My trip :)

In these past three months I have created memories that will last a life time with friends that I now call family. Ireland has become a second home to me. From the moment I stepped off the plane I was in a daze. I could not believe that I was getting this amazing opportunity. Still to this day I feel like I like this is a dream. Now that time is running out I look back on the times I had here. When we stepped off the plane the members of town council welcomed us with open arms and accepted us into their town. Dungarven is a beautiful town which I am lucky to say I lived here, even if it was for a short time.  The Mercyhurst students became part of their community. We shopped at the local thrift shop and got to know the family working there. We went and saw a movie at the local theater and of course we became acquainted with the local pub life. At the pubs we not only made friends with each other but also with the locals. The people who lived here were kind and big hearted. Every time I met someone new they would offer their help if needed. If we were in need of anything from directions to the beach or a ride to the Blarney stone there was always someone there to help. I have never felt so welcomed before. Not only were the people amazing but the landscape of Dungarven is breathtaking.  One of my favorite memories was when me and a few friends took a bike ride out to the beach. The bike ride itself was beautiful from the patchwork fields in the distance to the cows mooing right next to us. Then on the beach we just got lost in its beauty and walked around for an hour picking up sea glass and just having some fun.  

I was so glad when my family was able to visit me here and experience the charm of Dungarven. We did the cliché touristy things like going to the Waterford crystal factory and going to Cork to kiss the Blarney stone, but my favorite activity was visiting the fairy tree. We were told that if you truly believed in fairies that if you put your car in neutral then it would roll up the hill backwards. Our faces as the car started to roll backwards was priceless. I wish someone was there to film our reactions because they would have won the jack pot on America’s funniest home videos!  The family trip to Ireland will be remembered as a magical experience.  

I feel like my time here was not long enough.  I am not ready to say good bye to the friends that I have made here. I am going to miss the walk to school along the quay, and going to Murray’s for a pint after class. My Saturday’s won’t be filled with Tom Keith tours and Carmel’s snacks. It is hard to say goodbye but, “Goodbyes are not forever. Goodbyes are not the end. They simply mean I'll miss you until we meet again.”

A small goodbye

The last night in Dungarvan was bitter sweet. I spent the night surrounded by friends and loved ones. After being on this trip I gained over 30 friends and a pair of grandparents. We sang and drank the night away at one of our favorite pubs. We celebrated the time that we had there and the future times we will have together! I know that someday I will be back in the beautiful town of Dungarven; My home by the sea!

"Dungarvan, my home town I love best of all
Dear old faces and places sure oft I recall
In my heart I keep wishing some day I will be

Back again in Dungarvan, my home by the sea"

Living on the edge

The Cliffs of Moher are breathtaking! When you stand next to the cliffs you realize how big the world really is. It just made me want to explore more of what’s out there. When I stood on the edge of the cliffs I felt invincible! At least until Tom yelled at us to get down! Although the cliffs are gorgeous, they are dangerous. One big gust of wind and it can blow you right over the edge. I had fun taking pictures hanging over the edge though J It was thrilling! The water there was so blue and the cliffs were so green. It was like someone came and painted the scene to perfection. We spent hours just walking the paths and enjoying the sights. I see now why this is one of the top tourist attractions of Ireland. I have been there once and I wouldn't say no to going there again! 

Aran Islands

When we went to the west we visited the Aran Islands for the day. During Dr. Reeds English class we learned about these islands. Many of the authors that we read talked about this place. They called it an escape from modern times. I see now why they loved it there. It was like stepping back in time; when life was simple. There are double the amounts of cattle on the island then there are people. This is not an exaggeration!  We rented a small van and a tour guide drove us around the island. He brought us the bay to see wild seals that come up on shore. We got to pet a beautiful black beauty horse. My favorite part was when we climbed a hill to get to an old ruined fort. It stood on the edge of the cliffs and you could see miles out into the sea. It was so peaceful on the top of that hill. We didn’t want to climb back down. After exploring the island I didn’t want to go back to the mainland. I understand why the writers we learned about wanted to spend their last days in the west. It brings such a peace to a person. It is like a little piece of heaven on earth. 

3 more down

When I was in London I was able to check off three items on my bucket list! We started with a bang on Sunday by going to Stonehenge. On my list is to see the wonders of the world. I did not know that there are so many different wonders! I now have on down! Stonehenge is place of mystery and awe. How did these people create this magnificent structure.  And not only how but WHY!? There are multiple different theories, some involving magic, but we will never know the truth. Another mystery of the world.

