!

Back in the fall in Bruges with some of the lovely girls from my unit! This was such a great weekend trip!

Het Stadhuis all lit up in December for Chrsitmas!

 German dinner

German schneeballen (Seeing all of my old German food posts is making me hungry and ready to go back to Berlin!)

A chunk of the Leuven group back in St. Malo from our first trip ever! I posted this on the day we were supposed to meet in Newark to fly back to Belgium! I, however, didn't make that flight...

The sunny Plaza Mayor in Spain--what I would do for this sunshine in Leuven!

Parque del Retiro in Madrid with Ashley

Cheering for an imaginary bullfight in Madrid!

I know, I know, some of these pictures are months old. Even so, this is a great way for me to reminisce about my time abroad so far. I hope you all enjoyed my post and get ready for a few more posts soon--I am going to Dublin on Thursday and you can bet there will be posts to come! Stay tuned.

The journey of being

This past Monday, classes resumed for the second semester. How can it be that already half of my European adventure has come and gone, in what seems to be the turn of a page or better yet, the click of a blog post. What is more shocking is that it is already the middle of February and the days keep fading into one another, as though they will soon become one continuous span. Looking back on the first semester and the January break, I noticed a profound change in myself. The kind of change that takes time to notice but once you do, it reveals itself in everything you do. As I put it to a friend last night, I am here in Leuven on a journey of being and a journey of becoming and I hope that is to be the reason I feel such a profound change in myself as of late.

After coming to Leuven from a few days in Madrid, I found myself in a slump. Maybe it had to do with the gloomy winter weather in Leuven or the fact that classes were looming just on the horizon and I do not know if I was ready for that to begin once again. Either way, there seemed to be a funk in the air that was bringing me along with others, down. While I planned to spend the remainder of the week in Leuven, I soon realized that I need to go somewhere and fast. What could be better for the tired soul than a spur-of the-moment jaunt to Paris. With an American comrade in tow, we booked a bus to Paris on Sunday night that would leave on Monday morning. Perhaps that seems reckless, to book an international trip the night before. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. Either way, we filled bags with clothes and fruit, destined towards the City of Light. What started as an impromptu trip to leave the quiet of Belgium remains to be one of the highlights of the term so far.

What did Paris do for me? The Answer: what it does to every person and that is it revived me with inspiration. It seems all to cliché to say "I love Paris" but there is a magic in Paris. Real magic like that contained in the pages of books that really mean something. It is no wonder that so many progressive artists, writer, poets, and playwrights passed their time in Paris, garnering inspiration from the city on the Seine. While I may not be penning the next great novel or painting a portrait to stun the world, I did drink the inspiration sprinkled over the city. inspiration I so desperately craved.

Paris showed me that I am going up, changing, progressing. As the title of this post suggests, it is a journey of being. Much like the discovery of the world through the journey of travel, there is so much self-discovery happening during travel. To be in Paris, with no agenda but to drink too many lattes and write in corner cafes, I felt different, rejuvenated. Paris ignited in me a desire to do more and to find the passions and to follow them with gusto. I want to be alive, feel alive, and be authentically myself. I'm not so sure I was authentic before this impromptu trip, but now I feel more myself than ever. It takes time to become who you truly are and who you are meant to be and I conclude that Europe and all of its wonder, is making me more myself every single day. I, for one, am excited to continue sharing my story of change and feeling alive, feeling myself.

I hope you all enjoyed this more personal post and I hope to be sharing more with you in the coming weeks!

Studying to Spanish Sunshine

If I can be totally uncensored, the month of January started off terribly. As many of you know, it took quite a few days to get back to Leuven only to be greeted with the exam period that lasted for the entire month. For the first three weeks of January, the entire city lives inside drinking in the information contained in our textbooks that we have not opened until now in order to prep for the one exam that determines the entire grade for the course. After a few painful weeks of no sunshine and constant studying, my exam period finally ceased. As a reward, I decided the time came for me to finally visit Madrid, the capital of Spain. As a Spanish minor, it seemed ridiculous to have taken me this long to go to Spain. Safe to say, waiting to go to Spain after exams was exactly what this tired student needed. A few hours and a Ryanair flight later, I made it to Spain with one friend in tow. Sunshine and sangria mended this tired soul.

Even in January, Spain radiates sunshine. I can only imagine how stunning Madrid must be in the spring, summer, and hell, even in the fall. For the four days we spent in Madrid, we stayed at The Hat hostel located right off the Plaza Mayor, one of the major tourist sights in Madrid built by Philip II. Sitting on the cobblestone watching children run and play while watching all of the street performers on Sunday was exactly what I needed. Sun warmed my body and reinvigorated my soul. Especially on Sunday, all of the Madridlenos were out and about enjoying the sunshine.

