Goodbye Galway!

Four months, two max-ed out credit cards, lots of new friends, and one great experience. It seems like quite a bit, but we still can't believe it's over. 

The rest of Eurotrip 2k9 went smoothly. We opted for a day train to Munich, for obvious reasons, and remained wide awake for the entire journey. When we arrived, we had a nice, clean hotel room all to ourselves. Erin's parents very generously reserved a room for both of our nights in Munich. It was wonderful- no loud roommates, our very own bathroom, and, most importantly, a ceiling. Later, we met up with Erin's Aunt, Uncle, her cousin Jill, and Jill's fiance, Mike and did the only logical thing: found a beer garden. Dinner was delicious. Erin discovered her new favorite food kaiserschmarren- a shredded pancake dessert (or in our case, dinner) served with powdered sugar and apple sauce. I had a great spaetzle noodle dish. Turns out we love German food. Who'da thought?

The next day, Jill, Mike, Erin, and I did a free bike tour throughout the city. We saw a few old buildings (though there aren't many left; most were destroyed during WWII), visited some important historical sites, and learned about Hitler's incredible influence on the city. Today, any kind of nazi references are taken very seriously. A man was arrested and imprisoned last year for doing a "Hail Hitler" salute in a city plaza. Halfway through the tour, we stopped at a beer garden and made some friends from Tennessee and Florida. After a liter or so of beer each (bad idea?), we hopped back on the bikes and finished off the tour. The whole fam (yes, I am now part of the fam) reunited for dinner at the famous Hofbrauhaus. Erin's other cousin, Julie, and her husband, Charlie, had made it to Munich at that point, so we had a nice sized group. We spent that night out and about in Munich, but somehow ended up at an Irish pub. We just can't get away!

The next morning, we woke up early for a sobering trip to Dachau concentration camp. The original gas chambers and crematoriums were still in place along with the barracks, watch towers, barbed wire fences, and an ironically beautiful landscape. We had all learned about the Holocaust since grade school, but nothing compares to visiting the camp- the place where the depths of human cruelty and human endurance were tested. We spent some time in the museum and then had to catch a strain to Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of two great men: Mozart and Uncle! 

Erin and I were definitely spoiled at the end of our trip because another hotel room was awaiting us in Salzburg.  (Thanks Aunt and Uncle!!) We had a great dinner at the Augustiner Brewery and walked around Old Town. 

I loved Salzburg. It's like the Galway of Austria- small and friendly with lots of character and culture (and a serious love of beer!). Like Edinburgh, the city surrounds a large castle. There are mountains in nearly every direction, and the city center is contained to a pretty small area.

The purpose of our visit was to attend a service for Oma, Uncle's mother who passed away a few months ago. Erin was really glad she could be there for it. 

After some more food, exploring, and beer, we called it a night. Very early the next morning, we began the last leg of our trip- Salzburg to London and London to Shannon. Lenny and Mick picked us up from the airport. As soon as we saw them, it felt like we were home. We spent the hour car ride back to Galway telling them all about our travels and making plans for that night. We decided to check out the docks. The Volvo Ocean Race currently has a stopover in Galway, so the docks were full of people, food tents, music, etc. It reminded me of the Taste of Chicago!

When the sun went down around 10:30, we headed to a bar where spent the remainder of the night. Before we walked back to Forster Court for the last time, we had to make a stop at Charcoal Grill for our favorite fries and red sauce. And so began the goodbyes. Mick was the first to go home, and I was the first to cry my eyes out. Lenny, Lizzy, and Dermot walked back with us and those those goodbyes were just as bad. We even woke David up for one last hug. It was really hard to say goodbye, which only proves how lucky we were to make such good friends- lifelong friends, I hope. 

Three hours later, we were on a bus to Dublin airport. Other than the hour delay, our flight back to Chicago was great- we had our own TV screens and got to choose which movies or TV shows we wanted to watch. Erin even played virtual hangman for awhile! Everything at home was exactly as we remembered it. It felt like we had never left. 

This is our last post for now, but it certainly isn't the end of our travels. Europe can count on another visit from us and you can count on more adventures!

Bumps in the Road

Hey everyone! (if anyone is still reading this...)

