In the Land of Harry Potter, William Shakespeare...and Fried Pickles.

Didn't actually get a chance to eat any fried pickles. My only disappointment during my stay in London would be that. It wasn't the lack thereof, it was more my having no time to consume them due to the fact that in the span of two days I have seen Big Ben, London's Parliament, Buckingham Palace, the Marble Arch ; have marveled at the Peter Pan statue, London Bridge, Millennium Bridge; toured the Tower of London and the Globe Theatre; walked along the Thames River, stood underneath the London eye, gone to mass at Westminster Abbey and received communion in the same place where Princess Diana's funeral was held and where Elton John performed his rendition of "Candle in the Wind"; attempted to push my way through Platform 9 3/4; seen one of the most brilliant renditions of "Chicago" in one of the most influential cities for theatre culture in the entire world; haggled with a man at Camden Market for a one-of-a-kind, hand-made top; managed to figure out the Underground; walked through Hyde Park; bought something from a world-renowned department store (Harrod's) for my mother; and walked down streets where some of the world's most brilliant writers, actors, directors and monarchs have walked, dwelt and visited. Sometimes I forget this is actually my life I'm telling you about.


I know you're all curious about my attempt to make it to the famous Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Unfortunately, despite the desperate attempts by myself and my friends, we were unable to make it through to the platform...shame. Having fun visualizing this attempt? Here, let me help you...

It was actually rather difficult to find, which really added to the awesome-ness of it all :)

Also, while I'm rambling on about Harry Potter, like you all probably expected the minute you found out I was off to London, I think you should get a better idea of where I was staying and what I was near. To assist me in this i'm enlisting youtube.com for some visuals. Yes, I stood on that very bridge and stood in front of those very buildings. Luckily enough, the Death Eaters let us be for the day ;) Click on the link to see! (if you look close enough you can see London Bridge in the background)


Death Eater Attack from HP6



It's incredible how stories like Harry Potter and Sherlock Holmes influence the vibe of a city to a tourist. At some points I felt as though I were walking around in the 17th century listening to Big Ben chime away in the early morning, walking over the Wesminster Bridge through the cold early morning fog to church. London is a very cool city, definitely a place where I'd like to visit again. And though some parts of the city reminded me of Dublin, it's a very different vibe than Ireland, which is now what i'm used to. I think at least part of it may be because the country is still headed by a monarchy, which is such an interesting concept to me. There was something profound about being in a country where they have had the same form of government for thousands of years, and has evolved into the highest display of grandeur (which I also found quite different from Ireland-the complexity and grandeur of it all). 


I will post some photos in a separate post because I haven't uploaded the photos on my computer yet!


Hope you enjoyed!


until next time,
Suze

Begin at the Beginning.

Since I completely disregarded my blog and loyal followers for the first 5 weeks of my amazing trip to Ireland...I have quite a lot to catch you all up on. My time here is going so quickly that I have no desire to waste any time, so I feel like I'm constantly going downtown and exploring, catching up on work, or you know... jetting off to various countries all over continental Europe (which I promise you will hear about). But regardless! That's no excuse for me to neglect everyone back home so I'll just get started!


Arriving in Ireland I felt at home straight away, even taking the bus from the airport to my apartment complex in Galway, I felt as though my heart lightened. I was finally here, the place where my family originated (some, at least) and where my family still remained (I'm beginning at the beginning, if you will). All this may sound corny, but it really is an amazing feeling to feel so connected with a place that you have never been before. 


My first night here I had already compiled a list of reasons to love Ireland in my journal (which I have been using as my proverbial "blog" while traveling):

• the cows graze literally right next to the highway
• all the shades of green you could possibly imagine
• the accordion player on the sidewalk that plays happy Irish music and grins widely with gap-teeth
• nearly everyone is friendly
• they make everything smaller here, which, consequently, makes life a bit easier for those of us standing at a mere 5 feet
• I don't get carded!
• the stores close early. This may seem like an inconvenience at first and I'll admit that at times, it is, but it's a nice reminder that the people working can go home to their families for dinner 
• the weather can be shite, but it can also be the most beautiful days you've ever seen in your life...complete with rainbows.
• the style here is an eclectic mix of vintage and trendy, which I am all about, and am getting increasingly confident in dressing myself better
• last but definitely not least...THEY LOVE BOSTON PEOPLE. (and automatically assume you have Irish heritage if you say that's where you're from...most of the time they're right)

There are more reasons than just these few, but those will pop up as my blogs are posted. 

I also would like you to see where I'm going to school, so here are some photos of my campus. And no, it's not Hogwarts (though I did try to get there this past weekend, check out my next post to hear about that!)

These are ruins across the street from my school.

The King Fischer Gym on campus.

These are photos of the quad on campus. Apparently if you sit on the grass you will fail your exams. And since there's no continuous assessment and everything depends on exams...no one sits there.

I suck at blogging.

First off, I want to apologize to all the people at home who were so looking forward to my blog and hearing about all of my adventures in the Emerald Isle...and then not hearing from me for about 6 weeks. Alas! I promise I have a ton of stuff to tell you about so you will be reading the following few posts for quite a while, as I've done a lot of exploring and traveling this past month and a half, and intend to tell you all. So sit back, grab a mug of some good 'ole Irish Bailey's Tea and enjoy. :)

I feel it necessary to share with you all some phrases that I've learned over the past few weeks in order for you to better understand what I'm talking about, as I'll probably unintentionally drop some of them throughout my posts just because it's what I'm used to now. Some of them are funny, some are rated PG-13, some make no sense at all, but that's the Irish way!

• Cheers = Thank you
• yoke = thing (i.e. "gimme that yoke over there")
• telly = television
• mam = mom
• take-away = to-go
• thanks a million! = thanks very much
• *Craic (pronounced 'crack') = good time (i.e. what's the craic?/where's the craic?)
• queue = line
• lift = elevator
• em = um
• ye = you
• me = my
• biscuits = crackers
• grand = great
• half (insert time) = (insert time) - thirty (i.e. "11:30" = "half-eleven")
• chicken fingers = chicken balls
• dear = expensive
• chips = french fries
• crisps = potato chips
• class = great ( i.e. that pizza was class)
• bollocks = shit
• shite = shit (mostly referring to when someone is joking around, they're "talkin' shite")
• boot = trunk of car
• hoover = vacuum
• toasties = grilled cheese sandwhich
• arse = ass
• getting the ride = sex
• score = to make out
• get the shift = (french) kissing
• fancy = to like
• sound = really nice/good
• pet = honey (or other terms of endearment)
• wrecked = wickid tired/drunk
• jumper = sweater
• runners = sneakers
• jumpered up = to have a sweater on
• module = class (lecture)
• c'mere  ('come here') = tell me (i.e. "c'mere, what's wrong?)
• chemist = pharmacy
• put the chat on him/her = to hit on him/her

*Irish people find it hilarious when Americans hear this for the first time because they know our first thought is:  "Crack??  Like...cocaine....???"

until later,

Suzy