Irish Stepdance Recital

A few weeks ago, my Irish dance class had a recital, and the videos have just surfaced online. We performed a traditional 8 hand jig and then a "contemporary" piece to Flo Rida's "Club Can't Handle Me Right Now". To me, these videos are hilarious, and it's fairly obvious that I'm laughing during both of the performances, but I couldn't help it! During the 8 hand jig I got a debilitating charlie horse in my calf, causing me to limp my way through the steps. And, during the contemporary piece, well, really, how was I not supposed to laugh? Anyway, I've decided to share the wealth. For your entertainment:

Spring Break Part #2 - Spain

Fun Fact: the bathrooms in Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport actually close after a certain time. Josh and I spent an uncomfortable night in the airport, in preparation for our early flight. Finally, after hours of restless napping in various locations (dictated by floor cleaning machines, construction, and gate openings), we made it on the plane to Madrid.

My visit to Madrid is all a blur to me now. I remember arriving and thinking that the city was beautiful. We went to some art museum that had lots of fabulous Picasso, spent far too long lingering at a record shop, and sat down to a leisurely dinner of paella. About two hours later, my dinner was revisited, beginning my 36 hour stint of food poisoning. I know that in my semi-conscious state, the only thing I found pleasant was the music and tap dancing on the street that I could hear drifting through my window.That was the end of Madrid.

When I was finally able to get out of bed, we hopped a bus to Barcelona. Eight and a half cramped hours later, we actually arrived in Barcelona. I hadn’t eaten in two days, so our first priority was food. We settled on a little tapas restaurant where we had, what Josh proclaimed was the best meal he’d had yet in Europe. Then, we headed back up to the hostel and met up with my friend Justin and a friend he came with. We spent the night in the packed hostel bar, watching the Barcelona vs. Madrid soccer match. I was whole heartedly rooting for Barcelona, based on their food, but sadly, they lost.

The next day, all of us got up early and went to Gaudi’s famous church, La Sagrada Familia. It was absolutely amazing.

Not being able to get enough Gaudi, we made our next stop Park Guell. It offered a spectacular view of the city and a glorious fusion of architecture and nature. While we were there, we also visited Gaudi’s house museum. 

Next, we walked around Las Ramblas, just taking in all of the sight – vendors, street performers, tacky tourists, etc. 

At this point, it was time for Josh to go back to France, but I stayed behind with Justin. Most of the city was closed that evening, because it was holy week, but we found a café to hang out in until it was time to call it a night.

On my last day in Spain, we made a quick stop at the Museu de la Xocolata. It was filled with loads of impressive chocolate sculptures depicting everything from cartoon characters to famous works of art. Unfortunately, I had to rush my way through, so I could catch a taxi to my hostel, to catch a bus to the airport, to catch my plane back to Dublin, to take a bus to Limerick, to take another bus to campus.

It’s good to be home.

For more photos of Spain, click this link: Spring Break Part #2 - Spain

Spring Break Part #1 - Paris

Paris! When I checked into my hostel I could not actually believe that I was in the city of cheese, wine and romance. Then, I had to carry a week’s worth of luggage up four floors of a skinny spiral staircase. All things quaint and classic are not always practical.

The plan for the 4 days I had in Paris was to get as much touristy sightseeing out of the way on Thursday and Friday as possible, so I could spend the weekend catching up and doing more local activities with my friend Josh, who is studying there this semester. So, Thursday night, after mastering the spiral staircase, I went straight to the Eiffel Tower to meet up with an evening bike tour. We rode all around the city to see the buildings lit up; stopped for ice cream at a famous homemade ice cream shop (I got melon and mango); and took a boat tour that included bottomless cups of red wine. It was a fabulous introduction to the city.

On Friday, we tackled the Louvre, Notre Dame, the Arc de Triomphe, and picnicked in a park at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. 

By that night, Josh had finished all of the papers he’d been working on, so we met him down by the canal, where over cheap bottles of wine, he got to know my friends, and we got to compare life in Paris versus Ireland.

The next day, my travel companions went to Disneyland (seriously), and I met up with Josh. We spent a while sitting outside a café, sipping espresso and making up stories about the people passing by on the street. Then, he took me to Sainte-Chappelle, an absolutely breath-taking church built to house the crown of thorns. It’s virtually all stained glass and if you visit it without getting a crick in your neck, then you have either missed something, or have exceedingly strong occipital muscles.

