the road to Ireland ends

My apologies for the absence, we’ve been extremely occupied with travels, illness, and house hunting. Luckily, the travel is over, the sickness is done, and our search for a lovely abode has come to an end…. Lets see, Paris, Belgium, Amsterdam, and Ireland… so much to update!

Paris

Cliché or not, my time in Paris was enchanting. Of course, I knew that Paris was the city for lovers, but believing in it was a question mark. Prior to arrival I was hopelessly romanticizing that I would have this magical Cinderella experience while I was there, and I did. It was too perfect to share all the juicy details and probably super cheesy (especially to the men reading this!). Regardless, I fell more madly in love those 72 hours.

While in Paris, we went to the Arc de Triumph, Louve, Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, and the main shopping area that I can’t remember the name of. We probably saw more but I can’t seem to recall. The Eiffel Tower was absolutely stunning. We chose to splurge in Paris and have a date night (I guess every night has been a date night but this had extra spark to it!). After showering, perfume, lipstick, and heels, I was set for my lovely planned evening in Paris. We waited to go up the Eiffel Tower until sundown; best decision we made! We reserved it in advance so we didn’t even have to wait in line, yay! I didn’t even have to hopelessly wish for romance, it was so natural. The scenery was beautiful and not a care in the world was on our mind. We were totally into each other watching the sunset from the summit of the tower. We gazed, kissed, hugged, laughed, smiled, and prayed; it was flawless. Following the tower escapade, we found a nice restaurant to dine at directly under the tower and under the stars. After wine, steak, salad, and fries, I was one grateful stuffed piggy. The tower also has a huge grass area where you can pop champagne and cuddle. So, that’s just what we did...

Paris was all I had ever hoped for!


Brussels, Belgium

If you want to go somewhere to have some freakin’ fun, book a flight to Brussels stat. We got super lucky, our place was right in the center of everything. It was so easy and accessible to everything. The whole Brussels vibe was just…cool. It was a lot of little streets, cool restaurants, nice people, and awesome buildings and architecture. Of course, awesome bars too. We were told by several fellow travelers to go to the Delirium Café; sounded like a stoner pot head pit to me. Well well well I was pleasantly surprised when it was the sweetest bar I’ve ever stepped my little feet into. This place has 2010 beers, yup, you read right! It was three floors, super relaxed vibe, great music, and excellent brews. We met some friends and planned to hang out again. It never worked out but its always fun getting to know new people. We bought some cool souvenirs, walked around the city, enjoyed venturing off with no map, and enjoyed people watching. We found this interesting street where there was a guy playing the saxophone on the street. He was extremely talented so we chose to stop at a café and grab a drink and listen. I wish I had my journal on me because the energy on this random street made my want to write. I remember feeling completely content and outrageously grateful. It was splendid.

Amsterdam

Wow. Amsterdam was nuts. We went to the Red Light District, Anne Frank House, Dam Square, Heineken Brewery, and the main square (It starts with an L but I can’t remember the name). The Red Light District was so strange. I’m happy I went because it was totally out of my element. Luke was laughing at me because he knew I was trying to play it cool but really I was so awkward. It was hard for me to watch; I didn’t want to judge but I did want to pray! I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the girls; I can’t even imagine that life. Anyway, I was glad I went and saw it and I’m sure Luke was too ;)

The Anne Frank house was my FAVORITE part about Amsterdam! I was choked up the whole time. I remember reading her story in middle school and feeling so connected to her. As a young girl I was so intrigued by the holocaust, this experience enhanced every feeling I ever had. I was unaware that the museum was the actual house. I told Luke before that it couldn’t be, it didn’t seem possible. I was so wrong. We visited the actual secret annex. I walked through the bookcase that hid the family right into Anne’s actual room that she hid in. I stood there and felt like a piece of you know what for ever complaining about anything. It was humbling and brought tears to my eyes and chills to my spine. Additionally, we were able to see the actual journal of Anne Frank. If you ever visit Amsterdam make sure you make time to see it, you will never regret it.

Amsterdam as a whole was grand! I can’t say that I will run back but I’m very happy we went. I saw loads of interesting people, had fun, and was moved by Anne Frank.


Ireland

Our attempt to get here was similar to our attempt to get to Paris (the bike rack, remember?) but not as bad. We were just exhausted. We left Amsterdam super early in the morning, went back to Brussels, Brussels to London, picked up our luggage that we stored in the beginning, waited for 6 hours, took the night train to the ferry port, and boarded the ferry to get to Ireland at 2 40 am. It was freezing and I was exhausted. And, we had 5 large bags of luggage. It wasn’t fun and this was when I started to feel super ill. We arrived in Dublin that morning at 5 am then had to take a three-hour bus ride to Galway. It was so tiring and I felt like crap. However, we sucked it up and finally made it. Then, I hid for three days in bed due to some virus the doc said. Oh well, I’m better now and so excited to finally be here!!!

After a few disappointments while house hunting, we finally found a place. After the first day, we were completely discouraged. We prayed a lot and literally felt like it was in Gods control. Right when we finally surrendered our anxiety and ate lunch by the sea, everything fell into place. Our new place is steps from the ocean and its beautiful. Its 200 times nicer than anything we ever thought we would take! Tomorrow, we are going to watch a big futbol game at one of the pubs and drink some delicious Guinness. I saw my school today, and I’m super excited and nervous at the same time! I also met with Amy (the other student teacher here) today and it was so nice to spend time with her. I start working on Monday and I’m hoping the butterflies calm down a bit. For now, we are ready to settle, cook some dinner, and find some time to relax and reflect on everything that has occurred so far. It has all happened so quickly and I’m looking forward to the slower, Irish lifestyle. We should have internet at our place early next week so hopefully the blogs can be more frequent….

Thanks for tuning in :]

kates

ps: pictures to come next!!!