Irish mouths, ABC peanut butter and friendships

My tea while waiting for the train

Well I am sitting in the Beauvais train station for the next three hours waiting for the next train, because I missed my train literally by ONE MINUTE. If the lady in front of me had not asked so many questions, I would have been on that train and back in Amiens by 1pm. The way I look at it though is that everything happens for a reason. No matter how terribly you might think things are, there is ALWAYS a reason. That is one of the main things I have learned during my study abroad time here. It has helped me to relax and calm down after a crisis has occurred. There’s no point in being frustrated over something when you will always be able to remedy it some other way. And this way, by missing my bus, I have some extra time to work on my blog! I spent 18 euros to get from the airport to the train station, and that was only about 5 miles. I was not about to waste every bit of money I have in my account just because I want to be back in my own bed! Now I get to sit in the train station on a holiday and have my thoughts to myself. Did I mention that despite the fact that the next train is at 12h40, my layover train doesn’t leave the next station until 17h49. All in good time, all in good time.

So happy to be on the train back to Amiens

So like I said, my blog post of IRELAND! I arrived at the airport extremely late at night, and Vicky and Olivia were there to greet me! Vicky and I ended up staying up until 5 in the morning laying in her bed catching up despite the fact that we had to be up early the next morning to catch a train for Galway! The train was one of the nicest that I have ever been on. It even had little tables where four people could gather around and play cards, talk, or sleep (which is what we did). The countryside was beautiful. We saw a total of four rainbows over the whole week! I was bestowed with a ton of Irish luck (but apparently that doesn’t work in France…).

Waiting in the train station!

On the LUAS (step #2) to train station

My welcome team!

Finally on the nice train

Once we got to Galway, it started raining a little bit, but that didn’t stop us from wandering around and shopping for a bit before Sarah and Michael came to meet us to walk back to the house. Those two days were fun-filled with beautiful scenery, torrential rain, garlic cheese fries, a cathedral, and a pub in the evening. In the morning when we were scheduled to leave, the rain was so hard that we had to take shelter in a McDonald’s and wait for it to blow over.

Vicky loooooves Nathalie!

The train that we took

Nathalie is super excited to see Ireland

Taking the bus (step #1) to the train station

The cathedral of Galway

We made it back to Dublin in time to make some food and repack for our trip to Waterford the next day. I’m not too much of a girly girl, so you can imagine my excitement at going to look at a bunch of crystals…WOOO. They were nice, but not something that I would go back to. However, we didn’t get to go on the tour because it was some sort of bank holiday (what is it with Europeans and their holidays?!?!), so that might have changed my perspective on the whole experience. The town was beautiful, with cathedrals, sheep, and interesting stores. Pictures to follow:

We love rainbows in Ireland

It was a bit windy that day

River leading to the ocean in Galway

We did not enjoy the rain so much

Inside the Cathedral

Our long walk to and from Galway center 

Inside church again

Looking forward to that warm bed in Dublin!

Weird roadsigns in Celtic and English

The most interesting thing about Ireland was that everything was written in the Celtic language FIRST, and then in English - despite the fact that no one really speaks Celtic anymore. There were the few Irish people that would occasionally come out with their language, but I feel as if that was maybe only to talk about the weird Americans! I really liked the look of the words, but I just found it interesting that most people didn't even understand the words.

We were more than glad to get back to Dublin and get some good rest, especially since the girls had service work the next day at 10am. That next day, I was extremely lazy. I told myself I was going to make a trip into Dublin and wander around by myself, but when I looked outside, it was raining (surprise), so I ended up staying in, drinking tea, and watching Netflix (since I’ve been deprived of it in France).

Vicky making me
food for the week.

Kilmainham Gaol

SHEEP!

Beautiful rainbows

Comic book-looking building in Dublin

On Wednesday, I finally got out on the town and visited the Kilmainham Gaol and the Guinness Brewery with one of Vicky’s friends, Kaian. We were supposed to go with a bunch of his other friends after they got out of class, but then they decided to cancel last minute. I was just happy to not have to go to these places by myself! We actually got lost on our way to the Kilmainham Gaol (aka really old jail) and almost wandered into a REAL JAIL!! It is called Arbour Jail? I think. We decided not to try anything. We finally found Kilmainham and took the tour for two euros! It was really interesting to listen to the history of this jail and how it played a major role in Irish history itself.

After such a long day of walking and getting lost, you can imagine our excitement to get to the Guinness factory with indoor heating and beer.  We both learned how to pour a Guinness. I am now an official Guinness pourer, and I even have the certificate to prove it. I didn’t drink all of it, but I had to drink at least some of it in honor of my dad not being able to be there with me! It was a fun day, but I was ready to be back in my warm bed in Vicky’s room!

Anddd the Guinness gates!

Old Guinness paraphernalia 

Learning how to pour a Guinness

The final day of my trip I spent sending things to my family, visiting Temple Bar (the famous bar district in Dublin) and eating garlic cheese fries for the last time from Supermacs! I also might or might not have become addicted to the show “Orange is the New Black” on Netflix. And I might or might not have watched seven episodes in one night. Needless to say, I got two hours of sleep, so I will be sleeping well tonight! Who knows when I will be in Ireland again?! Might as well take advantage of everything including Netflix!

Temple Bar, didn't get to go inside

Next to the river in Dublin

Trinity College, with my Starbucks :)

Sidenotes:

They have peanut butter in this strange country, but as Vicky says it’s “ABC peanut butter.” It was a little creamier than it should have been I think.

The Irish like to drink, or at least the ones I came in contact with. They were drinking every night I was there. One night Vicky went out into the hall and screamed down the stairs several times to “shut up” and that she didn’t want to “hear their Irish mouths.” It was quite hysterical, especially considering she came back in the room and said that it was best not to mess with the Irish because they can be angry elves when they are drunk.

And finally, I have missed the heck out of my Brazilians. I loved Ireland, and I loved being able to spend time with Vicky, but I have grown so close to this group of seven Brazilians that it’s difficult to be away from them for so long! They always tell me that I will regret my decision to not tag along with them, but I still don’t believe that to be true! I enjoyed Ireland so much, and I really needed to see Vicky, but I know I would have had an incredible amount of fun with Bia, Henrique and Pri as well!

Hello France! I’ve missed you (even though I’m angry at you right now for making me miss my train).