more traveling

so i mentioned last post that there was some upcoming traveling coming up. and for those of you following me on twitter you've seen me tweeting about it - but i'm currently in washington dc.

yes, i got home yesterday at about noon and left to drive down to dc today around noon.

i'm working more conferences that i've worked in the past. but these are slightly different than the ones in the fall where i was in dc the whole time this time i'm going to be traveling around the US for the next 3 months. i have 9 weeks of travel in february, march & april. pretty crazy.

so i'm in DC this week for training. and then i'm off around the country.
i'm going to seattle, indianadpolis - 2 week break - pittsburgh, dc, birmingham, - 2 week break - dallas, westchester & irvine.

my schedule is good - i like i have lots of back to back and then 2 week off in a row each time!

and i get a few days between sessions and so i'm excited to get to see some of these places. i'm uber excited about seattle! and i think i made plans to go to disney between westchester and irvine. i get flights to and from each place - so i can take advantage and fly to somewhere for 2 days.

so i'm excited! training starts today and goes on this week and then next wednesday i'm off to seattle!

so more crazy from me and fun adventures!  i'm going to almost all new places and 4 new states!

yay!

happy monday :)

cork

so i had 4 absolutely wonderful days in cork. i was shocked that i was there for 4 days of sun. yes - it did not rain a drop when i was in cork. i was flabbergasted. but the sunshine in cork was glorious as there is nothing nicer than a sunny ireland. so i'm back in the states now and gearing up for some more travel (details to come) let's just say my life is crazy. i'm loving this year because it is turning out to be what i said a year of fun and travel with some work in there. but crazy. 

so about ireland. it was like coming home. i hung out with my friends, popped into work, and honestly it felt like a normal week. ate soo much food, bought ballet flats & tights, drank tons of tea, frolicked about my favorite place and just enjoyed being in cork. ending my trip in cork was the right thing to do. 

out for tapas with the girls from work :)

a little bit of heaven - o'conaill's hot chocolate in cork

st. finbarr's cathedral in cork - look at the gorgeous blue sky - i saw finbarr's from my window in my last house

along the river lee and the north side - i lived in the bright pink building on the right when i studied abroad

fitzgerald park - one of my favorite places - especially in nice weather

the quad at ucc - had fun walking around the university and remembering the memories

curry chips from lennox's - number 1 on my list of things in cork to do

kara and i out at my favorite pub - costigans

the trip back to cork made me remember my love for ireland - i could go on and on about it. check out the archives for more irish talk. and it just felt so normal. so happy to finally go back after almost two years and i can't wait to visit again.

so i'm back in the states and it was a great trip :) i'm writing a wrap up about everything and just so glad i said i need to go to europe and booked it. and traveled for 3 weeks by myself. lots of crazy going on - but hey just more fun to write about :)

how was your weekend?

22 months

i'm back in CORK!! it has been 22 months since i said goodbye to my little city on the lee after living there for almost 2 years, and crazily enough over 5 years since i first said goodbye. but i'm back, and while only for 4 short days i'm so excited.

flying into cork is one of my favorite things in the world. especially on a sunny day (see ireland loves me!) and to just see the field of green, the coast.... i am seriously jumping up and down like a child inside.

i'm just at the airport waiting for my bus into the city, and then i'm heading to meet my friend sharon so i can drop off my bags and then off to explore and say hi to my favorite city and a hot chocolate at o'connails, and then tonight i'm going out for pints and then tapas with my old co-workers! yay for a great first day back home!

and i'm so glad i'm missing the icey/snow fun that is hitting home right now. which is crazy that my trip is almost over. it went by too fast!

amsterdam

so omg i am in LOVE with amsterdam. i want to move to the netherlands. i want to have a bike and cycle around the canals and live in a cute house around the canals. love, love, love it!

i got into amsterdam about 10:30 on saturday night and found my way to the hostel and as i was walking down the streets i knew i was in amsterdam. the smell of pot was quite prominent and it made me laugh to just smell it so freely. so i didn't realize but my hostel is on the edge of the red light district. like there aren't any girls in windows here, but lots of sex shops and lots of coffee shops. so i checked in and decided well, it is saturday night in amsterdam - i should go and see what is happening. i had a quick beer in the hostel bar and watched some of the ravens-pitt game (and was excited that meant the jets game would be shown!) and then went for a walk. i was out for probably only 45 minutes, but it was quite entertaining. the girls in the windows and the real red light district was unlink anything i've ever seen. and just the blatant theme of sex. i guess compared to the US where you barely see anything and sex is like such an "evil" thing to see it like this is a complete 180. it didn't bother me - but i kinda wondered about the women and many of them looked bored and were not attractive. so it was an interesting walk. and i was so excited because there were tons of kebab shops and i absolutely love kebab shop fries. so i've missed that and am so excited for late night chips in ireland.

