Luck of the Irish

Here is a peek at the first weekend trip (to Ireland) out of the 10 days I got to spend with my mother in Europe:

I welcomed her and her traveling companion (my friend Casey's mom) at the airport when they landed a little before 8am, and rushed them onto the metro and to Maria's infamous apartment! I was way too hyper for the morning, especially because it was the middle of the night for them, but I could not contain my excitement about inviting them in to view my life abroad(from a viewpoint other than my FB pictures). Next, Maria and Cortes (mis padres espanoles) took us all out for the "Spanish Breakfast" of croissant plancha, pan tostado con tomate, churros, y cafe! The mothers were stuffed! After that my mom could have napped....but I wanted her to see the walk through the park that I see everyday on my way to school, as well as seeing SLU Madrid's beautiful campus patios outside every building.

Once we got back from our walk it was time to fly to Dublin! And here we are the next day stopping to view a castle on our "Paddywagon" day trip to the Cliffs of Moher! We are matching of course....

Isn't she cute???

Here we are arriving at the Cliffs!

Oh and here are the actual cliffs:

Wow God is really good.

 And she wouldn't be Colleen Misdom if she didn't freak out about me walking along the cliff's edge:

I promise all this matching was unintentional...

Also, I never knew Ireland had such a variety of landscapes, I saw cliffs, mountains, hills (the latter I did know about), waterfalls, and forests completely covered in bright green moss! So cool!

The Mother-Daughter gang!^^^^

Inch Beach during our tour of Kerry, Ireland. This happened to be right after we drove through Dingle, Ireland which is where my mom's grandmother (who she was extremely close with) grew up before coming to the US at 17 years old.

I absolutely loved that we got to spend our last day in Ireland with our family there! We wish we could have spent more time together, but realized that means we just have to come back....with my Grandma next time! It would be beautiful to see her visiting the birthplace of her mother. So that is my Mom and I's next goal! 

Here is my mom, Della and I, scoping out all of what Dublin had to offer:)

Cool fun fact: Della is the Irish nickname of Bridget!

2 Helpful hints if you ever get to eat in Dublin:

1. Get excited... because Ireland has the best food 

I've had yet while traveling Europe. I'm all about 

those hearty meals though. 

2. You have to eat at the Hairy Lemon for dinner! 

And don't be shy...get the bread pudding for dessert!

We ended up eating at this restaurant 3 times

 becausewe couldn't get enough of it's delicious

"Beef & Guinness pie"and its super

 friendly family-run staff!

Cute and scrumptious bakery!

 This place made me start loving tea again.

Then we had to say goodbye to Ireland, it was time to show my mom Madrid...oh and go to school. 

Thanks for the spin      Paddywagon!

Bridget's Barcelona Birthday!

Hi everyone! I am finally posting again to tell you about how I spent my 20th Birthday while Abroad! Thank you all for the birthday wishes and cards....they were so thoughtful:)

Since I finish class on Wednesday afternoons, I had all of Thursday and Friday to get some necessary homework done. Many hours were spent at Starbucks during those 2 days. Then on Friday night myself, Casey, Kelsey, and Hannah decided to go get some nachos and margaritas at La Tierra (one of our new favorite spots) before Kelsey and Hannah came back to sleep at Maria's with us because we had an early morning ahead of us. But before we went to sleep we had to watch Cheetah Girls 2 because it took place in Barcelona. We had to learn how to "strut" down Barcelona's streets!
The next day was 5am on my Birthday and it was time to hail down a taxi. We did it! And after a quick 3 hour train ride we were standing in the beautiful streets of Barcelona! I instantly understood why Barcelona is on many people's list of their favorite places in the world! It was spacious, calm, and sunny! And those adjectives are not usually used to describe urban settings....but it was true! The wide streets welcomed us as we safely found our hostel, Amistat Beach Hostel! I recommend it to anyone traveling here. It is a new one so they have a bunch of new ideas about how to run a hostel that are different than ones I had been to before. The most important quality to me is cleanliness. But it doesn't hurt when they add a free breakfast:)

After we got settled we stopped for lunch on our way to check out the beach. And saw a HUGE dog!