We are in Vienna, Austria right now and it is pouring rain! Milan was really cool, we met up with Katie's friend Giovanni who lives in Como (yes, the same Lake Como where George Clooney has a house!) and he showed us lots of Milan and then met us in Como and showed us all over there the next day! We got lots of sun and gelato, mmm! The Cathedral there was amazing and we could even see the small gold Virgin Mary on the very top of the Cathedral from a light house in Como over an hour away! We went up the mountain in Como and could see snow capped mountains in the distance- Giovanni told us we were looking at Switzerland!! Then we got a train to Venice and were very surprised to step out of the train station and be looking a canal! There are no streets really, only canals and boats instead of cars! We had to call the hostel lady to meet us with the key, but the directions she gave me were in a really thick Italian accent and when I sounded confused she just said "And-a then-a you just-a ask-a the Italian people", haha. We did ask the Italian people, every 2 minutes for a half hour and finally found the piazza we needed. We got the key, checked in, and then finally went to eat. I was feeling a little under the weather so after a few glasses of wine we decided to call it a night.

The next day was the easily the most beautiful day we have seen n Europe! Warm sunshine, cool breezes, and not a cloud in the sky. We walked around Venice and LOVED it. I wish we had another couple nights there, but we definitely don't have any complaints! I can't wait to show everyone the pictures...

That night we got on an overnight train from Venice to Vienna. We were in a compartment with 6 seats but it was only us and one other girl so we thought we were golden. Then at one of the stops these 2 other (very loud) people got on and had actually bought the ticket for the night before so they were going to have to move cars, but we jumped up and volunteered to move because we knew there were empty compartments and wanted to get away from them! I didn't sleep much, maybe 2 hours, but at 5am there was a knock on our door: another ticket check. I groggily sat up to get it out of my bag and realized my bag was not at my feet anymore... And thus begins the last 2 days from hell. Someone had stolen my bag, we're pretty sure around 4 am because there was a stop in Salzburg at that point, so they probably took it and jumped off. It had my passport, credit card, debit card, mine and Katie's Irish debit cards (and we each just got paid that morning!) my jewelery, and my travel journal that I have been writing in the past 4 months, among some other smaller things. We did not know what to do, basically had no money, I had no ID, thankfully Kate had our Eurail passes and my camera... I filed a report with the train people and checked every garbage on the train, finding only someone else's purse :( Next we spent an hour at the police station, who thankfully spoke English, and canceled all of our cards. Whoever stole my bad didn't waste much time: there were already charges on my debit card from somewhere in Salzburg! The next couple of hours we spent at the American Consulate getting me an emergency passport. Thank goodness for kind people like the lady who runs our hostel. She let us pay by credit card and forgave a whole night that we should have paid for because we booked the hostel for the wrong date!

After an exhausting day we met up with Katie's friend Maureen who is studying here and she made us dinner! Today it is raining but Maureen is going to show us around Vienna so it is not a total loss. I am still bitter about everything being stolen but Katie made the best point last night: for that one really terrible person we have encountered on this trip, we have met SO MANY more good people. And it is for realizations like that that I know I could not have done this trip with anyone but Kate. It will be fabulous to see the Wenninger clan tomorrow but we just can't believe our trip is really coming to an end!

Whirlwind Tour of Spain

Our stay in Granada was great, but quick. Sheila flew in on Wednesday with her friend Erin, and we all shared a room at Hostal Nevada. The old Spanish man at the front desk was wearing a shamrock tie that he got in Ireland and told us that we were ¨muy guapas¨(very pretty girls) every time we left. Needless to say, we liked it there.

On Wednesday we walked around the city, ate ice cream, drank sangria, and introduced the girls to Spanish nightlife. A typical night out in Granada usually starts with tapas around 10pm (tapas are free mini-meals that come with each drink you order), bars at midnight, and then a discoteca from 2 until sunrise. We got back to the hostel around 6am and spent most of the next day laying in the sun, sleeping off the previous night.

Erin and I had to catch an early bus to Alicante on Friday. We opted for the 2am bus so we wouldn´t have to pay for a hostel that night. Six hours later, we pulled into the Alicante bus station where our friend Visa was waiting. We met Visa in Galway back in February. He was living at Kinlay Hostel at the same time as us and taught us how to make tortilla española. He drove us to his house in Benissa, a small town outside of Alicante. His apartment is really cool, and we each had our own bed in his guest room! He took us all over Benissa and the surrounding towns. We saw a ton of beaches, some with sand others with stones. Visa showed us some of his favorite places- beaches where he and his friends make paella, listen to music, and even sleep under the stars!

That night, we went out for a very spanish dinner- all kinds of seafood, pelotas (bread and pork wrapped in cabbage and boiled), tortilla española, bread with anchovies, a big plate of roasted vegetables for me, sweet wine, and espresso. After dinner, we met about 15 of Visa´s friends at a nearby bar. The beauty of a small town is that everywhere you go, you´ll find friends! We got a lot of practice speaking Spanish.