so i was up bright and early sunday morning so i could enjoy the day and to go to the anne frank house. i knew i had to get there early - or the line could be quite long. and the anne frank house is one of the main reasons i've wanted to go to amsterdam. ever since i was 11 and read the book i've wanted to go there. i've read many of the different versions of her diary and also meip's book about it and i was unreal finally getting to see the secret annex. i got there by about 10am and only had to wait a few people. and being there i was on the verge of tears the whole time. the office and annex were left empty - after they were discovered, the annex was stripped and her father decided to leave it that way and it needed to be that way because there was very little room. it was an emotional experience and i'm glad i finally was able to go and see where they hid. and i was glad i was there early - when i left the line to get in was around the block.

after that i went on a walk - along the canals and just pretty much wondered around. i was in LOVE with the canals. and i stopped at a nice little cafe for lunch - where they had a cute cat who came and sat next to me (aka wanted me to share) but it was a nice lunch. so i wanted to do a bike tour of amsterdam. but unfortunately there wasn't enough people to run it. so i headed back across town to the heinekin brewery. i love heinekin beer - almost as much as my irish stout. so i was excited for the tour.

the tour was pretty awesome - it took about 2 hours and you learned about the family, how they made it, and the history and it was fun! i was pretty much with these 2 guys most of the tour - so at the end when you get 2 drinks we ended up talking and they were both in the army stationed in germany and here for the weekend and then a couple who was stationed in italy. so that was fun chatting about traveling and military life and it was fun. so on the way out the 2 guys ask me what i was up to, so i ended up going out to dinner with them and then we walked around and then went to a sports bar which was playing the JETS game! so it was a fun night and they were great company. and it didn't help that there was major flirting with one of them.
and let's talk about the game real quick. OMG JETS!!! soooo excited! that was a great game and i was on pins and needles the whole game, as it is the jets and well they always manage to mess it up. but they pulled it out in the end! so next week will be rough - but i'm excited!

so today i woke up and it was pouring. uugh. i walked around a bit - went to the rijksmuseum and looked at all the dutch art and found another cute cafe and had an amazing apple & cinnamon pancake. and then it stopped raining so i walked all over, found the i amsterdam sign! and just walked around enjoying the canals, bikes and just loving it.

so i'm off to cork tomorrow. and i can't wait. i wish i had more time here because i would love to go to other places in the netherlands (fun fact- i almost studied abroad here, it was my 2nd choice in the netherlands.)

so lots of pictures :)

anne frank house - it now looks pretty different from what it looked like when they were hiding

i love the canals

more canals

lots and lots of bikes - in dam square

enjoying my heinekin

J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS

delish pancake - like a crepe

i (am)sterdam

red light district

i want to move here

:)

cologne

cologne, germany was really cute. it is in western germany along the rhine river and it was just a nice city to visit. it isn't huge (4th largest in germany, 1 million people) and i think that's why i liked it. it in a way reminded me of cork - more of a city where i could see myself living and having lots of fun things to do. so the main attraction is the cathedral - it is the largest in europe and is pretty spectacular. so here are some pictures.

cathedral

looking down from the windows of the cathedral while climbing up - there were over 500 stairs and i felt so dizzy while climbing because of the spiral.

stopping to look at the bells - hearing the bells ring was so cool. especially because there were so many churches in cologne

at the cathedral

went along the rhine for a walk - a little flooded right now

the cathedral and the view from the bridge

one of the coolest stained glass window's i've seen - just little circles - no real picture

the sun came out in the afternoon - it made the cathedral look cool

this was the most delish thing - a chocolate/hazlenut/nutty pastry. omg

so i'm now in amsterdam and omg excited doesn't even begin to describe it. i got in late last night and went for a walk in the red light district at midnight on a saturday - one of the craziest things i've ever seen. and today i', all about the anne frank house and the heinekin brewery among other places. i'm just so excited to finally be here, i've wanted to come here for so long! yay!!

how was your weekend? 

ps - i think i'll be able to watch the jets game tonight - the bar at my hostel was playing the ravens game last night. YES! 

vienna

ok, so this is like the 3rd time i've sat down to write a post about vienna, but it just never happened. i had a good time in vienna - the history and elegance of the city could be seen everywhere. vienna was pretty much the seat of power of the hapsburg empire (holy roman empire, austria-hungarian empire) from the last 1200-WWI. and the fell of the city is from the late 1700-mid 1800s in the architecture and style. so i got into vienna early on tuesday morning and the weather was kinda icky. rainy, cloudy and just blah. so i decided to go out and explore for a bit and see where i ended up. i walked down the main street and ended up at the imperial palace. so i walked around that complex for a while and decided to go check out the silver collection of the hapsburg's and the imperial apartments. and wow, the silver collection (and china) wow! the state dinners were no laughing matter. 8-9 courses and up to 150 people daily. the collection was just incredible to see! and the state apartment of Emperor Francis Jospeh and his wife Elizabeth from the end of the 19th century. The apartments were cool and I just love the wallpaper and furnishings!

