Sunny weather in Dublin

My time in Dublin was way too short but that means I'll just have to go back and visit!  It was quite a relief to get away from the German language and hear people speaking english everywhere.  We toured the Guinness Storehouse right when we arrived.

We only had time for the Guinness Storehouse after coming from Galway. I loved every second of being there.  I eventing a horse named Guinness for several years, who was black and white and from Ireland.

And afterwords we grabbed dinner then walked around Temple Bar.  

To my surprise it was sunny the entire time we were in Ireland.  We got very lucky with the weather!

Cliffs of Moher

Ireland!

A place I have always wanted to visit.  I successfully flew by myself from Paris to Dublin without missing my flight! That has always been a fear of mine.  On Monday morning I hopped on the 5:30 a.m. metro and switched to another line to make it to the bus station.  I chose to fly with Ryanair to save some money, which means I had to take a bus to the tiny airport that was an hour away from the center of Paris. It was a loong day to say the least.  I saw some incredible views from the plane, so there are perks to catching early flights.

When I arrived in Dublin I took a bus to Galway which is where I met up with Anya and Jenna.  They spent a very relaxing two days in Galway, and my main reason for going there was to explore the west coast and the Cliff of Moher!

We took a bus back to Dublin on Thursday afternoon and made it back just in time to explore the Guinness Storehouse and try some Guinness. It was worth the wait.

 Anya pulling my luggage for me :)

 The closest to home I've been in a few months!

 We couldn't leave my luggage unattended

Day trip to Palace of Versailles

This was an incredible estate to visit.  I've never seen so much paintings and artwork on ceilings before coming to Europe. It was a long, cold wait in line (even at 10:30 a.m.) but it was worth it.  A few hours later we explored the gardens, which were more like a maze than gardens.

The gold really stood out once the sun came out.

The Gardens

Spring Break! first stop: Paris

So last night I got back to Salz, and I can't believe our 2 week break is already over.  It was a very strange feeling seeing Salzburg again.  It's our home for now, but it really doesn't feel like home to me.

 I decided to spend a few days in each country to get a feel for what they were like.  Isabel and I headed to the train station late Thursday afternoon (barely making our train to Munich!) then from Munich took an overnight train to Paris! It was a shaky ride that night, but it was so wonderful waking up in Paris.

 Our hotel was very old but origional. It was located south of the river.  From our hotel, it was just a 15 minute walk to The Louvre, which we explored of course!

But our first day in Paris was exhausting.  We started by walking north and wandering around the river, eventually making it to the Eiffel Tower. We had a fabulous lunch nearby, and it was a nice suprise to have bread, and salad included in our meals, with no extra cost! Oh and water was free!

I can honestly say we made the most out of our three days in Paris, and one day at Versaille.  We were up early every morning and saw everything we could.  Even though we ate a lot, and I mean a lot, it didn't stick because of all the walking we did! Italy is another story though.

Friday night we walked along the river after dinner and spotted the Eiffel Tower glowing, like it does for 5 minutes every hour.  We were so amazed we decided to walk to it, again, that same day!  We got there just in time to see it sparkle before our eyes at 12:00 a.m.  What an amazing start to break!  So that day we walked a total of about 11 miles.. go us!

 Tuileries Gardens, located just west of The Lourve museum.


In Paris we got a nice taste of Croque-Monsieur sandwiches (ham, cheese, on grilled bread), Baguettes (long sticks of bread) and Macarons (amazing cookies!!) (pictured below)

Cesky Republicky

I'm not writing about our weeken trip to Prague that was 3 weeks ago. (Time really flies by!) I have just returned from a life changing spring break and have over a thousand many photos to upload. I'll save my favorites for my blog!

Our program was fortunate to have great weather for our weekend in Prague. Our hotel was located east of the Old Town Square.  When we first arrived after we dropped off our bags we had a walking city tour. I'd say we spent the most time in the Old Town Square and especially on the Charles Bridge, which has 30 different statues on it. On the bridge we found beautiful paintings, souvenir stands, and people speaking several different languages.  At the west end of the bridge we stopped by the John Lennon wall, then ate at the restaurant.

The second day we walked up to the Prague Castle and even though it was foggy our the view was still breathtaking.