Easter in Dublin

Well I must say this Easter was unlike any I have ever experience and it was absolutely wonderful!  Friday afternoon I traveled with 4 other friends to Dublin.  We were a little surprised to learn that every pub and bar in the city were closed due to Good Friday, but we were assured that this meant everyone was EXTRA crazy on Saturday.  So we grabbed some Chinese food then had a pretty low key night.

Saturday morning we were up super early for a full day bus tour of the Irish countryside.  This was such an awesome experience.  The guide was a bubble older Irish man with a robust gut and a little tiny tie but he was very informative and made the day very enjoyable.  We were able to see the bogs, scenes from p.s. i love you and braveheart, monastic ruins, and beautiful countryside.  We stopped for lunch in a quaint little village and were able to enjoy our first Irish meal! (Alright I had Salmon and a beer but still wonderful).  After the tour we explored the city some more on our own and were able to see St. Patty's Cathedral (sooo beautiful), Christ's Church, Henry Street and other Dublinish sights.  The weather was absolutely wonderful and it was such a relaxing day.  That night we hit some Irish bars around the Temple Bar area and were able to see live Irish music and drink plenty on Guinness!

      

Sunday, being the good children that we are, we decided to wake up at 7:00 (yikessss!) to catch the 8:00 service at St. Patty's for Easter; however, apparently we had the times confused and the service wasn't until later.  No problem, we decided it would be a perfect time to head over to the Guinness factory!  Apparently God caught wind of our plan, and on the way over he sent a giant bird to poop on my friend Grant's head! Quite funny, and we still decided to visit the factory.  This is a really cool interactive brewery tour and concludes with a free Guinness at the Gravity bar which overlooks the entire city.  After the brief stint at the beer factory we headed back to Church only to find we had the times wrong again!  Again no problem, we headed to Trinity College and explored the city on our own!  Again it was another beautiful day (pretty rare in Dublin) and we were so excited to see all the Irish locals and happenings of the city.   

Finally we made in back to the cathedral for a 3:15 service.  It was an awesome hymnal service full of beautiful singing by the all men's choir.  Unfortunately there was a slight slip-up on our part.  Several of the boys and men had solos.  Well one of the poor boys was clearly in a rather awkward stage on puberty and sounded like a drunk kermit the frog!  We could barely contain our laughter and had to focus super hard to get through that part of the service!  After this we headed back to the Temple bar area to enjoy the area.  We had another traditional Irish meal then were able to see an adorable, elderly Irish band complete with flutes, guitars and singing.  It was awesome!

Monday morning we walked around a bit then headed back!  I only have 3 days until I leave for Amsterdam so it's a very busy week!

paix

Leah 

Spring Break '09: Euro style

So get ready this is gonna be a long one.....

I just returned from Spring Break and had a fab fab time!  We landed in Rome Saturday afternoon and were met at the airport by our friends Edwardo (from Rome), Enzo Jeremie 1  and Jeremie 2.  They had brought us fresh Italian sandwiches and whisked us away to enjoy them in a park full of daisies!  After lunch we lounged, listened to music then rode these crazy four person bike things which were a ton of fun.      

That night Edwardo introduced us to delivery pizza Italian style (to show us how superior Italian pizza is).  We were able to meet his precious family and hang out for a while.  His dad was a hoot!  He is a well known elderly spine surgeon in Rome who speaks very little English but loves to meet Edwardo's friends.  Throughout the course of about 2 hours he apparently decided he wanted to show us everything in his life he had acquired so here goes the list of "treasures" he showed us:

-pair of bongo drums (which he attempted to play ha)

-Saber tooth sword

-painted ash tray/vase (don't quite know the connection between the two)

-picture of a man made waterfall in Italy

-Encyclopedia

-3 stacks of pictures (all prior to Edwardo's birth)

-a picture of him performing open spine surgery

-a book on the spine

-and finally his collection of Elvis albums

During the show-and-tell he also played dj with music he had mixed haha including some Spanish numbers, Italian ballads and even Barbie Girl! We were nearly in hysterics every time we showed us each new piece and had a great time attempting to guess what was coming next.