After that I just kinda walked around and ended up walking down the main shopping street and also by the big cathedral and into a few other smaller churches and just got a feel for the city. Since the weather still was kinda ehhh, and I was tired I just called it a night. And I was glad I did, when I got back to the hostel I felt like crap and pretty much just went to bed.

Luckily I felt better when I woke up and the sun was shining! I was headed out into the suburbs a bit to go to Schonbrunn Palace - the Hapsburg's Summer Palace in Vienna, and WOW! It was absolutely gorgeous. They had this amazing red pineapple damask wallpaper that I love! And their great room - wow! I just love palaces! I walked around their gardens a bit, but as it was January, not that exciting. Sadly I didn't take a lot of pictures in Vienna, a lot of the places I went photos weren't allowed. Boo!

After the palace I went back to the city center to explore more and I decided to check out tickets at the Opera House. I was planning on getting a standing ticket for like 5 euro an hour before, but I was curious if anything else was available. And there was a ticket in the 11th row for 40 euro which should have been 105 euro. So I decided to take it, for 20 I could have had a corner seat in an upper balcony, so why not enjoy the Vienna Opera like I should? And I was SOOOO glad I did! They were showing a ballet - Schritte Und Spuren - which was 4 smaller pieces into one, and I've never seen ballet like that. The set and costumes were minimal, the orchestra was fabulous and a lot of the pieces I recognized. And the dancers, well were awesome. It was a very sexually themed ballet and in the first one the guys had their shirts off and wow, their abs & backs... so I was thinking I wish I could see their legs (I'm such a leg girl) and next one, yuppp, pretty much just wearing briefs... and the last one - yup, they were all topless, including the females. it was interesting to see the muscles in the human body during the performance and it was such a work of art that went with the music and dancing. So I really enjoyed it and had a blast, plus the inside of the Opera House is just gorgeous!

And on my last day the weather was crap again... and I wanted to head out of town a bit to go to the cemetery where Mozart, Beethoven and other famous musicians, composers and Austrians were buried. So that was cool to see and I enjoyed the tram ride though Vienna. And the afternoon I had the best chocolate cake ever - omg delish! And then I just walked around. I wanted to walk around more, but I was cold & wet. I also wanted to go to the treasury to see the Hapsburg royal jewels but I just ran out of time. I kinda took it slow in Vienna, as I was tired and the weather was ehhh. I enjoyed the city and it was nice to relax a bit more than I had been the last few days.

And then I was up at the crazy hour of 4:15 this morning to catch a 6:40 plane to Cologne, Germany which is where I am until Saturday evening when I head to Amsterdam!!!!! And it seems like I have most of my Cork plans figured out, which I am ecstatic for. I've missed Cork so much, and getting to see Brenda, Kara, Sharon, Denise and others I've missed! I can't believe it has been almost 2 years since I left. Crazy...

at the ballet at the vienna opera house

vienna opera house at night

gold place settings from the silver collection of the hapsburgs

at the Imperial Palace in Vienna

Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna

St. Stephen's Cathedral - they are renovating it and you can see where is real and where is a giant picture!

sneaky photo of one of my favorite rooms from the summer palace

amazing chocolate cake

saying hi to beethoven

austrian parliament!

Anyway enjoy the Vienna pictures! Anyone have any fun weekend plans?

budapest

hi from budapest! (also it is my 400th post!)
budapest has been a pretty cool city. a little smaller and quieter than prague, but i've enjoyed myself! it also was a little colder here and damp. the weather has been super foggy and just kinda depressing, but i'm making the best of it as well i'm in eastern europe in january so i knew it was going to be cold and gloomy. so again i'm kinda lazy and it is mostly going to be a picture post. but it has been a jam packed 48 hours and i'm loving it.

at st. stephen's basicila - it was gorgeous inside!

inside the great synagogue - it is the largest in europe and super impressive. the design is very different from any other. it was really interesting.

a local tradition - when you're in love you sign and decorate a lock and then throw the key in the river

chain bridge - it was pretty foggy both days

Matthias Church at night - in the castle district

my goulash! it was pretty good!

matthias and the castle district at night

inside st. stephens basilica

modern government buildings on castle hill

at castle hill

central market - pretty awesome market and so many cool things!

hungarian parliament

hungarian money - right now about 200 HUF = $1 

so this may seem like a lot of money it is only $40

Heroes' Square - lots of famous Hungarians

the turkish baths - so much fun. i went and relaxed for a few hours both inside and out in the baths.

so i've enjoyed budapest. i met a few americans on a walking tour and the first night went out to dinner and then for a few drinks with them, which was nice to do something at night. and the walking tour was pretty cool too. i love them! so i'm off to repack my bag and get some sleep. i'm off to vienna bright and early tomorrow morning - 7am train (what was i thinking?)

thanks for all the love the last week with my photos and travel stories! i've been reading your blogs - but not really commenting or emailing back!

:)