Ahhhhh life is still so busy! Even though we finished classes two weeks ago things definitely haven’t slowed down. Since classes ended, I’ve spent two days in Disneyland Paris (SUCH a good call), four days in Paris, two days touring Connemara, annnnnd the rest of the time writing papers…
- Paris
- Disneyland!
i. Super fun
ii. Left Galway ridiculously early in the morning with one of the other Lauren’s to catch our flight and made it to the park by 1pm, played at magic kingdom until 5, met Niki at the entrance (since she was coming from Berlin), did a few more rides, went to the hotel for a mediocre, French version of Mexican food, went back to the park until closing time at 10!
iii. Woke up super early the next morning to take advantage of the 2 extra hours people staying in Disney hotels get and ended up doing Space Mountain twice in about 20 minutes (WAY better than our space mountain!), did the peter pan ride (a lot cooler now that I’ve been to London and can pick out what the buildings are), AND did the tea cups, all before the park actually opened!
iv. Once the parks opened for real we went over to the MGM equivalent park and did Tower of Terror, Rock’N’RollerCoaster, saw the stunt show and a couple other shows in French (including one called ‘Animagique,’ a black light show full of Disney songs… it was actually really cute, and, after waiting in line for an hour and a half, went on the newest roller coaster they have, “Crush’s Coaster” where you get to ride the E.A.C. on the back of a turtle! Definitely a really cool new ride… hopefully DisneyWorld will open one, too!
v. Left around 7 to get to Paris at a reasonable time
- Paris!
i. Went on a free walking tour of Paris with our favorite tour company, New Europe Tours
ii. Wandered around the city until our other friends met up with us
iii. Went to see Versailles Castle!
1. Amazingly ornate
2. Saw the Hall of Mirrors… so cool
3. Wandered through the gardens
4. Hunted for (but failed to find) Marie Antoinette’s pink sheep… we’re convinced PETA must have put up a fuss about dying the sheep pink because we could NOT find them anywhere
iv. Went to the Catacombs, where bones were moved and stacked underground, with some even being arranged into pictures. Creepy? Yes. Awesome? Also Yes!
v. Went to the Pompidou Center… modern art… still not such a huge fan… too much of their big exhibition right now is the artists ‘needing to feel pain’ so it was pictures of them cutting their palms, or with rows of thorns stuck into their arms, or hula-hooping with rings of barbed wire… not at all my definition of art, nor do I really think it’s something we should condone as art.
vi. Went to the Rodin Museum and saw the statue ‘The Thinker’ which was pretty cool
vii. Saw Napoleon’s tomb
viii. Wandered down the Champ d’Elysees to the Arc d’Triomph and then over to the Eiffel Tower
ix. Ate LOTS AND LOTS OF CREPES!
- Connemara!
- Took a bus tour up to Connemara with the same Lauren I went to Disney with and stopped to stay the night in a hostel in Connemara
- While there, took a boat tour on the Killary Fjord, courtesy of Uncle Russ! The views were absolutely breathtaking and, while I got a few pictures, they just don’t do it justice. The boat had an interesting commentary about the area, and we even got to see some Dolphins!
- Walked about 3 kilometers back to our hostel and hung around there the rest of the day. It was a beautiful day so it was really nice to just sit outside in this nice secluded spot with an AMAZING view and read a book. Very relaxing J
- Caught the tour bus for the rest of the tour the next day, and headed back to Galway
- Back in Galway now for less than two weeks! Still can’t believe it, still having mixed feelings, but I’ll be happy to go home. Have two big papers left to write by next Friday, and just packing and enjoying my last few days in Galway after that! I’m trying to spend as much time out in the nice weather and around town for the rest of the time so this is probably my last update for a while. See you all when I get home in a few weeks!