On Saturday, we drove to a pueblecito (little town) in the mountains called Guadalest. There were beautiful views of the mountains and a museum of miniature art- intricate paintings on grains of rice and sand, seashells, pieces of hair, etc. You had to look at everything through a magnifying glass!

We were all pretty tired from the night before and from all the walking we had done in Guadelest, so we opted for a drive-in movie instead of a bar. First, we saw a Spanish movie called ¨Al final del camino¨(To the End of the Road) and then ¨Angeles y Demonios¨(Angels and Demons).

Today, Visa drove us to Valencia, the capital city of the Valencian community. We walked all over the city, saw a ton of cathedrals and ate mini-sandwiches for lunch. He just dropped us off at our hostel and headed back to Benissa. The worst part of travelling is all the good-byes!

Tomorrow, we take a bus to Barcelona and then a plane to Milan on Tuesday. My friend Giovanni, who studied at U of I as an exchange student, lives outside of Milan. He´s going to meet up with us in the afternoon and hopefully show us around a little. We´ve been looking forward to gelato for weeks now, so we´ll definitely have to work some gelaterias into the schedule!

¡Hasta pronto!

Besos,
Katie

Tours, tiles, and tapas

We made it to Granada! It´s just like I remember it- the tile sidewalks, the purr of mopeds around every corner, the smell of dry air and stale cigarette smoke, and the carefree lifestyle that I so badly want to take home. We arrived last night after a full day of traveling (Edinburgh to Malaga, Malaga to Granada) and headed out for tapas. After two pitchers of sangria and a delicious tortilla española, we were ready to crash. We spent today reaquainting ourselves with the city, showing each other our favorite places, and reminiscing about our time living here.

Before our homecoming to Spain, we spent a long weekend in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It´s currently competing with London as my favorite city in the world. There is a charming combination of history and modernity in Edinburgh that I´ve never experienced. The old castles and graveyards could illustrate any fairytale storybook, while the high fashion and public transport are similar to any other Euopean city.

The city sits on a hill, with Edinburgh Castle marking its highest point. We saw most of the city on a three-hour walking tour. Our guide was an animated Australian man who explained every major site in the city, acting out stories of love, war, and thievery. Apparently, Edinburgh used to be body-snatching capital of Europe (lots more of those little anecdotes to come in a future post). We also did some exploring on our own and stumbled upon the Edinburgh Botanic Gardens, which were absolutely gorgeous. We did a pub crawl on Sunday night and made some friends from England who will be visiting Chicago this summer!

Our hostel was not quite as charming as the city. It was in an old, converted church with all of the original stained glass windows and stone walls. Sounds cool, right? Well, it would have been if our bedroom had a ceiling, but it did not. The sanctuary of the church housed 16 dorm rooms with 6 people in each and none had ceilings. I don´t know if the vaulted ceilings of the church were too tall to allow proper walls or if they wanted us to appreciate the gorgeous stained glass. Either way, I´ll sacrifice the beauty for some peace and quiet!

Well, the Spanish sun is calling. We´re off to have lunch in our favorite park, Garcia Lorca. We´ll be thinking of all of you while we sun bathe!

Katie

Our last days in Galway :(

Hi everyone!
We´re in Granada, Spain right now but I wanted to fill you in on our last couple days in lovely little home away from home. Thursday Katie and I both went to work, I had to say goodbye to my amazing boss Donna, which was actually really hard! Katie had just started to realize that people at work actually liked her, so we were both getting pretty sad! After work we did a few errands and headed home to get ready for the big night out. All of our friends had planned on coming out with us for a last hoorah on Thursday so we were excited, but kind of dreading it because that really meant the end. Everyone started coming over and the wine drinking began. As usual it eventually led to David bringing out the guitar and everyone hanging out and singing for hours. Of all the things about Galway I will miss, I´ll miss these nights the most. We finally got out to the bar and everyone had a great time dancing and not thinking about the fact that we´re leaving! Later at home we stayed up until 5 am with David on the guitar, Mick on the drum, and me on the tambourine! It was so much fun again that no one wanted to go to bed, but our last day of work was tomorrow so Kate turned in and then everyone else followed.

The next morning everyone was hurting from the night before so we all went our for lunch. Well, everyone except Katie. You may be wondering how I was able to go to lunch in the middle of the day. Turns out I skipped my last day of work! I didn´t mean to, I meant to go in late, but I just didn´t want to leave the party and it´s not like they could fire me! I felt really bad so I rang later and explained everything and it was fine. You´ll find that Ireland is a fabulous country which accepts "severely hungover" as a reason not to come to work! After lunch Katie and I went home to help David clean for some people who were coming to look at renting our rooms :( Lenny and Mick promised to come later that night to see us off to the bus station.