Puerta del Sol

Puerta de Alcala

In Leuven, sun is a hot commodity who rarely shows her coveted face. With this in mind, once we saw the sun in Madrid, all we desired was to spend as much time as possible outside, which meant we needed to visit el Parque de Retiro, a huge park in the center of Madrid right near the Puerta de Alcala. Inside the park, which was in my opinion a well-groomed, cleaner version of Central Park in New York, we wandered down the pathways exploring without a plan. Inside the gated walls, tree lined pathways lead to perfectly up kept foliage that leads to palaces. Inside, there is el Palacio Cristal and el Palacio Velazquez, which now house art exhibits. For us, these palacios were the icing on a cake full of sunshine and perfect weather.

Parque del Retiro

Of course, no trip would be complete without a few museums and this one was no exception. Of course when in Madrid, the Prado Museum is a requirement. Considering it holds a vast amount of masterpieces, this was high on my list of attractions and it did not disappoint. Of course, "Las Meninas" by Velazquez is a must see, as is "The Deposition from the Cross" by Rogier van der Weyden. While these are incredible masterpieces, the highlights for me were the Black Paintings by Goya. While it is not secret that I love classic art especially portraits by Jan Van Eyck, I was in love with these Goyas. In a small room in the Prado, a few of these dark, eerily expressive paintings line the walls and I could not help but feel the dark emotion radiating from the paint. Some personal favorites from this collection were "Saturn devouring his Son" and "The Witches Sabbath." The names of these paintings alone must give some indication of the subject matter and dark complexity. For me, these Goyas made for a nice surprise I did not expect to see in the Prado.

While the Prado is stunning and I am so thankful to see such stunning masterpieces in person, the Plaza de Toros de La Venta and the museum there was the highlight of my trip. For those of you unfamiliar with this, it is a bullring that was built in Madrid in the 1930's. With a gorgeous brick facade and a wraparound terrace, this bullring is s sight to behold. As a vegetarian, I was unsure how I would feel about bullfights but given they are a Spanish tradition, I figured I at least had to give the bullring a try and lo and behold, it became the highlight of my trip. Of course the bullring is architecturally stunning, but I desire deeply to see a bullfight in person, based on the videos and information spread throughout the museum, a bullfight seem so intense and I could not look away from any of the videos or pictures, Given it is such a major part of Spanish history, I could not help but to feel completely inspired by such an important cultural event. During this tour, we walked all along the stadium, seeing everything from the stands, to the President's box, to the stable where the bull is kept and released into the ring.While there were no bullfights going on at this time, I desperately want to go back to see one in person. Seeing the pomp and circumstance of the clothes the matadors wear, to the historical significance, the honor given to both the matador and the bull, and the sheer excitement of the fight is enough to send me into a tizzy to attempt to find another time to go back to Madrid to witness one of these cultural masterpieces in the flesh. For me, the Plaza de Toros de la Venta was without a doubt, the highlight of this trip and gave me a huge dose of inspiration.

The Bullring from the stands

Pretending to cheer for the matador!

With gloomy January and exams behind us, Spain was the perfect way to end the fall term and signal the beginning of a new term here in Leuven. Spain, with its sunshine and beauty, left me feeling inspired and rejuvenated, ready to take on the spring!

El Parque del Retiro

Third time's the charm

4 airplanes.
4 cities.
3 flights.
3 airports.
3 days.
3 airports.
An Amtrak train, a car, a taxi, and two shuttles.
A night at a friend's in Staten Island
A night at a hotel in Newark.
Too many lines. Literally, hours of waiting in lines.
1 outfit.
No toothbrush.
An explosion.
Snow.
One trip to Belgium.

After a nice relaxing holiday in Ohio, the time came to return to Belgium for the spring semester. Little did I know that it would take a lot more to get there than I bargained for. On Tuesday morning, I flew to Philadelphia to then fly to Newark, or so I thought. Due to snow, my flight to Philly was delayed, but my connecting flight to Newark was supposed to be fine. After landing in Philly, no flights seemed to be leaving, so the time of our departure kept getting pushed further and further back. After four hours of waiting, US Airways cancelled the flight to Newark, which meant I would miss my flight to Belgium. In panic. I called my university coordinator and travel agent in order to book another flight. Of course, I know no one in Philly and my new flight leaves tomorrow night from Newark, so I need a place to stay for the night. While waiting in the US Airways line for almost two hours, I texted a friend on Staten Island to see if I could stay the night with her and I would take the Amtrak to New Jersey. Thankfully, my angel of a friend offered to pick me up and allowed me to spend the night. US Airways was of no help and wouldn't pay for my Amtrak or a hotel or anything really, so I proceeded to get my bags from the baggage claim. Of course, they wouldn't give me my bags, saying that they would be sent to Newark. This meant that I would not have any clean clothes, or a toothbrush. Nothing. After this, I took a driver with two other students to the Amtrak Station where we rode to New Jersey. My friend picked my up and we spent the night at her house, catching up and seeing some of her friends. Overall, it was a good day, minus all of the stress from traveling.