The second item I checked off the list was going to Abbey Road! I crossed the same area and took the same picture as the BEATLES! EEK! A dream come true! Since I was a little girl my dad would play me the Beatles so it was incredible to be in a place that was such a part of my childhood J

The last thing I checked off was the London Eye. I have had a slight fear of heights and I told myself that if I had the chance I had to conquer that fear and hop on that massive Ferris wheel. Well the last day that we were in London was the day to check it off the bucket list. I am so glad that I took the plunge because the sights were incredible. I could see all of London from the top of the 443 foot Ferris wheel!

Throughout this entire study abroad experience I have checked off multiple items on my bucket list but for every one I check off my list, three more grow in its place!

London!

My last adventure on this study abroad trip was going to London. It was me and two of my good friends crossing the pond to the notorious London! The trip was perfect. We did everything that we wanted to do but still took time to relax. The first night we took the underground to Tower Bridge and saw the city skyline. We enjoyed the view so much that we decided to eat dinner right on the water. We could see the bridge, the river and the city. It was a great start to a great trip!

The next day was another day to scratch an item off on the bucket list. We started at 8 am with a bus tour of the city. It was like we were in the movies, touring London in the double Decker buses with the look of amazement painted on our faces. At 11 the tour bud dropped us off the see the changing of the guards. Usually, people crowd in front of Buckingham palace to just get a glimpse of the guards. The tour guide knew a way for us to get front row seats! Instead of heading to the palace we went to the building where the old guards marched out and walked to the new guards. I was able to stand on the sides of the street and see them up close and personal! Something that not a lot of people have the chance to do. Then we hopped 

back on the bus where we finished the tour at Harrods.

The next two days we walked around the city taking in the sights and the history of London.  We went from one end of the city to the next. Stopping in between sights too of course do a little bit of shopping J We spent half of our day walking through Portobello market near Noting hill.We took a water cruise down the river that passed under the Tower Bridge, London Bridge and the bridge that was filmed in the Harry Potter films. We also went to King's Cross train station and took pictures at platform 9 3/4. And of course we wandered the streets taking pictures in every classic telephone booth we could find! :)

It was a trip filled with quirky crazy moments with friends that are dear to my heart!

Sachsenhausen concentration camp

When I was in Germany we went and toured the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. It is an experience that will stay with me forever. In eighth grade we spent the entire year learning about the events of the Holocaust. I thought after spending a year learning about this and then refreshing our knowledge every year after in high school, I would be prepared to visit the camp. I was wrong. I knew the events that happened there, but to stand in the same place that the horrific events occurred at was overwhelming. It was surreal to be there. I had seen pictures and heard testimonies from survivors but the camp was not what I expected. The feeling that you get as you enter the camp is bone chilling. We toured the medical center. It was not a place of nursing people back to health but a place of experimentation. Then we walked the grounds and ended up at the sleeping barracks. The museum kept the barracks the exact way they were years ago. You really got a look into the conditions that the people were surviving in. I am glad that I had the opportunity to visit a place of such significance. I believe that if everyone has the opportunity they should visit a camp. It brings a reality to the stories we have been told. 

Dripping in Crystal

The last day that my family visited we headed to Waterford to tour the crystal factory. We were all so excited to visit the place where the infamous crystal products were crafted. The tour started with a fantastic video of the process that the crystal went through in order to become a beautiful piece of art. When the show ended, we headed straight to where the magic all started. The first stop was learning about the tools that the craftsmen use. The main material for their tools are wood, which I found surprising. About every other week the carpenter has new make tools because they wear out so quickly. Then we went to the station where we could actually see the guys molding and blowing the crystal. We watched the crystal go from a blob of shinny stuff into a vase. It was incredible! As we continued on the tour we learned about the designs cut into the crystal. Did you know that a craftsman has to go through 8 years of training and memorize over a hundred patterns to cut before he can actually work in the factory! That’s a lot of hard work and dedication! You can actually get face to face with a craftsmen and see what they are doing. They absolutely love it when you start talking to them. They love to brag about the work they have done J This one guy made a people’s choice award and showed us on Google Morgan Freeman receiving the award that he crafted! He was very very proud! Then the tour ended in the shop.  My dad was like a little kid in a candy shop when we were looking around the store. If he had the money he would buy every single piece in there! Instead of buying the whole store he bought my sister two wine glasses. Now she has the start of her Waterford crystal collection! 

The Perfect Pint

The first day that my family was here we walked around Dublin and saw the sights. Of course the most important attraction was the Guinness factory! As you walk into the “tourist” part of the factory you feel like you walked into a different word. The tour is self-guided and very interactive. You could spend hours upon hours there reading all the signs and experiencing the elements that go into a Guinness. There is even a waterfall in the middle of the tour that depicts the pour water they use. As we are going through the tour of course my dad is the one stopping at every single sign and reading in depth what it says. On the other hand my little sister is practically running through this tour so she can get to the end where they give a free half pint of Guinness. My family did not want to leave that tasting room! Everyone in the Rochon family and of course Allison fell in love with the Irish beer. We even went to their academy where we learned how to pour the perfect pint. There is a lot more to pouring this beer than I originally thought. There is a lot of science and math involved. And let me say I passed this course with flying colors! As we drank our perfectly poured pints we ventured up to the observatory. Here all of the walls are glass windows so you are able to look out and see the entire city of Dublin. This is one of my favorite views in the city. It is like looking from the Empire state building into NYC, just not that tall! I could spend hours up there drinking Guinness and looking at the city that I love so much. And I am glad that I could experience it with my family J

Pouring the perfect pint :)

We graduated!!!! 

