I is for Ireland (A to Z Challenge)

Ireland is without a doubt my favourite place in the world. I can't tell you how many people sent me Happy St Patrick's Day Messages because they know how much I love Ireland and the Irish.

When I first visited Ireland in December 2010, it was a somewhat reluctant visit because one of my besties and I were planning our first European trip and we agreed to a Contiki Trip in London and Paris. When it turned out that we had extra days between us I begged to include a trip to Liverpool so I could visit Anfield and she bartered with a four day trip to Ireland. I would have bartered 20 days in Ireland for one hour in Anfield so we agreed and Dublin, Ireland was our first destination and for me, it was love at first sight.

While I could write 100 blog posts about how much I love Ireland, but I doubt you would want to read that many. So I move along swiftly, when we arrived in Ireland, I instantly fell in love with the Country, The people, the sights and the amazing festive season.

Four days was not enough to get to see all that we wanted too but it didn't matter because before we left we already decided that we were going to return and I did return last year, you can read about it here.

The fear I had about whether I would be disappointment with returning to Ireland, was unfounded. My return to Ireland in August/September 2013 was so much more fun than I could have hoped and I met so many new people and got to reconnect with friends I previously made and that was incredible.  My second trip included Galway which was so picturesque.

Everyone who's ever been to Ireland has only said good things to me and I would agree. There is a warmth to the people that no words could explain the ambiance of the country and people.

Have you been to Ireland?  Where is your favourite place in the World?

13 Moments of 2013

This is the last of my 13 of 2013 series but more so, it is the last of my post for the year. A year ago, I didn't even have a blog to post on but here I am writing to you, not knowing who you are are where you are in this world but here I am once again sharing very private things with you and this post will be no different. It's the 13 moments from this year which I will remember.

1. My admission as an attorney. 

2. Returning to Ireland, and the moment I had my first drink.

3. The moment I found out Nelson Mandela had died.Coupled with the day after when my colleagues and I went to the house. The scenes there were incredible. 

4. Being lost in Brussels for 5 hours all on my lonesome.

5. Pepe Reina waving at me (and Charne)

6.Sitting at the Moses Mabida stadium for the Liverpool Legends game thinking, if this is how incredible the atmosphere is here, thousands of kilometers away from Anfield, I can only imagine what it feels like to be at Anfield during a game.

7. Justin Bieber's concert - the whole day was crazy and a once off experience. 

8. Arriving in Hamburg and thinking "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING COMING TO COUNTRY WHERE YOU DO NOT SPEAK THE LANGUAGE ALL ALONE?" Thank goodness for nice people on trains who speak English!

9. Leaving Juls and Oli at the train station in Mainz. I remember feeling so grateful and excited but scared for what I had experienced in Germany and what would still come.

10. Resigning from my job and the reception from my colleagues after that was humbling.

11. Leaving Ireland, I was so grateful that I had no one next to me on the flight because I cried a lot more than I would have ever expected.

12. Uptothemoon, after her last win, when she was upset with me and she was so angry. 

13. Family moment montage, from my mom's 50th to family picnics to music shows... great food, joking around to walking on the beach.

While I cannot lie to you and tell you this year was perfect or even great I can tell you that this year I achieved incredible things. I had so many moments wherein bringing it down to 13 was extremely difficult. However, I also closed a lot of unopened chapters this year which can only excite me about what 2014 holds.This year was difficult and challenging but I can say I have made it through and I am thrilled that I get another chance at trying again in 2014....  What will you do to make a difference in 2014? 

What was your moment of 2013?

Have a great New Years Eve... and I'll see you next year!

13 Things I Accomplished / Decisions I Made In 2013

This is a bit of a serious post because it can fall in with Soulful Sunday... this year has brought a lot of challenges but I have also overcome a lot, some I didn't even blog about.

1. Making the decision to get admitted as an attorney - I fulfilled all the requirements in May 2012 but it took me months to actually commit to getting the paperwork and it was all due to my friend, Kaylene, deciding to get admitted as well so I thought it would be awesome to be admitted with a friend. 

2. THEN actually getting admitted - you can read about it here 

3.I finally traveled overseas again. It frustrated me that it took so long between trips but I don't intend on letting it go that long again.

4. I traveled to Europe all on my lonesome! You can read about all of them

5. I managed to throw an actual "SURPRISE" birthday party where my brother was ACTUALLY surprised.  - yay me!

6. I can bring people together, whether it be at work or a Hostel in Ireland....

7. Returning to Ireland - I am still incapable of explaining my pull towards the country and that place

8. There was this guy, who I thought I had unfinished business with - but now it's finished.

9. I finally wore a red dress!

10. There was an extremely toxic person who was trying to poison my family (metaphorically speaking) and she finally left and things are so much better.

11. Deciding to finally start a blog .... and then moved it here!

12. I had to overcome bullying in the workplace.

13. I decided to take a leap of faith and resign from my job. While the decision was not easy especially in this economy but I knew that staying there was making me sick and that it wasn't going to get better.

So there it is... what have you accomplished this year?

Travelling Music

I mentioned in my first travel post that I was going to include songs from parts of my trip but along the way I either forgot (sorry!) or couldn't think of one at the time.

So here are a list of songs which will remind me of moments in my trip

I heard this song in every single country and city I visited!

 

This is from O'Neill's on my last night in Dublin

 

While this is a sad song, hearing it in an Irish pub where the entire crowd is singing along gave it a whole new level of meaning. If I can figure out how to upload the video I will!