The next day we enjoyed some amaaaaazing Italian pasta then Edwardo showed us allll around Rome.  He was such a good sport considering the weather was rainy and he has already seen everything like 80 times but it was such a good day.  We were able to try the best gelato, cappuccino and pasta all in one day! That night Edwardo's kind mother cooked us all a giant Italian dinner then we were invited to the house of Edwardo's good friend (also son of an Italian ambassador).  Turns out he is also a hypnotist and wanted to test his skills on me.  This had to be one of the funnies moments of the trip-here is this Italian attempting to hypnotize me using some sort of grunts with an attempt at English and it did work to some extent (they said I went kinda cross eyed then slumped over-very cute) but I was getting distracted and it was not a complete success.  

Morning morning, the boys drove us back to the airport (super early!) to catch our flight to Athens where we would sleep for the night before catching our ferry.  I had heard this was a pretty dirty city and sadly I must agree.  However we were there long enough to see the Acropolis and enjoy the BEST GREEK FOOD EVER at a restaurant close to our hotel called Vitro.  We feasted on hummus, roasted peppers stuffed with feta, grade leaves, oven baked feta, gyros, and more.  The staff apparently loved us and brought all four of us 5 shots of ouzo each and free baklava! 

We were up super early Tuesday morning to catch our ferry to Mykonos but we were all super excited!  Our group consisted of 15 students from the college and we arrived on the island around 1:00.  After finding our precious hotel we were ready to run to the beach.  However, since it is not full tourist season there weren't that many boats traveling to the beach sooo we ended up having to catch a ride with the local school bus dropping kids off at home.  We felt more than a little awk in our itty bitty bikinis next to a bunch of 4th graders but hey when in Greece!  The weather was wonderful and the beach was deserted except for our group so we were able to relax!  

   

Wednesday it was a little chilly so this gave us a perfect chance to explore the town.  There were adorable shops and restaurants selling the local honey, olive oil products and souvenirs.  

Thursday and Friday were great beach days and I 100% enjoyed the chance to finally relax after some very busy months.  The locals were wonderful to us, the weather was perfect, the food was AMAZING and it was a great trip!                       

So I finally made it back to Cannes Sunday afternoon and on my beach run was surprised to learn that while I was gone the tourists had arrived which also meant that arrival of the boobies! I saw them all: old (very old) young, big, small, real, really fake, etc.  Makes it pretty easy to spot the tennage boys on vacation!

Im leaving for Dublin on Friday so better rest up!

Paix,

leah 

Cannish Happenings....

What a great weekend!

We decided to kick it around Cannes this weekend and ended up having a BLAST.  Friday afternoon I decided to head into town for a little shopping (no worries rents I didn't buy anything).  I was attempting to try on a chic little dress in Zara and got it over my head just fine; however, when I went to take it off I literally got stuck with my hands over my head.  Here I am in a French clothing store sweating, flailing around with my hands over my heads in some stupid little dress, and even beginning to hive just a bit.  Finally I used my brute strength to get the dress over my head, but I did receive a battle wound from the incident! 

 This picture does not even do the injury justice!

That night we were celebrating Maria's 21st birthday so we got dinner at a wonderful asian fusiony bistro in town.  Although the meal did take 3 hours (that's the excellent French wait staff for ya) we had a ton of fun.  After dinner we headed to a local bar/dance club to get our groove on.      

Saturday morning I had a pretty early wake up call to head with an AIFS group to Aix which is about 2 hours from Cannes.  It is such a cool town full of students and was so much fun to explore.  We went to the antique/food market and saw some cool fountains (like KC it's the French city of fountains).  Finally we saw Cezannes former studio.  We were even able to see the spot where he painted some of his most famous mountain scenes.        

We got back to the college around 6:30 then had to be at the Palais du Festival at 8:00 to see the Brasil Dance Troupe in town for the night.  For some reason I was under the impression we were seeing the Russian ballet so needless to say I was extremely surprised and excited to see a bunch of half naked Brazilians incorporating hip hop, crunk and countless other forms of dance in with a very modern ballet.  It was the best dance performance I have ever seen (and if you know my love for the great hip hop dancing you will know why...) After the performance clearly we were ready to show off some of our best moves so we headed back to the dance club for round 2.  

