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One Last Trip

As my semester abroad wraps up, it becomes increasingly hard to ignore the fact that I fly home in three days. To celebrate the end of finals and as one last hurrah before going back to the U.S., Bridget and I took a final trip around Europe. One thing about being abroad is that sometimes trips are extremely spontaneous. That’s part of the whole “you’re only abroad once” philosophy. It’s part of the package. You have to be ready to be flexible if you want to travel. While most of our friends were still in the midst of finals week, I lucked out, being an English major means a whole lot of papers and very few exams. I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea but I’d much rather write five papers in ten days (which I did) versus taking exams in a hall with 1000 other kids. Now I know a lot of people wouldn’t say the same and to each their own, but I was thrilled that finishing my papers 12 days before my scheduled flight to Boston, meant one last trip around the world.

When my mom was in college, she spent a semester studying abroad in Budapest, Hungary and because of that, it’s been a bucket list item of mine this semester. Once May rolled around I didn’t think it would happen, but religiously checking Ryanair flights pays off sometimes. Bridget and I booked a last-minute trip to Budapest, Vienna, and Prague, checking off three countries in one week and bringing my country count this semester to a whopping nine; Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, France, Italy, Spain, Hungary, Austria, and the Czech Republic.

Budapest was incredible, we spent our days there exploring the city, relaxing at the Széchenyi Baths, taking a river cruise tour on the Danube, and eating great food. It was so special for me to spend Mother’s Day weekend in the country that my own mother studied abroad in when she was my age.

We decided to take a train from Budapest to Prague but first stopped in Vienna for the day. I will admit, I didn’t know a whole lot about the city before visiting but I was incredibly excited to see The Kiss. Gustav Klimt’s painting has been a recurring motif in my life ever since my mom introduced it to me when I was a kid. She brought home a framed copy one day to hang in our upstairs hallway and told me it was her favorite painting. “It’s impossible to tell whether or not the two figures are entangled in love or hatred, is the man trying to strangle the woman or kiss her?” That’s what makes the painting so compelling and why the highlight of the trip was staring at the golden trademark in The Belvedere for as long as I could. That and trying schnitzel for the first time of course.

The last leg of the trip and final destination outside of Ireland before heading home was Prague. The city blew me away. I had very low expectations but had been told by other study-abroad students that it was their favorite trip. The architecture was incredible, each building was intricately detailed and unique in ways that made me want to study it for too long. The river running through the center was a constant comfort and the views from Prague Castle made the scope of the city even more magical. I was genuinely in awe.

My last trip outside of Ireland while studying in Europe was bittersweet. The perfect ending to a semester of incredible adventures and memories that I am lucky to call my own.

Cheers.
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Paris!

Even though Ireland never ceases to amaze me, it has been a dream come true to travel around other parts of Europe while studying abroad. In my last blog post, I had just visited England and Northern Ireland. But most recently, I took a weekend trip to the City of Love! Paris was incredible. I was anxious about traveling in a country where I didn’t speak the language, but I got the hang of basic words and phrases quite quickly. It certainly helped that my travel buddy took French for 12 years though.

We went in with very little planning, all we knew was the hostel we were staying at and that we wanted to see as much of the city as possible. Paris is huge! Way bigger than I thought. But even so, we packed a week’s worth of sights into just two days. When we arrived at the airport Thursday night, we had plans to meet up with a friend of ours who is studying abroad in France. I have to say, those Metro lines are quite tricky, but after just a few hiccups, we found our way to a restaurant in the third arrondissement. French food is incredible. I swear I did not have one even mildly sub-par meal while there. The first night started with a bang: tagliatelle with roasted vegetables.

Our first full day began bright and early. We got up and out for our first stop: Notre Dame. Although it’s still being reconstructed after the tragic fire in 2019, we were still able to gawk from the outside. We even had breakfast at a little cafe nearby. I got the most amazing crepes that I have ever been graced with.

The next item on the bucket list was taking an hour-long walk along the Seine to the Eiffel Tower. Buying tickets ahead of time made them relatively cheap and so we were able to take the elevators straight to the very top. I was in awe of the view around us. Paris sprawls for miles, this is when I realized just how big the city actually is. I felt as though I could see Ireland from where I was standing; the buildings rolled out for miles. It’s so lovely that the Tower remains the tallest structure in the city. Where New York City has a skyline of scrapers, Paris’ is the Tower and a line of buildings composed of spectacular architecture.

After the Tower, we grabbed some lunch and went to Musée d’Orsay to see the impressionists. I felt like a little girl all over again looking at Degas’ paintings of the ballerinas. From there it was time for a reset back at the hostel before going out to a late dinner. Paris is so alive into the latest hours of the night, it’s comforting knowing how much there always is to do.

Day three consisted of lots more walking as we explored. A bit of Paris shopping, popping by the Louvre, the Musée de l’Orangerie to see Monet’s lilies, and then the Eiffel Tower at night! The food on this day may have been even better than the last two because for breakfast I had a croissant and a ham omelet that genuinely melted in my mouth. I didn’t know eggs could do that! Lunch was a traditional French dish: beef bourguignon and dinner was a heavenly salad auvergnate.

Genuinely, there aren’t enough words to describe how magical the city of Paris is and I’m so lucky to have been able to casually pop over there for the weekend. Traveling through Europe is a priceless experience. Cheers!