Friday was a gorgeous day. We cleaned and hung out with Dave all day, and he suggested we all have dinner together, which sounded great to Katie and I because we were getting really sad about leaving, me especially. It hadn´t really hit Kate yet at this point. Turns out David and his friend Christian, who is from Italy, made us this big, Italian, DELICIOUS dinner! After dinner we all got ready to go out again and headed to Monroe´s for the last time :( The band that David used to be in was playing so we hung out there for a while and Sheila, Dermot, his friend Eddie, and Mick came to meet us there. After that we headed to Bar 903 again for some dancing and had a great time. Katie and I had to take the 3:30 am bus to Shannon airport so around 2:30 we all went home to grab our stuff and everyone came to see us off at the airport! Lenny didn´t leave work in time but Mick, Eddie, Dermot, and Sheila walked with us in the rain to the bus station. I was alllll tears, as was Sheila. We are leaving behind some really amazing people here and I just hope that not much time passes before we can see them again.

Since then we have spent 5 hours in the Shannon airport, short flight to Edinburgh (pronounced Edinborough), Scotland where we spent 3 days, a handful more buses, another flight, and now we´re in Granada!!! I´ll let Kate catch you up on those adventures, but we miss you all and are so excited to see you!! Although, if you could all move to Europe we would really appreciate it, because we seriously LOVE it over here.

Ha Luego!!
-Erin

Biker Bar

Our most interesting days in Galway always seem to start with a phone call from Mick- climbing mountains, nights in Ballinrobe, road trips to Cork. Thursday it was a text message that went something like this: "Have you ever been to the biker bar? You have to go. Cultural experience." Well, you know Erin and me- can't pass up a cultural experience. 

So, off we were to Sally Long's, a bar in the heart of Galway that we never knew existed (after a night there, I realized that the regular clientele probably like it that way). At first glance, it was sort of a dive bar, full of guys with long hair and leather jackets. The bar staff looked like they had seen their fair share of rough nights. We had a few pints, and the place started to grow on us. Well, most of us. I think Erin was a little uncomfortable the whole time we were there. The coolest part of the bar was a mural that depicted the Last Supper. Don't worry, it didn't compromise the edginess of the bar; the heads of Jesus and his disciples were replaced by those of rock n' roll icons- Van Halen, Elvis, etc. There was a good rock band playing, and the bartender gave us vouchers for 1 euro off each of our drinks (possibly because we were among the only females in the place, but we'll take it). 

After witnessing a surprisingly subtle drug bust, we decided to call it a night. The wind practically carried us home. It was really bad that night; our curtains blew all night even though our windows were locked shut. 

Friday and Saturday were girls' nights out. Erin, Sheila, and I went to Monroe's to see David's band play. I suppose I should stop calling it David's band since he's no longer a member... Nights like Saturday help us realize why Americans tend to have a bad reputation in Europe. We spent a good portion of the night watching girls from Florida make complete fools of themselves. We decided to claim Canadian citizenship for the night. After the show, we hung out with the band for awhile until the bar staff made us leave. At the next bar, we met some Irish boys. One was from Donegal and the other two were from Dublin and Tiperary. When the bar closed, we all went to McDonald's where the conversation turned to, of all things, the American welfare state. That's when we knew it was time for bed. We said goodbye to our new friends and headed home. 

It was still windy on Saturday, but Sunday was the most gorgeous day yet. It was about 70 degrees and sunny all day long. We sat out in the backyard, got bagels, and walked around the city. 

Our time in Galway is winding down quickly. We are both going to quit work on Friday, and we leave for Scotland Saturday morning. I'm lucky to still be working- I was pretty sure I'd be fired last Thursday. I was on Men's Floor talking to a couple of my co-workers about our managers. We discussed our opinions of them for a few minutes- one uses her pregnancy as an excuse not to do anything and another is the reason no one likes working there, among other things- when I heard someone on my walkie talkie saying, "Hello? Men's floor?" I said, "Go ahead," and Aisling responded, "Turn your radio off. We can hear everything you're saying." 

Our jaws dropped and cheeks turned an unhealthy shade of red. We stared at each other with our hands over our mouths for a solid minute. It was almost 5pm, and just about time for the change in shifts, so everyone was leaving, but I had to stay on until 6pm. I walked downstairs to lady's floor, where everyone looked at me. "You ALL heard me?" They just nodded, and I laughed uncomfortably. I was positive that I would be fired.