Finally Sunday we headed to the beach for a day of fun in the sun!  This is the first time I have ever lived by the beach and it is sooo amazing to literally be able to walk out my door and onto the sand.  The weather has been getting better and better each week and I can not wait until spring has fully sprung!

We are leaving for Rome and Greece at the end of the week for Spring Break '09 and I can't WAIT (sorry if you are currently at work or school-that really sucks :)

Paix,

Leah

            

Mom and Vickie came yay ya!

Sadly, my mom and my aunt Vickie have just left me, but we had such a fun week together!  They started out in Rome while I was in Paris then we met up Monday after my class.  We decided to trek it to Eze village again and I think it's safe to say this was there favorite part of the trip!  Eze is just beyond beautiful as I have explained before, and this time we were able to get a cocktail at the famous restaurant that hangs off the cliff, giving its' patrons the BEST view of the village.  I had a flower and blueberry martini that was to die for!  

After this outing we grabbed dinner at my favorite restaurant, La Piazza, and Vickie had an yummy black squid ink pasta!

Tuesday I had class in the morning so I sent the girls to Monaco and Monte Carlo to explore.  I believe they had a great time people watching (surprise surprise) and oogling over the massive yachts.  When they returned, we decided to grab a beer since it was St. Patricks day and then decided to take the tour of the Palais du Festival, which is something I had not yet experienced!  Although the building didn't look nearly as cool without all the Hollywood glitz it had some amazing views and was a great chance to see behind the scenes.  

After the tour we explored Cannes some more then got dinner in le Suquet which is a charming area of Cannes with super narrow winding roads containing local restaurants and shops.  

Wednesday I decided to pass on my French class and take the girls to the Nice flower market.  I was a little disappointed to see that the market is not quite as bustling during the week but it was refreshing to be able to explore without an elbow shoved in your side.  We tried socca (fried chickpeas) which is a Nice speciality then headed back to Cannes so I would be on time for my first cooking class!  The class was AMAZING!  We attend a local culinary school and for the first 3 hours work on preparing the different parts of the meal.  For this class my group was on desserts so we learned how to make traditional French crepes and homemade ice cream!  The other group made ratatouille, potatoes, potato and leek soup and duck in a curry sauce.  I don't even need to tell you how delicious everything was!  So after we made the dinner we spend an hour with the head waiter learning how to properly set a French table and which wines go with which courses.  Finally we were abel to eat and yes I did leave 7 pounds heavier I believe.

For the final day of the visit, the girls explored all of Cannes while I was in class (well visiting an art museum for class..) then we grabbed drinks at the famous Majestic bar (home to anyone who is anyone during the festival) and I began my work at making friends with the staff in hopes that they will remember me come festival time!  Finally we ate dinner at le Caveau (which I will never be able to afford again!) and called it a night!

We had such a great time and I am sure they will have more stories to add when they return....

Paris....my forgotten love

Just returned from our AIFS trip to Paris.  I can not say enough good things about all that AIFS has to offer.  We had opportunities all weekend long to participate in different activities from museum visits to boat tours for free and were even given 90 euro as a food allowance!

So anyway, we arrived Thursday afternoon and immediately headed on a 3 hour bus tour to get the general layout of the city.  As far as bus tours go we were all a little sleepy and the guide vaguely resembled a super boring history teacher I had,  so I had to continually pinch myself to take in my surroundings.  However, the tour reminded me of all the reasons I LOVE Paris `  

After the tour we rested in our rooms for a little then a group of 9 of us decided to eat at this really fun fondue restaurant we had heard about.  So being the dumb Americans that we are we decided to try and squeeze all 9 of us in a miniature European elevator.  I literally was shoved into the armpit  of my neighbor but somehow we fit.  We had begun to descend and were just about to stop on the main level well all of a sudden we plummeted to the basement!  Pretty much every girl just had her worst fear realized.  We were stuck.  Trying not to panic we pushed the emergency button-however, being the Europeans are not super into efficient technology the button didnt work.  So now are FREAKING out.  My friend Travis (who is in the military program at Virgina Military Academia) uses his brute strength to pry the doors open a hair and then simply shots one time (in his terribly amusing French accent) AIDEZ. AIDEZ, which means help.  We finally made it out thank goodness and after several hours of shock were able to laugh about it .