I also got to see the tiny little apartment he lives in, and he showed me around his neighborhood, Monmarte. In the heart of the red light district, his place is about four blocks from the Moulin Rouge. I’d probably have to say that my favorite part of the Paris trip was when we trekked all the way up the hill (Monmarte – mon – mountain – get it?) and looked over the city. It was stunning and photos really can’t do it justice.

On Sunday, my travel buddy and I got up much earlier than Josh would ever dream of on a Sunday, so we went around town ourselves. We ended up eating an indulgent breakfast in a very posh part of town, followed by window shopping everywhere from Dior to Tiffany’s. 

As we moved from shop to shop, our sticker shock never seemed to decrease. €2,500 for a handbag, €800 for sunglasses, €4,000 for a dress…. *sigh* It seemed the only thing that could pull us out of our we’ll-never-be-able-to-afford-high-fashion funk was falafel. Good falafel. We met Josh in the Marais, a part of town known for its homosexual Jewish inhabitants, hip shopping, and fabulous food. He took us to an apparently famous falafel shop, where we waited in a huge line to get our hands on our own pitas filled with tiny falafels, salad, magical eggplant, and a mysterious combination of sauces. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the city, taking everything in. Finally it was time for me to start packing up my things and head to the airport with Josh.

For more photos of Paris, click this link: Spring Break Part #1 - Paris

Berlin Bust

I just finished my last week of classes here. It came as one big slap in the face. I don’t want this to be over. I’ve spent the majority of my week whining to people in the States about how I don’t want to leave, and commiserating with my friends here about the end looming in sight. It’s difficult. I’ve become really close with the dance club, and I’m not sure I’m ready to leave this group behind. I just have to remember that a lot of the members visit the States and Canada fairly frequently.

I thought that going to Berlin last weekend would be a nice way to take my mind off of all my final projects, papers, and impending exams. But it didn’t. I didn’t have a very good time in Berlin, a sore subject that I do not want to delve into, or remember. I found myself wishing the whole weekend that I could just go back to Ireland. 

I feel I should at least mention a few highlights from Berlin though:

Our hostel room was ridiculously nice

The graffiti was fabulous

I pulled an Anthony Bourdain and ordered an extremely traditional meat plate for dinner one night and ate the whole terrible lot of it (even the raw hamburger ball in the corner).

Pretzels

Beer

German chocolate

 Pretty Buildings

I didn’t get to go to the top of the tv tower, or visit any of the famed vintage shops, or see the museums I wanted to go to, or go on the pub crawl I was so looking forward to. A sunburn with crazy tan lines added insult to injury. I suppose I learned the value of good travel companions, and how dreadful a trip can be with unsatisfactory ones.

I leave at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning for my Easter break, which HAS TO make up for last weekend. I’m going to Paris from April 14^th-18^th and meeting up with my friend Josh, who is studying there. Then, we’re going to Madrid, Spain together from the 18^th-20^th. On the 20^th, we’re going to Barcelona, and meeting up with another one of my friends, Justin. I could not be more excited! :)

P.S

My Irish dancing debut performance was tonight. We performed an eight hand jig and a "contemporary" step dance to Flo Rida's "Club Can't Handle Me". I got a giant charlie horse in my calf and limped through the whole thing. It was fun though.

Dance UL Recital

This past Tuesday was Student Race Day. This is a huge event where all of the students go to the racetrack for the day. So, while the whole campus dressed up and day-drank, in a sloppy manner (contrasting sharply with their deceivingly classy formal attire), I dressed up in my costume and headed to dress rehearsal. Story of my life.

Last night was The Dance UL Recital. It featured all of the Intervarsity pieces, the dance class routines, and other clubs (Irish dance, Trad Society, Salsa Club, etc.). In addition to the intervarsity piece, I got thrown into the jazz class piece last week, to boost numbers. I suppose that before agreeing to dance a piece, I should ask for more specifics, because last night I ended up dancing AND SINGING on stage in 3 inch heels and very little clothing. I. Hate. Musical. Theater. Why can’t we just have some good quality Fosse without all the singing?!

All in all, the show was a lot of fun. Some friends came to watch me perform, backstage bonding was great (as always), and the buy one get one free ticket at the pub for the cast party was perfect.