View from the top with of course a Guinness in hand!

Guten Tag

I never imagined that I would fall in love with the city of Berlin, Germany. Everywhere you turned there was something inspiring. It was impossible to get lost and be frightened because where ever you ended up was a new adventure. We were given day passes to practically any museum or tourist hot spots. In the few days that we were there, we crammed as much as we could in. The first task though was transportation. In order to get anywhere you need to take either the U-ban or S-ban subways. Let me say we conquered that subway system effortlessly! The slight difficulty we had was not knowing German lol So in the end we just gave nicknames to all of the places. For example O’hamburger street was really  Oranienburger strabe. Once we figured out the subway system we moved about the city with ease.

There was so much that we did I could dedicate an entire blog to it! On our first day we took a walking tour around the city with our teacher. We saw where the Berlin use to stand and the place where it fell. The tour ended at Check Point Charlie. Here my small group of friends and I spent a good two hours. It was a museum dedicated to depicting what life was like for both sides while the wall was it up. They had amazing stories of escape attempts. Some people would hide in the trunks of cars and another curled up into a ball in a speaker. The stories of people trying to create peace were inspirational.

The next stop was the Anne Frank museum. It was not too large. It was about the size of a long hallway. On one side of the wall was the life of Anne Frank. It had pictures and stories from her childhood. On the opposite wall it had what was occurring in Germany at the time. Then at the end, displayed in a clear box was her first diary that she received when she was 13. It was incredible to actually see the handwriting of Anne right in front of me.

After this we needed a slight pick me up and went and found a Haagen Dazs. Now I know that this is not REAL German ice cream, but man did it taste better in Germany. We made it a thing to get the ice cream every night we were there J

 We also spent an entire day seeing museums. My favorite was the Pergamon museum. Here they have entire pieces of Greek alters and parts of the Byzantine Empire and so so much more. It was like walking back in time. My second favorite was an art museum where I got to three real life Monet’s. Not only could I look at them up close and see the texture and dynamics of the paintings put I also got to take pictures of them. Incredible!

 Berlin is a city that is on my bucket list to go back to. I did so much the small time that I was there but there is still so much more to see!

I do believe in faeries!!

Ireland is a country that has strong beliefs in the magic and fairy tales. If your keys go missing, you blame the fairies. If something goes awry, the leprechauns are acting up again. Folklore is a large part of Ireland. Here in Dungarven they have a fairy tree. It is said that if you truly believe in fairies then if you put your car in neutral, the car will begin to go uphill backwards! My family and I needed to check this out for ourselves. So we took the car up the mountain and put the car in neutral. THE CAR BEGAN TO ROLL BACKWARDS UPHILL!!! It was unbelievable. Everyone in the car was in complete shock! We tried multiple times and each time we went up the hill and at a rapid speed! There must have been a lot of fairy magic that day! 

The Magical Fairy Tree 

The Gift of Gab

It is said that if a person kisses the Blarney stone then they receive the gift of gab. Here in Ireland it is a character trait to be able to tell stories. And let me tell you, all Irish people have this gift! When my family visited me, I took them to Blarney Castle. The grounds were breathtaking. There were rivers and flowers covering the land. There is this one section of the grounds with mystical powers. There is a witches hutch and a wishing stairs. If you walk up the stairs forwards and backwards with your eyes closed then your wish will come true within the year. Of course my little sister was the first in line to make a wish! Then my dad followed after her. The Rochon family now has wishes galore!

When we finished with the enchanting forest we headed to the actual Blarney Castle. I thought that the blarney stone was at the base of the castle but man was I wrong. It was way at the tippy top of the castle! The journey to the top was over 100 steps of winding, shoulder width apart steep steps. We had my grandmother with us and she climbed the stairs like a champ! Although we did have to stop a few times and was asked if we were there yet we finally made it to the top a half hour later. At the top of the castle you could see for miles and miles, all the way into the next town.  

Then it was time to kiss the stone. In order to do this you have to situate yourself so that your butt is practically hanging off the side of the castle. Then you have to do this backbend to reach these poles. THEN these guys only hold you on your waist to lower you down to kiss the stone. The only thing that separates you from the ground is two bars that a person my size could easily slip through! It was the most thrilling and scariest experience. As you kiss the stone there is a camera that takes your picture. At the bottom of the castle you can choose to purchase this.  The face that the camera captured from my grandma was priceless. It was pure terror and excitement about kissing the stone. It was so epic that we bought the picture for her J

TK Tour!