So after this near tragedy we headed to our restaurant called Refuge des Fondues.  I would almost require this restaurant as a Paris must!  It is super small and you literally have to climb on the tables to reach your seats but the best part is all the wine is served in baby bottles! I will admit the first time you suck on a bottle's nipple is a little odd-but it was so fun and the fondue was divine.

After dinner we went to a couple of different bars around town and had a grand ole time!

The next morning we were up bright and early to head to Pere Lachaise which is this massive cemetery that holds the remains of tons of famous people from Chopin to Jim Morrison.  Ok so sounds lammme but this was one of my favorite tours!  The guide was able to tell us tons of cool stories and mysteries about the different graves such as the tale of Oscar Wilde's missing willy!        

The picture on the right is some dead guy and apparently if you rub his willy it will make you extra fertile!  Apparently Jim Morrison's tomb is never without a joint and they have to shot down the cemetery on his birthday because there got to be too much drug activity occuring  around the area.  Its super expensive to be buried here since its a very famous cemetery so if your tomb starts to look run down they have the right to un-bury you and give the spot to someone else!  All very scandalous!     

That afternoon we hung out at Musee d'Orsay for a while and then ran back to shower and headed back for more museum fun at the Louvre (free for students on Friday nights!) grabbed a quick dinner then went to Lido which is a well known cabaret show similar to Moulin Rouge.  The costumes were outstanding we had front row seats and even got free champagne, overall amazing night!  Super busy day but tons of fun.

Saturday morning we were up early again to get a guided tour of the famous Opera.  I had seen this before but it is still shockingly beautiful to see and also has some amazing stories (including the phantom of the opera.......)  After this we walked around some different areas of Paris then rested before heading to my favorite area in Paris: Montmarte.  This is where all the old artists used to hang out and its full of enchanting winding roads that lead to giant steps which have the best view of paris at night!  We drank some wine, had a great dinner then called it a night.                     

Sunday we up freaking early again to catch our boat tour of the Seine.  Again, I had previously done this tour, yet, you can never see the sights too many times.  It was a beautiful day and a great way to end our trip.  We grabbed a quick bite on the river perused some bouquanists then called in a weekend!  

Verona, Italy.....enough said

After months and months of planning the weekend finally came: me and Paige (friend and fellow Kappa from Mizzou, studying in Florence) were able to plan a trip together!  We finally decided Thursday afternoon that Verona would be our destination.  I knew nothing about the city other than it was the home to Romeo and Juliet (but who cares, right?).  So the next morning I boarded a train at 9:00 a.m. and headed on my journey.  After a long day of traveling, I finally arrived in the city around 5:00 p.m., but the journey was well worth it.  Our hotel for the weekend was one word: charming!  Everything about this little paradise, from the exceptionally helpful staff, wonderful rooms, amazing showers even the free guide books was easily worth the money.

After throwing down our bags we headed to the center of the city were we were AMAZED to learn this very weekend was the city's 1st annual CHOCOLATE festival.  The streets were lined with vendors from around Italy selling their wonderfully delicious delicacies and the aroma was enough to convince me I was officially in love with Verona.  The vendors had thought of everything from chocolate bonbons to fresh chocolate covered strawberries and we made it our goal for the weekend to ingest as much of the goodies as possible (after all we had to ensure the festival would be a success!)                                         

So after our quick little chocolate feast we wandered around the city falling in love with the beautiful winding streets and picturesque Palazzos.  We found a fun little bar where we were able to observe the happenings on the street while devouring free appetizers!

The next morning we woke up extra early and began our quest to conquer the city.  We started by climbing all 360 stairs in the bell tower, and although we were heavily perspiring by the end the views were well worth the hike.                            

After this we headed over to climb some more hills.  Now, apparently it is my duty while in Europe to find every perv on the continent.  We had just begun to ascend the stairs of one particularly steep hill (in the middle of the day, and in a very public area mind you) when what should I see.....a middle aged man playing with his.....  

