adventures in backpacking!

So, I want to preface this blog by saying I will never, EVER, backpack, ANYWHERE again. Don't get me wrong, I had a hilarious spring break but I have never felt so gross and disgusting than I did all last week. It's not like we couldn't find showers or anything, but living out of a backpack reallly took it's toll on me. Backpacking through France and Ireland also solidified my absolute and complete appreciation for AMERICA. I LOVE BEING AMERICAN! When I decided to come abroad, I was convinced I'd be one of those people who fell in love with Europe and never wanted to leave, but slowly more and more every day I miss America. Of course I miss my family and friends, but I honestly miss America culture. At first I thought that Italy was just completely different than the US, the people walk extremely slow, stores are open at sporadic times, shop owners aren't always the friendliest. But venturing to two other countries this past break made me realize that most of Europe is that way. Granted the Irish are so friendly, but the Irish youth are freaking psycho! Meg said that they have this weird obsession with breaking glass, like bottles and light bulbs...? Also the style here (and there) gets me. No one ever seems to wash their hair or apply makeup normally. I never thought I was an overly-hygenic person or a crazy neat freak until I came abroad and ALWAYS feel dirty. I find myself craving my shower at home or in Providence with real shampoo and conditioner that makes my hair smooth. Oh well. Don't take this the wrong way, my spring break made me realize that I made the best choice of cities to study abroad in. Florence is beautiful and I think I feel the most at home here than any of the places I've traveled to!


ANYWAY- spring break was, all in all, hilarious. Here's an outline of my trip. I went to Paris with Meg and Nathalie and we met up with Rachel from Friday to very, veryyy early Monday morning. Then on Monday (my birthday!) we flew to Dublin and spent the day there. Then we took a bus to Galway and stayed with my fave twiinnny, Meg O'Neill! On Friday we bussed back to Dublin and flew home Saturday morning. Like I mentioned we live 100% out of our backpacks since we flew Ryanair, the extremely cheap European airline that makes you pay extra for any type of amenity such as 30 euro for checking on bag. We also bounced from hostel to hostel, some definitely better and cleaner than others. 


Our first half-day and night and Paris were, for lack of a better word, AWFUL. When we got off the plane, we had to take an hour and a half long bus into the city center (Ryanair is so cheap because it flies into obscure airports, so we flew from Pisa to Paris-Beauvais for like 10 euro- about 15 dollars). When we got off the bus it was downpouring and we had no idea where in Paris we were. We found a grocery store and got these disgusting premade sandwiches, which tasted gourmet since we were so ravenous, and wandered in the rain until we found a Metro station. Then we took a hour metro ride to Chelles-Gournay, only to wander around in the rain for another TWO HOURS looking for our hostel because apparently no one in the WHOLE town, even with my seemingly fluent French (compared to my terribly broken Italian), knew where our street was. When we finally arrived, after just manning-up and taking a sketchy taxi, I think the only taxi in the whole town, we were soaking wet and our backs felt like they were about to break in half. Most of my clothes were damp since the rain seeped into my backpack and I was completely miserable. None of us could fall asleep and in the morning all we wanted to do was get the HELL out of there. That's when our luck started to turn around. Instead of charging us a cancellation fee for checking out two days early, the receptionist gave us directions back to the metro and only charged us for one night. THEN, Rach had met this America student studying in Florence on the train over who was staying in this hole-in-the-wall hostel in the center of Paris. We had really no trouble finding the hostel and there were enough openings that we could stay, for only 18 euro a night!


Now, when I say hole in the wall- I mean complete hole-in-the-wall hostel. The outside door was so run down that it looked like a hostel was there twenty years ago, but not now. Once inside we had to climb three flights of stairs and enter into an apartment-like door which opened up into an Alice in Wonderland looking hostel. The walls were plastered with bright colors and life-size movie posters- it was hilarious.

Nat, myself and Rachel posing outside our hostel.

Me on my bed, next to the Over the Hedge posters...

So after we unloaded all our backpacks, we walked around Paris. It was overcast, but we went to the Eiffel Tour and saw the Seine. It was nice but I was happy I had already been there, cause I was way to exhausted to appreciate anything. I was so excited to because our hostel was located only a few blocks from the bar that Laurent had told me to meet him at if I was in Paris. So after, we napped and got changed into normal clothes, we wandered over to O'Malley's Pub to find Laurent. He had told me he had a huge rugby tournament that day and would be celebrating afterwards with his teammates at this pub. And we found him!! It was so fun! Their team had won and all his teammates were taking over the bar, they were all hilarious and I loved seeing Laurent!

After our night out in Paris, we woke up early and went to the Louvre and ate at a classic French cafe! Then Nat, Meg and I took the bus back to Paris-Beauvais and stayed in a hotel near the airport since our flight was so early in the morning.

On the morning of my 21st birthday, we landed in Dublin. After we found our hostel, Citi Backpackers's, which was wayyy nicer than our other hostels, we found a Irish pub to eat at and get my first drink as a 21 year old! We got beef burgers and I got a Bulmer's (my favorite Irish) drink and we chowed down. After our huge meal, we took a four hour nap (haha) which felt so good and woke up just in time to go out an get a drink for my birthday! We walked down to Temple Bar and found this great pub with live music called the Old Storehouse. I got another Bulmer's and when the performer asked for requests, Meg and Nat started screaming "PLAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY," which of course caught the attention of all the Irish guys next to us and the singer sang me Happy Birthday. I was wicked embarassed but one of the Irish guys then proceeded to buy us Tequila shots and when I later went to buy a Guinness, the bartender asked me if I was the Birthday Girl and gave it to me on the house! I love Ireland!

The next morning we woke up early and took a bus to Galway to see Meg! It was so great to see her (even though she had class and we were exhausted). We stayed in the first night just catching up. The next morning when she went to class, we walked around Galway just appreciating the beautiful weather and scenery! We ended up walking down Salthill and just basking in the sun for a few hours. It was nice to finally relax and not have to rush to catch a train or have our thousand pound backpacks weighing us down. That night Meg took us out in Galway! It was a blast and I missed going out with her so much! We met up with some of her friends there but mostly just danced with each other all night, some much needed twin time!

Just loving my twinnie in Galway!

The next morning O'Neill had more classes :( but Meg and Nat and I woke early and hopped on the Aran Islands tour. The weather was beyond beautiful, even at 8 in the morning and we took the scenic bus and the ferry over to the islands. We decided to rent bikes and just soak up the sun. It was so nice out that I got sunburnt and the islands were stunning. When I think of Ireland in my head, I picture the Aran Islands. Not a lot of houses but just vast green pastures with horses, cows and sheep, surrounded by stone walls, all enclosed with Caribbean-clear blue water. We literally spent the entire day biking around taking pictures, it was the most relaxing and cleansing day. City living is another thing that's taken its toll on me. I miss fresh air and the ocean breeze! I'm sick of breathing in fumes and dust. The Islands were just what we needed!

Biker chick!

Nathalie and I with the cows, mooo.

I want this as my new vacation home!

Perfection!

The next day we bussed back to Dublin, relaxed that night and flew back to Florence in the morning. I immediately showered and threw all my clothes in the wash. I threw out all the socks I wore and was really tempted to throw out my boots and some shirts, but I decided a good thorough washing was good enough! I'm happy to be back and Florence and I actually felt at home in my apartment last night. After this trip I've decided I definitely made the right decision coming here and even though I miss America a lot, I'm definitely going to miss Florence when I'm home.