Madrid Madness

At 3:45 am in Ireland, I got up to get ready for my flight to Madrid. Last night was spent watching the Blind Side with Rae and Maeve and strategically repacking my bags to make my checked bag go from 51.2 lbs when I left the USA to 44lbs to get on my flight without leaving anything behind, mission accomplished and I was off to the airport.

The flight went smoothly and I landed and went through customs, getting another great stamp in the passport. I found the ISA staff person fairly quickly and met up with the group. Here begins the relative madness. Our pick up time had about 30 people, with lots of luggage, dragging things through the airport and onto the bus. We got a little run down of our day and then were split

from the group staying in apartments. Our hotel is nice and right on one of the main roads, Calle de Alcalá. At the hotel we were given our rooming assignments, that for the most part were everyone's roommates in the homestays as well.

A group of us ventured off to get some food and look for where to buy a phone, the lunch was a success but the phone hasn't happened yet. Then I went walking around Madrid with one of the guys in the group. We headed to Parque del Buen Retiro, a breathtakingly beautiful and huge park right in the center of Madrid. We spent a good hour walking through the park (it has a very large lake or lago, a statue to the Reynas (Kings) that were the original owners of the park and took pictures of some of the great architecture around the park as well.

We headed off for a quick nap before our bus tour of the city with the group and then a safety meeting (definitely not the most exciting thing of the day). The city tour was fun for me especially because I got to see a lot of the places I took tours of the last time I was in Madrid, just over 6 years ago. After all that a group of us headed into the city for some dinner and tapas (little bite-sized appetizers you get with drinks). We then tried to meet up with some of the "apartment" group to go to a discoteca (sp?) but ended up taking another huge walk around the city and called it a night instead.

Tomorrow we are off to the Prado Museum and Plaza Major with some free time as well. Day one in Spain has been great as are the people in the program, it seems like everyone is very excited about the next four months! (We've even started talking trip planning).

Until next time,

Kelly

Wrapping Up in Ireland

I haven't quite gotten used to this constant updates via blog yet, so after hearing from a few people that I needed to update it (including my father, who usually isn't in the loop when it comes to new internet related things), I realized that indeed a new post was necessary, so hear goes.

Bright and early Wednesday morning Rae, Grace and I headed off to Galway City to begin our Cliffs of Moher (Moe-her) tour. It was a MUCH longer drive than I had anticipated, but spent all of it reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (by Steig Larsson, for those that haven't read it, DO!). The countryside was gorgeous, but the weather wasn't the greatest, so being on the bus at that point was nice. Once we got into Galway City, we met up with the tour guide, Conor. We drove through parts of the city as he told us about the history of Galway and some of the things to come on the tour.

We passed numerous castles and drove through tiny little towns on tiny little roads in a BIG bus, talk about a terrifying experience on the road! We stopped in a little town near the coast for lunch in Doolin. We also stopped and saw historic Celtic crosses in an old cemetery.

We picked a gorgeous day to visit the cliffs. By the time we got there the clouds had moved inland and there was just a slight breeze. The cliffs are 700 ft high and have a view of the Aran Islands. There is a sign that says not to cross a certain point (for safety of course), so naturally, we being the Three Musketeers hoped the stone wall and continued the hike in search of getting closer to the edge and better pictures of course!

Towards the end of the time we had to spend at the Cliffs, the weather was getting gray and the wind was coming in, making us a little bit on the chilly side. We got back on the bus and heading up along the coast on the way back to Galway. The view was spectacular! We then stopped at a place known as the mini cliffs, which were tiny compared to the Cliffs of Moher, only 100 ft. The drive back was very long with traffic and the three of us slept about the whole time.

Again, it was an excellent day and was so much fun! Since the day of the cliffs we have met up with the MacCabes, some other family friends of ours and enjoyed great meals and great company. Rae and I have enjoyed getting to know the small towns that make up Dublin and cannot wait for the next leg of our European Adventure!

For me, that starts in precisely 4 hours (4:00am) when I need to get up and get ready to head to the airport! In less than 12 hours I will be in Madrid and have met many of the people in my program. Here's hoping for a great power nap and an easy morning!

Los Angeles to Dublin

This four month adventure began August 19th, when I headed off to LAX. Naturally, I wasn't packed until the second I was walking out the door, and even then I knew I had forgotten to pack a lot. Mom dropped my off at the airport and it was surreal feeling, not like I was taking off for months, more like a 5 day trip to go visit friends. Airports are a pain in LA, New York and Dublin, overall though, everything went smoothly.

I met Rae (a friend and sorority sister from WSU) when I landed in Dublin and we waited to be picked up by some family friends of ours. That first day we ended up going into town with their daughter Grace and got to see Trinity College, one of the oldest and most distinguished Universities in Ireland and a lot of the local shops and pubs. Rae and I got to experience our first pint of Guinness and it wasn't too bad! Friday night we went to a birthday party with Ben, the son of our family friends and got to meet a bunch of his friends from Trinity. It was just like any party in the US, except we were the 2 kids with the weird accents. When we got home we were long since ready to go to bed, it had been 40 hours of being awake.

We took a tour of Dublin on a red bus and enjoyed the sites and being super tourist-y. Part of that tour was the Guinness Storehouse. It was multiple floors of ingredients and how the beer is made. The top level is the gravity bar where everyone gets a free pint of Guinness and the greatest view anyone can have of Ireland.

Tomorrow Rae, Grace and I are headed on another tour to see the famous Cliffs of Moher, Galway City, the beautiful countryside and old traditional thatched cottages. To come is a link to the multitude of pictures that I have been taking!

Signing off for now,

Kelly