Travel Recap

As the semester is coming to an end in less than 4 weeks I decided to take a look back at where I have traveled so far and where I want to travel next semester. 


This semester I went to:
Köln, Germany
Bonn, Germany
Leipzig, Germany
Berlin, Germany
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Belfast, Ireland
Dublin, Ireland
Trier, Germany 


Next semester I would like to go to:
Amsterdam, Netherlands 
Prague, Czech Republic
London, United Kingdom
Paris, France
Budapest, Hungary
Vienna, Austria 
Italy 
Spain 
Switzerland
Croatia
Portugal  
Greece


I know that is a very long list for next semester but when else will I have the chance to travel around Europe. My guess would be never. I am hoping to work a lot when I am home during break and save up my money to make this possible. I hope to have a few visitors next semester which will push me to actually complete most of this list. 


Anyone have any suggestions on places to go? I would love to hear what cities other people have gone to or where they want to go. Comment on the post or write me an email. I hope to hear from most of you! 


Days until I come home: 26 


Oh and even though I doubt my grandma will be reading this I want to give her a BIG shout out! She is leaving her car at my parents when she is on vacation so I will have a car for most of the time I am home. Grandma you have been one of my biggest supporters and I appreciate everything you have done. I love you! 

"I'd rather lose myself in passion than lose my passion." - Jacques Mayol

Happy 2nd week of 2012! 


Last week I didn't have any classes so I did a lot of reading and lounging around. I read The Hunger Game Trilogy, went shopping, went to dinner, went to the movies, and made dinner for friends. It was a great week and I really didn't want to start classes again this week. I enjoyed my 2 weeks off way too much! Now that classes have started back up I am faced with projects, papers, studying, and exams. Oh the joys of being a student! It's funny a lot of people keep asking if I will be going to graduate school next year and let me be perfectly clear NO! I have been in college for 5 years and it is time to stop spending 25k/year on tuition and start making some money! Don't get me wrong I love learning but I am ready to start applying what I have learned and start helping others. 


As many of you know I will be returning to Buffalo one month from today for a visit! YAY! I am super excited but also nervous because I need to start the job search while I am home. I have to organizations I am hoping to interview with when I am home but I need more prospects. If anyone has ideas of where to apply even if they are not currently hiring, it doesn't hurt to get in touch with someone and establish a connection. My goal is to work in the non profit sector preferably doing event planning but I know how tough the job market is and I am open to other jobs as well. Please keep me in mind during the next few months and wish me luck in the job hunt! 


I also need to start thinking about my thesis. I have exactly 9 weeks to write it once I have had my topic approved. I have NO IDEA what I am going to write about. I have thought about social media and consumer behavior but I have no idea what angle I want to take on either topic. I would love input on this as well. Any ideas you might have for me to get started or any articles that can help. I know lots of you have already written a thesis and may have advice for me. This thesis is the final requirement for my duel degree. This is a make it or break it situation. If I do not pass my thesis I will not be getting a duel degree and what a waste of time that would be. Support is also appreciated. I am sure in the coming months I will complain and question why I decided to do this in the first place but I need some of you to say "suck it up and just do it" I promise I will be grateful after the fact. :)


Well this post was all school and no fun but I will write again soon! 


Happy Wednesday and I will see most of you in a month! :) 

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and rang in the New Year with loved ones! I was lucky enough to travel around Europe a bit for the holidays. 

We flew from Frankfurt to Dublin on the 23rd. Once we arrived in Dublin we had to take a bus to the city center and then get on a train to Belfast but we missed the early train. We kept joking that it was my fault because the girls ran in front of traffic to get to the station and I didn't. We bought our tickets and headed out to get something to eat. 

We ended up at this great pub called Molloy's. We all ordered lunch & some beer. After we finished up our lunch we headed back to the train station so we didn't miss our train this time! Once we were on our way to Belfast we read & watched a movie. The train took us through beautiful Ireland. It was so amazing! I actually started to tear up because I was just SO happy to be in Ireland! Once we arrived in Belfast we stopped at the shopping center then headed to Deborah's Aunts house for dinner. 

Dinner was amazing! It was so nice to have a home cooked meal! Robyn (Deborah's Aunt) made great meals the whole time we were there. After dinner we just hung out and watch some TV. 

The next day (Christmas Eve) we went into the city to explore and do some shopping. Belfast is a pretty city with a very nice shopping area. We walked all around the city going to shops and seeing Belfast until we decided to stop for lunch. We stopped at a restaurant called McCracken's to eat lunch and enjoy a beer. I tried mussels for the first time and they were actually pretty good. I have never been a fan of sea food but lately I have been trying more of it and have actually enjoyed most things. I have learned that I am still not a fan of salmon. After walking around and shopping the rest of the day we headed back for another great dinner! 