                                                                                                         .

That's right folks, I couldn't believe my eyes either!  A man with his play things exposed for us to see!! (EWWWWW).  I started running up the stairs because I felt very awkward; however, Paige had not seen the ding-a-ling yet so she started yelling for me to slow down.  I turn around to grad her attention and there it is again, in all its naked glory (double EWWW).  Yet, we didn't let Mr. Peek-a-boo ruin our day; rather, we wandered around the city exploring just about everything worth seeing.                                    

We headed back to our hotel after an exhausting day then got ready for our big evening.  We grabbed a quick drink then headed over to the city's theater where for only 12 measly euro we were granted a private box (1st row) to a Mozart concert...soooo amazing!  Although we were defiantly the youngest audience members by about 53 years, the show was well worth the money.                                                                                                    After this we kicked it up a few centuries and wandered over to a live concert in Palazzo Erbe by an up and coming young singer (Syria).  It was such a high energy crowd and an awesome way to end the night.

Sunday morning is ladies day in Italy, which means that all museums are free for women.  (What a wonderful city, chocolate AND women's day).  We decided to check out Juliet's home (not worth spending money on) and then headed on the Colosseum (def. worth money).  By this point we had just enough time left to grab a little more chocolate then head back.

Now the ride back was an interesting tale.....

On my first leg to Milan a young lady decided to stand in between the two cars and belt out some Italian tune. I'm sure it is a wonderful tune; yet, her voice genuinely sounded like cats being murdered and our whole train car was in hysterics at the Shakira wanna-be.  On the next leg of my journey, I was fortunate enough to sit in between two larger Italian women who continually conversed across my lap and directly across from me was a Missionary's daughter who tried ever so hard to engage me in talk of my beliefs and thoughts on God....guess the headphones in my ears didn't clue her in I wasn't interested in life talks.....

All in all this was one of my favorite trips yet; and I would gladly talk longer to anyone willing to listen of all the tiny city of Verona has to offer!    

Kicking it in Cannes

After a couple of crazy travel weeks, I was so glad to have a free week in Cannes.  Thursday AIFS took a group of us to Grasse, France: perfume capital of the world!  When we arrived we got to learn all about making great perfumes and even got to make our own.  Although sadly it smelled like our rotting bathrooms, we were able to buy discounted perfume at the end of the trip.

Friday afternoon I ended the week with a run when what should I happen to come across but an elderly man (about 65-70) on the beach, wearing a head to toe Nike jumpsuit (straight out of 1987) with a matching blue yamaka calm as can be, doing a perfect middle splits.  Ha, a sight to see!

So Friday night my friend Pepe (Mexico) had a party as his brother's au pair's house in Cannes.  A ton of students from the college went and it was a ton of fun to get to hang out with everyone outside the barbed wires of the college!

 

Saturday morning was a little rough, but being the out door's fanatic that I am (ha oh wait shopping takes places inside....) I was eager to finally hike the mountains! A group of 15 of us took a short train to Theole Sur-Mer and hiked up a pretty tough mountain but were rewarded by the views at the top!  It was like we were literally on top of France, it was out of this world! 

Saturday night we were exhausted but we still managed to find time for a great dinner at our favorite restaurant, La Piazza (the owner loves us and always gives us the best olives and lemocello) and then headed to the beach with some wine.  It was a great way to unwind and begin to deal with my sore bootay.

Sunday we were up at the crack of dawn (well 8:00) to catch the train to Nice for the final day of Carnavale.  I can really only explain carnavale as the one time a year the French allow themselves to go buck wild, and it basically involves a lot of silly dancing, confetti and silly string, and the creepiest floats I have ever seen!  Needless to say it was an awesome experience!  We had back to college so tired, and I thought it had been an absolutely successful weekend; however, as we were walking the tunnel back to the college I stepped in what I thought was a shallow puddle.  Turns out it was poop water up to my knees.....definitely awkward, I smelled for hours!

This weekend me and Paige are traveling together, can't wait!

Paix,

Leah