 

 

 

I didn't know this song before my night in Dublin and to be honest, the fact that I couldn;t sing along really bugged me! When I came back it was the first song I downloaded

 

 

I'm always amazed at the way in which music makes me feel and how it can evoke extraordinary feelings in a way that is unexplainable or how just hearing a song can link you to another person for life.

 

 

 

 

Do you agree with this quote???

 

 



Travel Post : Ireland ~ the final edition of EuroTrip 2013

I have been intentionally dragging on doing this post because this post, the last installment of this trip means it is officially over!

If you have been reading my posts you will know that I LOVE Ireland! On my previous trip, my friend, Alicia and I only went to Dublin and we did all the touristy things there and I left Dublin with a heavy heart. For the past 2 and a half years I have been holding a candle to it so it was obviously risky going back, I mean the way I looked at there would one of two scenarios:

1. I would be completely dissaappointed by it. I would think I was caught in the romance of my first trip and that the people and the place actually wasn't that great.

2. I would love it as much as I thought I did the first time round and would hate leaving it.

Well there is a third option which I hadn't anticipated, it would exceed my expectations by far and I would fall more in love with the place and the people. This is what actually happened.

When I got off the plane from Belgium, I was almost overwhelmed to be surrounded by such nice people, people who spoke English!!

On this trip I decided to go to Galway for a night so I could see the Cliffs of Moher however when I arrived the last tour bus for the day had left so I had the afternoon to relax in Galway.. this is when I met Aimee and Keeley, they were staying in the same Hostel as me. By the way this hostel was awesome :)

 

I sort of forced my way into lunch with my two new American friends and once we sat down we actually got along really well! Keeley had been to Galway before and loved it and she love's traditional Irish music which as you know.. I do :)

We decided we were going out that night and to say it wa EPIC would be an understatement.

The next day we were off to the Cliffs of Moher which were breath-taking to say the least. The entire tour was unbelievable...

Saturday night we went back to Dublin for another night out. While not as epic as Galway it was loads of fun!

Sunday I got to catch up with two friends I had made on my previous trip (Thank you Facebook!). If I am honest, I was scared that it was going to be strained or awkward but it was so easy and time just went way too quickly. They gave me an unorthodox one of a kind tour showing me things you would only know after living in a city and I loved it!

That evening I didn't have anyone to go with me to listen to some traditional Irish music so I decided, " Who Cares?! I'll go alone!" It was truly one of the most scary and liberating things to do. I went to O'Neill's in Suffolk Street.

The next day I spent the day just taking in Dublin City because I had previously been to Dublin I didn't have any tourist things to do I just got to enjoy the culture.

I saw this sign while walking around Dublin City

 

In the evening I managed to get all but one of the ladies from my room (Room 17) to go back to O'Neill's that evening and it was so much fun.

Ireland was once again incredibly kind to me and I am definitely going back - sooner rather than later! I think it's wonderful to feel at home in a place which is clearly not your home. The Irish are so warm and made me feel very welcome, once again.

Have you been to anywhere in Ireland?

Where did the last Two weeks go?

While I'm not sure about you, I can tell you exactly what I did with the last 2 weeks of my life!

Yes, I'm back from my eurotrip and to be honest it sucks to be back! I mean I love my family and my life here but I absolutely adored every moment of proving to myself I was capable of more than I ever thought I was. 

Before I continue, thank you SO MUCH to my guest bloggers, here are there posts.... and especially to one of my favourite bloggers, Meghan Silva bucket list post,  was exactly the type of post I would do so I knew you would appreciate it! And while I'm sending out thanks let me say, I really missed blogging and reading all my blogs so I will be a busy lady in the coming weeks.

Back to my trip, I think I'll have to do posts for my different towns that I visited but ill mix it up with other posts so you don't get too tired of only travel posts! 

If you haven't noticed yet or you don't link to my blog of the web then you wouldn't have seen I have uploaded a gadget which allows you to see my Instagram pics which I've uploaded and let me tell you that is the absolute bare minimum of what I wanted to Instagram!

While I have so much to say about all the places I've seen I wanted to state now, at the beginning of my travel post recaps - this was hard. Traveling alone is difficult especially because it was the first time I travelled using hostels and you know what?! I learned a lot about myself!
 

I'm so excited to share my trip with all of you as I am certain it is indicative of big things to come but here's some of my favourite moments of my trip and pictures (if I have them) 

*seeing my friends from my masters class, Julia and Oliver in Germany, they were the ones who invited me to visit Germany and seeing them after almost four years was awesome! They were truly the best hosts!

* Seeing some friends I made in my previous Ireland Trip, in 2010, and just getting a chance to hang out

*I really loved Heidelberg, Germany, and even though I may have complained to Oli about the walking the place was just so picturesque

* Notre Dame in Strasbourg, France, was incredible. The picture says enough for now.

 

* the first time I walked into the Grand Palace Market in Brussels, Belgium  - I was literally left speechless! 

* making new friends along the way from the lovely people that Juls and Oli introduced me too to the people I met in airports and hostels! 

* The Cliffs of Moher : Ireland

And lastly, this may be my favourite of the entire trip.. Walking into Taffs, a pub in Galway and a live traditional band were singing "Galway Girl" = bliss 

So that's the highlights, for now.. There will be much more to come :) 

Have you heard of any of the places I've mentioned? have you been there? Tell me about it, I missed hearing from all of you!