Blogs from Waterford, County Waterford, Ireland, Europe

I am a couple of days behind in the posting. Our days are pretty full and my normal blog time which is during wine-thirty, has been greatly reduced. Then, when we get back from dinner, we are exhausted. I am going to try to get caught up today. We are currently starting our second day in Belfast. First, a bit on the Irish weather. It reminds me a lot of Portland, yes because it rains a lot, but more because it can change in a heartbeat. Rain one minute sunny the next. It has been hard to judge if umbrellas are needed or not. Fortunately for us, every day the phone says it is going to rain it typically does it overnight, so we have had very good weather for the most of our trip so ... read more

Tag 318 – Wikinger in Waterford Ich hatte eigentlich überlegt gehabt, das Wochenende in Waterford zu verbringen, doch aufgrund eines Festivals waren alle Hostels ausgebucht. Rebecca und Jasmin wollten zum Festival und so konnte ich immerhin einen Tagestrip dorthin machen. Rebecca und ich fuhren zu Jasmin, die momentan das Haus einer Freundin bei Enniscorthy hütete, und fuhren dann mit ihr mit nach Waterford. Auf der Fahrt nutze ich die Gelegenheit, Rebecca zu fragen, was ihr an Irland gefiel. Ich hatte ja bisher nur Negatives gehört. Nun, alles war sehr ländlich und grün, dadurch gab es schöne Natur und alle Kühe waren draußen – solche „Freilandmilch“ fand man in Deutschland ja eigentlich gar nicht mehr. Die Iren waren wohl ziemlich entspannt, mehr spontan, planten nicht viel - im Gegensatz zu den durchorganisierten Deutschen. Zudem waren die Menschen ... read more

Arrived in Waterfront and checked into our guest house. Went to the pub around the corner for dinner where we ate the most delicious bangers and mash ever! The gravy was amazing! We then went for a walk around town to see what was there. More than expected. Considering the only reason we were in Waterford was to take a photo outside the Tom Maher pub for Stevie we didn't know much about the place. At night what we could gather was an established and high quality shopping district and a port. In the morning we were on a hunt for breakfast. It was a Sunday and a bank holiday so not many places were open before 12. We found a hotel called the granview that was serving breakfast. Now I don't know if you can ... read more

My latest slew of blog post have been sharing with everyone my recent travels and all the magnificent places I got to see. As I wrote all those posts and thought about everything I did, I started to question the reason behind traveling. If all we do is travel to "see" things and places are we really gaining anything or are we just able to check another thing off out list. I would agree that there are some places that we simply to travel to, to see and marvel at the beauty. Many of these places exist in Ireland's beautiful countryside, but even places of nature and places like the Eiffel Tower can teach us something. As I think back about last week, I realize just how much I learned, especially from Normandy and Auschwitz. In ... read more

Today marks one month since I began my study abroad adventure in Ireland. One month ago, I was saying my final goodbyes and going through airport security on my own, leaving everything I know behind. It was a day that my life would change, so I believed, and one month later I can confirm that I was right, like always! The experiences that I have already had have made this trip well worth it and I have so many more experiences ahead of me. The people I have met and the conversations we have had has changed my perspective and has made me more culturally aware. I honestly believe that in this short amount of time, I have already made lifelong friends from around the world. I cannot wait for the times ahead, when I travel ... read more