After lunch we found our way to the beach. It felt so surreal to be on the coast! I was loving it X10

And so were my friends:

 I'd like to say we had a few bonding moments:

because Casey got to see how I really don't not enjoy getting my boots wet and sandy :/

But they survived:)

Then we found the famous "La Sagrada Familia" which is a huge cathedral that has been in construction since the 1800s and was designed by the architecture, Gaudi, who has a bunch of work in Barcelona. 

And basically the rest of the day was food related. Until we took a night trip to the beach, which was one of my favorite moments while abroad so far. We just sat and watched the shore, and it was so peaceful. Then broke out dancing to some Beyonce songs. Typical. 

 Our 2nd day started by visiting Parc de Guell,
which was absolutely beautiful! Some more Gaudi stuff!

 

                                        And here is our remake of the Cheetah girls photo!

Casa Batllo --> 

It was an awesome trip and a great break before the huge week of midterms I have been studying for. I have 5 midterms in a 3-day week of classes...how is that possible?? Wish me luck! Can't wait till they are over because by Friday I will be in Morocco...so ecstatic!

Segovia y Cercedilla

For those of you who have not figured it out yet....one of my best friends from high school was able to stay with me from Wednesday night until 5am Yesterday morning. It was absolutely amazing to have her here with me in Spain. We had done more in the last few days together than I have done combined in the last two-ish weeks. Her native-spanish speaking ability helps move the pace of our sight seeing adventures. Therefore we did not get lost on the way to every site. Those of which include a perfect mix of hitting up every touristy MUST-SEE monument/area of Madrid, as well as authentic cultural experiences, such buying tickets to see a flamenco dancing performance (the traditional Spanish dance) at a tiny theatre in the back of a gorgeous little restaurant. But I would still have to say that our spontaneous/unplanned trip to Cercedilla gets awarded with my favorite adventure from this past weekend!

Right now I think I will talk about Segovia and Cercedilla. So lets start with Wednesday: 

I had my biggest independent moment so far in this trip that day. It was a great boost of confience to get from school to the airport via the metro all by myself AND find Brenda at the right Terminal (and be in a foreign country that speaks a foreign language...just had to add that factor in)! It was an awesome reunion, followed by bringing her back to my host home and introducing her to mi familia nueva en la casa de Maria y Cortes, my host parents!

And then we went dancing! Even though this girl had been up since 7am...she never stops:)

And I tried my first mojito! I expected it to taste awful, but it wasn't at all!

 Then it was Thursday; Brenda, Erica, Casey and I's exciting day in Segovia, Spain! I was so happy that I was able to introduce two of my closest friends in college to my friend from home in Naperville. Mixing worlds is a time and a half! I think it allowed the house to see where a lot of my crazy quirkiness and extemporaneity comes from.

 

We got there and were sooo hungry. So we were very thankful that a man was walking around promoting a cute little restaurant that gave us a plate of tapas(croquetos con jamon y queso and what i think was cured ham on bread), 2 courses, a bottle of wine to share, and even a dessert!

The place was adorable!

I loved this city. 

Well how could I not when it holds the castle that inspired the design of the Disney castle???!! :O It was unbelievable!

I was thinking of my sister, Katelyn, the whole time and how I need to go back sometime in my life with her! That's my newest goal! She would have cried I think. 

But that wasn't the only pretty view..

And then there was the next day where we went in search for waterfalls but ended up in Cercedilla with a friend we made on the train. He was from a small town in Arkansas, and all three of us were somewhat confused about the day's plans...so it worked out! 

And we found this hiking trail:

Just a casual gorgeous hike in the mountains of Cercedilla!

Hope everyone is staying safe and warm in the US! Love you all!