Christmas day was weird because I wasn't with my family but it was still great! Robyn got us each a stocking and filled it with a few cute items and chocolate. She also got us each a small present which was great! I definitely wasn't expecting it and was so happy to have something to open up. We enjoyed a  delicious Christmas dinner and relaxed the rest of the day. On Boxing day Robyn went with us into Belfast to do some shopping! It was our last full day in Belfast so we stayed out shopping a majority of the day then headed home to pack up and enjoy the rest of the night. 

Tuesday we took the train to Dublin. Once we arrived we walked to our hostel which was about 25 minutes away from the train station. We checked in and relaxed before going to explore. Our plan was to get lunch, go to the Guinness Storehouse and then to Kilmainham Gaol so we grabbed a quick bite to eat at a fast food restaurant and then headed to the Guinness Storehouse. It was mid afternoon by the time we got there and the Kilmainham Gaol (an old jail) closed before Guinness so I decided that we should do that first. Unfortunately the map made it look MUCH closer than it actually was so we ended up only doing Kilmainham Gaol that day and not the Guinness Storehouse. The jail was so interesting! We took a tour of it and learned a lot about the history of Ireland. I would recommend the tour to anyone visiting Ireland. It ended up working out well because we were able to go back to the hostel after Kilmainham Gaol and relax before dinner & the pub crawl. We went to a restaurant called The Old Storehouse in Temple Bar for dinner. We split appetizers between us since we weren't that hungry. We ordered chicken wings and they were actually pretty good. Obviously they were not like the wings from Buffalo but they were still pretty good. 

After dinner we headed out for the pub crawl. We had a lot of fun and met some pretty interesting people. We did a pub crawl with a group for just people staying in hostels which was great but we learned of a better pub crawl the next day with an organization called Sandemans New Europe Tours. http://www.neweuropetours.eu/ We used them for our tour of Dublin the next day and it was great. I have gone on their tours in Amsterdam and Berlin. Each time the tour was fantastic. If you are planning a trip to Europe please check to see if they give tours in any of the cities you are visiting. It is definitely worth it! It is a free tour but you are encouraged to tip the tour guide at the end of the tour. They work solely for tips so they try their best to give you the best tour possible. It really is a great system. 

After our tour on Wednesday we went to the Guinness Storehouse and did the tour of that. It was great and you got a free pint of Guinness at the end of it. Unfortunately we were so full that we didn't drink our full pints. We went to the Brazen Head for dinner which is the oldest pub in Ireland. None of us were too impressed with our food but it was still good. After dinner we went back to the hostel to pack up. Our flight on Thursday was at 7 am so we had to take the shuttle to the airport at 5 a.m. Once we got to the airport and made our way through security we decided to get some breakfast. We went to a bakery type stand and the prices were OUTRAGEOUS! The only other option was Burger King so I ordered a breakfast sandwich. I can't tell you the last time I had Burger King before this. It wasn't as bad as I had expected but I won't be going back anytime soon. 

The flight back to Frankfurt was good. I fell asleep a few times since it was pretty early. Once we got to Frankfurt we had to take the shuttle to the train station and then wait for the train to Koblenz. Once we arrived in Koblenz we took the train to Bad Honnef. I had such a great time in Ireland but it was nice to be "home" after a week of traveling. The rest of the day I unpacked, did laundry, and repacked! 

Friday I headed to Trier for NYE! I won't bore you with the details of the train but I arrived in Trier around 2 o'clock Friday afternoon and Sarah was waiting for me at the train station. We put my bag in the car and went around Trier looking at the buildings and did some shopping. Once we were done shopping we went to Sarah's house. Her house was so pretty! I asked if her mom could come decorate my house because I have no idea what to do! We ordered pizza that night! It was only the second time I had pizza since arriving in Germany. It was really good! We also had wine from two local vineyards which were really good. I hope to buy a bottle of two of the wines to enjoy in Bad Honnef before I leave. 

NYE we made cupcakes & brownies for the party we were going to. It was so nice to be able to bake again. I really miss having an oven and baking. I know I will be baking a lot when I am home in February to make up for lost time.  We also went to Luxembourg quickly to get gas since it is cheaper than it is in Germany. Even though we were only there for ten minutes it was cool knowing I was in another country. The party we went to was a lot of fun. I met a lot of great people and had a great time. Watching the fireworks at midnight was great. I was sad to be away from my family and friends at the start of the new year but I still had fun. The next day we just hung out until it was time for me to head back to Bad Honnef. 

That is about it for now. I am putting some pictures up here now. I hope you all enjoy them! 

                                         City Hall in Belfast

                                      Enjoying a Guinness in Belfast

                                      Trying mussels for the first time

                                     Girls and I on Christmas

                                    Inside Kilmainham Gaol 

                                             Kilmainham Gaol again

                                           Pub Crawl in Dublin

                                                Sampling section of the Guinness Storehouse 

                                              Trier

                                              Luxembourg 

                                               Sarah and I on NYE

                                                   NYE again