Luckily, all the managers were having a meeting in the office upstairs. I guess they turned their radios down because no one mentioned it after that day. I guess I learned my lesson: don't gossip... and if you do, make sure your radio is off.

We don't have much time left in Galway, so we'll have to pack a lot in this week. You can count on some adventures over the next few days. Hopefully they'll involve more calls from Mick and less radio mishaps!

Meeting the Fam

Hola everyone! Well this weekend was GORGEOUS here! So much sun I got a mini sunburn on my chest and loved it :) Saturday we spent eating bagels by the river and then soaking up the sun in the yard. That evening when it started to rain we met Sheila at the internet cafe to plan Eurotrip. It's all booked, exciting huh?!

Sunday morning we woke up and caught a bus to Ennis, which is about an hour and 20 minutes from Galway, to meet my Grandma Clark's cousin, Sean, and his family! I was so excited to meet family here and it could not have been a better day and night. Sean's daughter, Kathy, picked us up from the bus station and as soon as we pulled up Margaret (Sean's wife) said I looked just like Andy Fahey (my dad's uncle)! There were tons and tons of kisses and hugs and welcomes, it was great! We went inside and had tea and coffee and biscuits and talked a lot about the family. I learned so many new things about my Grandma's side of the family and I really enjoyed talking to Sean about it. Turns out my grandparents were sitting in that exact house when I was born! I also learned that Grandma's family originated in Partry, which is in County Mayo, and which happens to be about 5 minutes from Ballinrobe! (where David, Lenny, Mick, and Lizzie are from...weird huh???)

After tea and coffee we had dinner, at like noon! It was a gorgeous feast: potatoes, carrots and parsnip, a roast, and it was all so delicious. After dinner we again had tea and coffee and chatted, it was a lot of Fahey/Staunton history for Katie to take in, but it was so interesting! Sean and Margaret have 5 kids and we got to meet 4 of them. After dinner Orla and Maria came over with Maria's son Ian, who is 10. Maria had a wedding that night so Orla was watching Ian and they were going to come with Kathy, Katie, and I on a driving tour of County Clare! We started out in Doolin, this small, like teeny teeny town on the coast with beautiful views. We stopped in Gus O'Connor's pub, which is famous, for a pint, and then continues up the coast to the Cliffs of Moher! Recall the first time we went we got to see about half of one cliff because of the fog, so it was amazing that we got to see them again! Ireland's coasts are spectacular...From there we went to Lahinch, this beach that Ian loves and goes to weekly in the summer. Who knew Ireland had such great surfing?! We got ice cream at Enzo's, which apparently has the best ice cream ever (I would have to agree..) and sat on the beach wall for bit. Ian gave us lots of info and pointed out the rich people's houses where he would one day live (I was invited to visit, as was Katie :) ). Next stop was Milltown to meet their brother John and his family in their mobile summer home. John and his wife, Fiona, have four kids who would be my 3rd cousins we decided (though for the day everyone was just cousins, and we were the American cousins!), Owen who will be starting college in the fall, Aiofe (ee-fa), who is 15, Niamh (neve), who is probably 12 or 13, and Gerald, 6? Anyhow they were so welcoming and showed us the beach where they lived for the whole summer. They wake board, body board, fish, wind surf, everything! It reminded me of Lake Como before the TV, DVD player, huge outdoor toys, etc.. They had no TV and no electricity, by choice! So cool...

After our driving tour we went back home, where Margaret had prepared a dozen home made scones, a rhubarb tart, and an apple tart, delicious!! I couldn't stop eating, so luckily she sent us home with lots of everything :) Ian's sister Roisin (ro-sheen), 5, came home from her friend's home to meet us and showed me that she had just lost a tooth. She was a little nervous but very sweet. When Orla took the kids home for the night Kathy asked if we would like a glass of wine, but before we could answer Margaret said "O yes they would, they would, yes, get them a glass, yes..." So we had some wine and chatted some more, took a few pictures, and then Kathy really had to get to sleep. She works for Continental Airlines at Shannon airport and had to be there at 6 am! I think I should look into that job because she flies for free, as do Sean and Margaret!! I promised I'd try to plan a big Chicago reunion because she said they could come at the drop of a hat! Sean dropped us off at the bus station the next morning since I had to get to work and gave us lots of hugs and kisses goodbye, he told me to give Grandma a big kiss too. It was such a great day and I'm so happy I got to meet and learn so much about my family. I'll post the pics soon, sorry for everyone who was super bored by this post; we'll be going out like every night now because we have so little time left, so I'm sure they'll be more exciting ones soon!!!

Love you all, less than a month now!!
-Erin