On Wednesday afternoon, my friend and her mom and I grabbed lunch at the diner before they took me to the airport. They also took me to the airport the first time I went to Belgium, so it seemed only fitting. After making my way through security, I sat by my gate and proceeded to study for my exams. Due to something freezing on the plane, there was a delay with boarding and takeoff. However, this didn't bother me, since I was finally on my way to Belgium and I could watch a movie while we waited on the runway. (I watched "Boyhood" which was superb.) Eventually, we were cleared for takeoff. Just as the plane left the ground, a huge flash of fire erupted over the right window and the plane fell down onto the runway after being in the air for a few feet. No one panicked, but we knew something was wrong. In my gut, I knew I wouldn't be going to Belgium on this aircraft. In the calm of the aircraft, we waited for the call from the captain, while emergency crews inspected the plane, According to the captain, the engine on the right wind blew up and we were deplaned.  No flight to Belgium for me. After deplaning (such an odd term), we waited at the United counter to see what would happen next. I made another call to my coordinator and told her I would keep her posted. We ended up waiting in this line for over three hours, since I was one of the last to get off the plane. United booked us a new flight the following day, a flight just for us, as well as giving me a hotel room and a meal voucher. After over seven hours of waiting in lines and waiting on the plane, I arrived in my hotel room at 1:30, again with no other clothes or a toothbrush, since my bags were checked for my final destination. In the time I had been waiting, I could have been in Brussels by then. I spent more time waiting in lines that I did anything else. At least I had a bed and a shower to rest from another eventful day.

After sleeping in Thursday morning, I met with a few women from my flight for breakfast. I had no one else with me, so I made friends with my fellow stranded passengers and we talked about how crazy this entire situation was. After relaxing in the hotel for the afternoon, we took a shuttle to the airport in hopes to finally get to Belgium. After passing through security and grabbing some Chinese food, we found ourselves a the gate with all of our fellow travelling friends. Boarding the plane, I hoped that this would be the lucky time. Since this wasn't a full flight, I got two seats to myself, which was a full row. Miraculously, this plane actually took off!  I lounged in the comfort of my row, watching movies, studying, eating, and attempting to sleep. After a few short hours, we made our bumpy landing into Brussels early in the morning. People were shockingly more upset about turbulence than they were about the flames on our previous flight.Without a hitch, I grabbed my bags and the Snow Doctors retrieved me from the airport and I made my way home. Finally.

Honestly, I never thought getting to Belgium would be so hard. I never thought I would do it all on my own. I never thought I would have to do so many things just to make one flight. Even though this was a major inconvenience, I never cried or really felt bad. I felt stressed and that I was inconveniencing a lot of people and myself, bu tI couldn't help that. All I could do was laugh and just see it as a part of the adventure that is travelling through life. While I never hope to do it again, it sure makes a hell of a good story.

All about Berlin

Long time, no post. With the end of the semester and being home for the holidays, it was difficult to find time to write a post about Berlin. Ending the semester with a highlight for sure! For the last trip this semester, I traveled with a few friends to Berlin for less than 48 hours. We arrived late Friday night and left on Sunday afternoon, so it was a blitz trip for sure.

Eastside Gallery

On Saturday, we ventured on a tour around the highlights of Berlin. With an American tour guide from Missouri, we visited the highlights of Berlin including the Brandenburg Gate, seeing the hotel where Michael Jackson infamously held his son Blanket outside on the balcony. Subsequently, we saw the Reichstag, the Memorial of the Murdered Jews of Europe, and Hitler's bunker, which is appropriately a half-paved parking lot near some not-so-nice housing. Of course, we visited the Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie. In just a few hours, we saw most of the city, especially the historical sections. After this tour, we decided it would be best to go to the Eastside Gallery, since we still possessed a bit of daylight. For those of you that do not know, the Eastside Gallery is the section of the wall that is covered in murals and paintings. It was incredible and I am so glad that we had the opportunity to see such an incredible historical monument.

