I have returned from hibernation!

This past weekend was one of the best weekends of my life. I traveled with a group of friends to Edinburgh, Scotland. =) I now believe EVERYONE should add Scotland to their bucket lists...

Thursday: Arthur's Day!

Arthur Guinness gave the world Guinness and in appreciation for his gift to earth, Ireland gives good ole' Arthur a day of celebration. As you all can imagine this is just one REALLY good excuse for the Irish to get drunk and charge higher covers for bars and pubs. For weeks before the celebrations the streets and bars are covered in posters and banners in anticipation for 17:59 Arthur's Day. One might ask why 17:59. Is this when Arthur was born? No. Was this when Arthur died? No.... I could go on forever, but the point here is this date and time don't have any true relevance to Arthur's life.  It really is just an excuse to drink a ton of Guinness. Sadly, my bus to Dublin/Scotland left at 19:00 on Arthur's day so I was only able to participate in a few minutes of the celebration, but I did get a Guinness and a coaster!

The Arth Guinness!

My first Guinness

Guinness: Where the magic happens =)

Hard to see, but this poster has a bunch of pints of Guinness making up the shape of Ireland. This was a poster we all become very familiar with. 

Lee and I with our Arthur's Day coasters. 

Although the festivities were only beginning, I had to split and rush to the bus. I spent Arthur's night on a bus to Dublin and then sleeping in the airport. Although I would have much rather been drinking all night, Scotland was worth the loss. 

Friday: Edinburgh here I come!

After a long night of attempting to sleep on the couches at the Starbucks in the Dublin airport, we finally arrived in Scotland bright eyed and bushy tailed. 

I spy with my little eye...Scotland!

Maybe we weren't exactly bright and bushy tailed, but we were happy none the less. 

Day 1 in Edinburgh was amazing, eventful, and filled with great fun. All of the buildings in Scotland are so beautiful and I found myself mesmerized quite a few times in Edinburgh. I also found myself HIGHLY entertained with the hat selection...

The pound(the currency the UK uses) tried to break my bank, so sadly I couldn't buy this lovely hat.

I did buy each and every one of you one of these special special plates though...

Sister, I bought you two! haha

After seeing the Royal couple we felt it was fitting to continue on to the Edinburgh Castle.

Not too sure why I am posing like a flamingo, but...

 We made it to the castle..

 Bought our tickets...

And headed on in..

 The castle was beautiful.

I even found myself a bagpiper. 

 The view from the top!

 Uh Oh.... The view in my jail cell!

Then Ellen and I found a shared cell.

 Quick farewell to the castle..Next stop Arthur's Seat

Arthur's Seat is a mountain in Edinburgh that everyone hikes to see the view of the city. This was my favorite part of all of Scotland.

 At Parliament getting ready to start the hike..

 Up Up we went!

We made it to the top!!

 Of the wrong mountain...

Sooo we headed up the next mountain to the real Arthur's Seat.

 I was quite excited to make it to the top of the correct Arthur's Seat!

Mara and I holding on for dear life at the tip top of the city. 

Katherine and I making our wishes at the highest point of Arthur's Seat.

All of us at the top! =)

Then we headed back down the mountain...

Then we headed to our hostel for quick naps before we went out on the town..

 We made some friends at our hostel and decided to go out on the town with them.

This fella has been WALKING through Europe for the last 3 months! I have added walking Europe to my bucket list. Anyone want to join? =) Along with our walking buddy we met some bellins(I am quite sure this is what he said), aka boys out for a bachelor's party. 

Mara was trying to get the logistics of this party, while I was busy admiring the shirts that they are required to wear.

Saturday: St. Andrews and the oldest golf course on earth

 The early morning bus ride to St. Andrews..

 The ocean along the way

 Mara and I happy to have successfully arrived in St. Andrews..

 A fun little bridge I found.

The most beautiful cemetery I have ever seen..

Next stop the pier...

 Then my future home...

 It's big and most likely quite pricey, but a girl can dream..=)

 Yummy Gelato for a snack..

We saved the very best for the last...The St. Andrews Golf Course.

We found the famous bridge, but where's Rory Mcilroy? ;)

Mara and I returned to the hostel in Edinburgh to swoop up the rest of our group and head out to the famous George St.

 We even found some gals from Spain to join us!

 Sunday: Back to Ireland!

Scotland was amazing and exhausting. I loved every single minute of it and hope to visit again someday.  Next on the list of places to visit: Brussels, Belgium!
Cheers All!
xo

3 days of school, 4 days of fun! =)

First week of school in Ireland=MADNESS!! My schedule has changed about 500 times since Monday morning and I have attended about 10 classes which I will no longer be taking. At UCC this week is a shopping week for us International students. What this means is that we can go to different classes, test them out, and then next week we officially enroll in the ones that we want. This oh so cool process provides both stress and excitement. I spent the majority of my week looking like this....

That is the UCC campus map in my hands...

Monday morning I was the first to a class that I have already taken in the states...

Tues I showed up to a lecture to find out that the professor had quit! At this point I figured the only thing to do was....

Hit up the campus bar at 3pm with Kevin. =)

We were quite entertained by all the drunk students and the lively Karaoke. Even the campus knows that the students love to party! =)

In addition to the mayhem that the week provided, I also met some of the sweetest best Irish gals ever. I know I don't know that many Irish people, but these gals are by the best in town, I just know it. They are tickled pink by the fact that I say trash can instead of bin. =)

This week is Fresher week at UCC and the pubs are crawling with students who have just started back to college. The pubs are all packed and school is quite bumping this week. It is nearly impossible to pub jump this week and the lines all looked about like this...

But don't you worry, I still managed to go out every night this week.. =)

 Monday music and brew...

 Little Dancing...

The Irish gals even got me a shout out from this fine dj in his Hollister apparel. Turns out Abercrombie and Hollister are just now big brands in Ireland. haha

This fella, along with about ten other fellas not pictured, felt inclined to take their shirts off and dance on the bar when the dj played Hakuna Matata. It was possibly one of the funniest things I have seen in Ireland.  

All in all it has been a hectic week, but a really great week as well. I love love love Ireland and I don't think I will ever want to come home. As for now, I am off to Scotland for the weekend! YAY 

Cheers =) 

 It is Thursday now and I officially started my weekend! YAY