Bright and early Saturday morning everyone staggered on to the bus for a tour given by Tom Keith. These tours are known as TK Tours! We have them planned for 3 Saturday’s while we are here. The first place he took us to was the sacred grounds Mt. Melleray Grotto. Here in August of 1985 the Virgin Mary was said to appear to a young women and two boys. She gave them the message that the world is becoming corrupt and filled with evil. The human race had to change their ways and become more peaceful. We had the opportunity to speak to the woman that had this encounter with the Virgin Mary. She said it was a life changing experience and she tries to live a peaceful life.

The Statue of the Virgin Mary is where she actually appeared on the hill

After this spiritual stop we continued on the bus for about another 45 minutes. We went through the dead land of the country were all the grass is brown and rocks cover the land. On the other side though was luscious green fields and a haunted lake. We stopped here at the Vee where you had the chance to do photo ops. While we were here a few girls decided that they  wanted to pet some sheep. So they ran into the hills and tried to sneak up on the animals, but the sheep were to smart and ran away. It was a funny sight to see.

Can you see why they call it the Vee??

Chasing the sheepies!! 

Then again we hopped in the bus and went to Mitchelstown Caves. These caves are couple hundred million years old and we got to explore them. The passage ways were narrow and water kept dripping on my head but this place was amazing! We saw fossils that were over 350 million years old in the walls. They sometimes use these caves for concerts. Wouldn't that be a thing to put on the bucket list.

This rock is called the Swan

Cahir Castle was the next item to visit on the TK Tour. This is one of the oldest castles in Ireland. This castle was only invaded once. You can still see a few cannon balls lodged in the walls from past attacks. They still have a working drop gate. It can be lowered in 5 seconds! On the wall of the dining hall is a skeleton of an Irish deer. They have been extinct for years but this head was found preserved in the bogs.

The last stop was Ormond Castle. It was built for the Butler Family, who also owned Killkenny Castle. When the Butler family moved into Killkenny castle they lift this home to fall to pieces. Only about half of the house still stands. 

Sunshine Shine down on Me

The town of Dungarven just gets more beautiful every day! The other day the sun was shining and the sky was a rich blue so me and some friends decided to go on a bike ride.  We took the bikes to the first beach here in town. As we got there I could smell the salt water in the air. It reminded me of home when I go to the beach with my family. This time though I was surrounded my family here in Dungarven. As I looked over the bridge I could see the different colors in that water. It felt like you were on a tropical island. Then since the sun was still out and there was not a single grey cloud in sight so we decided to venture on to the next beach. This was a little farther then anticipated, but it was worth it. On the ride their it was almost surreal. There was the hills with the patchwork to the left and farms with cows and sheep with in petting distance. We all had a realization that at that moment we were all taking a bike ride in Ireland. Although we have been here for almost two months it still doesn't hit me that I have this amazing opportunity to be here. It is almost like I am watching a movie starring a me; it is not like real life. After about 20 minutes we realized that we were getting close because we could hear the waves. With the last of our strength we peddled as fast as we could to get to the beach. The sight was awe inspiring. You looked out and to the left there was a majestic green cliff with rocks at the bottom and waves crashing up against them. We took off our shoes and ran towards the Celtic Sea! As one would think the water was freezing! My little toes turned pink and numb but it did not matter because I was in the ocean in Ireland J We walked the beach getting lost in the sights and looking for sea glass. We only found a few pieces but I did find a starfish. After poking it a few times to see if it was living, which it was, I then saved its life and put it back in the water. Good dead of the day! Then as we were walking back to our bikes a man on horse back came galloping along the beach. It was the frosting on the cake to an amazing sunny day here in Dungarven, Ireland!

Street Art Galore!

I have always wanted to see meaningful street art. Not the graffiti that you see on the side of buildings but paintings that stand for something that is more than a gang sign or Harry <3 Sally. When you walk down the streets of Berlin you feel like there is a museum of art surrounding you. On every corner there is an amazing piece of art work. When my friends and I visited the Anne Frank museum we had to pass through an ally way that was covered from the ground to the sky in art in all different forms. It was awe inspiring. Then a few days later, we visited the East Side Gallery. It is part of the wall that still stands and stretches over 1.3 km of land. On one side there are beautiful murals that have been painted by people all around the world. Then on the other side it has graffiti words. If you look hard enough you will find me and a few friends initials on that wall. WE SIGNED THE BERLIN WALL! I would rather show you the paintings and have them speak for themselves than have me babble on about how amazing they are.

Our initials on the wall :)