Brandenburg Gate

Laughing at the Eastside Gallery

My very first Christmas Market!

One of the main reasons we chose to go to Germany in December was to visit the famed Christmas markets. In the heart of the city, we wandered through the stalls, seeing schnitzel and pretzels, gluhwine and baked goods. Of course, one could buy everything from wooden ornaments to glass to sculptures and any other Christmas good that could be imagined. Music drifted over the entire crowd, only adding to the ambiance. After this market, we took a short break before heading to another one.

Wooden figurines at the Christmas market

A nutcracker in Germany!

At our final market, we searched for more Christmas goods. It wouldn't have been a complete trip to Germany without some goulash and potatoes and schnitzel for meat-eaters. At the market, we sat in a a communal tent and ate with other people in the warmth of this tent to escape from the chill of the German winter. To end the night, we watch a lovely boy band sing some acapella music.

Nighttime Christmas market in Berlin

The lights in Berlin

Goulash and potatoes--this is the best meal I had my entire trip!

On Sunday morning, we checked out of the hostel and made our way to another Christmas market ( I told you that we were not messing around with shopping)! What really stands out about this final market was the ice luge that we could ride for a mere 1.50 euro. Like children, our eyes grew wide and we payed our fare to ride down this slide in the city. Of course, it was such a rush to ride down this hill in the middle of the city with my friends beside me. It was absolutely amazing to do and I loved getting the chance to do it! After riding this slide, it was time to go back to Belgium!

Post-ice luge laughs-it was such a rush!

After riding the slide, we warmed up with some German hot chocolate!

Overall, Berlin was my favorite trip this entire semester. Not only was it historically important and interesting, we also got to do things that we never would have been able to do anywhere else, like riding an ice slide! Even though I have already been, I think I might go back to Berlin again in the spring!

German Pretzel

 Schneeballen, which is a German shortbread cookie ball covered in fudge and powdered sugar and it was so yummy!

I hope you have all enjoyed  hearing all about Berlin!

Dank je Sinterklaasje!

Hello my dear readers! This past week, Sinterklaas paid a visit to the Loyola Huis here in Leuven. For Belgians, Sinterklaas is an important holiday tradition, almost more important than Christmas! On the sixth of December, Sinterklaas and his helper Zwarte Piet come down the chimney and give good little boys and girls presents in their shoes, much like St. Nicholas Day in the United States. Children leave their shoes out by the chimney the night before with a carrot and sugar cube for the horse Sinterklaas rides, Slecht-weer-vandaag which means "horrible weather today" in Dutch, a letter for Sinterklaas, and a beer for Zwarte Piet (which is so different from milk and cookies for Santa)! This year, the Belgians that live in my house organized a Sinterklaas celebration for the internationals in the house and it was a wonderful time!

The students in the Loyola house waiting for Sinterklaas to arrive!

Sinterklaas entering the Loyola Huis!

Sinterklaas and his helpers

Since the Belgians went home this past weekend to celebrate Sinterklaas with their families, we celebrated the Thursday before. On Wednesday, everyone in the house put his or her show outside of their door with their beer, sugar, carrot and a letter to Sinterklaas. On Thursday morning, there were bags of treats sitting in our shoes! On Thursday night, the Belgians put on a show to celebrate Sinterklaas! Zwarte Piet entered the common room throwing candy and cookies and singing for Sinterklaas to enter and celebrate with us! Throughout the evening, Sinterklaas announced the results of a survey we took about the members of our house, like who is the smartest person in the house or the best dancer. Shockingly, I won Best Dutch Speaker, which was quite a surprise. In order to receive my chocolate Sinterklaas figurine, I was required to translate a video about Erasmus (which is what Europeans call "study abroad"). I, along with two other girls, translated the "interesting" video our Belgian comrades showed. Throughout the night, all of the members of the house had to do other crazy tasks, like catching whipped cream off of their hands or whipping and egg into meringue as fast as they could or having a dance-off in order to receive candy and prizes! For me, this was incredibly different than any other holiday celebration I have ever experienced and I enjoyed it so much!

Zwarte Piet clapping for Sinterklaas

My face upon finding out that I was voted Best Dutch Speaker--the face of pure terror!

There is nothing like the celebration for Sinterklaas and I am incredibly thankful for the Belgians in my house for organizing an event that is so important to their culture! I, along with many members in the house, had a wonderful time celebrating our first Sinterklaas! It is a wonderful tradition and I liked it so much, I might even celebrate next year when I am back in the United States! I hope you all enjoyed hearing about a traditional  Belgian holiday celebration! Tot ziens!

 A nice shot of Zwarte Piet dancing!