where in the world.... malaga, spain

It's Wednesday and that means it's time the lovely Jess over at Classy in Philadelphia's , Where In The World Wednesday!

If you participate, please take the button the fabulous Feris made to use in your post!

The idea of WITWW is to post a picture of you in someplace in the world...it doesn't have to be somewhere foreign or tropical. Just a picture of you somewhere that you consider traveling.

so i'm actually travelling right now all over virginia while i'm on spring break, but this week i've decided to use some of my spain pictures from january 2009 when amy came to visit me. so we went to malaga, granada and madrid and i'm doing malaga this week. this cute little coast city was glorious and so much fun! amy and i had a few adventures eating, lots of drinking, frolicking along the med sea, playing in moorish forts and just general crazy in a great spanish city!

on the beach along the med. sea

picasso museum! i love picasso!

am and i at la alcabaza

so participate with where in the world wednesday and go over to Jess's blog - Classy in Philadelphia and share your link :)

where in the world.... irish road trip

It's Wednesday and that means it's time the lovely Jess over at Classy in Philadelphia's , Where In The World Wednesday!

If you participate, please take the button the fabulousFeris made to use in your post!

The idea of WITWW is to post a picture of you in someplace in the world...it doesn't have to be somewhere foreign or tropical. Just a picture of you somewhere that you consider traveling.

this week in honor the the crazy irish adventure college roomie and i did last year when she came to visit me. i'm using a few of my favs from the trip.

on top of blarney castle

galway

on the road in connemara

starting out the trip - cliffs of moher

so if you are participating go over to Jess's blog - Classy in Philadelphia and share your link :)

2009 in review

as i've done for the last few years now here is the 2009 in review :)

2008, 2007 (and i just transfered over 2006, 2005 and 2004)

january - rang in the new year home in new jersey and then went back to ireland for my last 3 months of the irish adventure. the beginning of january was blah - i was sick and just working and the weather was typical ireland in january. but the last week was fabulous when amy came to visit me and i rented a car and drove over 1000km in 3 days and i got to show her my favorite place in the world. it was absolutely hilarious and a vacation i'll never forget. and then we went to spain - malaga, granada and madrid and from lolcat spanish, sherry, and nonstop laughter it was incredible.

february - realized my time in ireland was coming closer to an end and i needed to take advantage of everything. so i was constantly doing things with friends, doing all the things i hadn't done in cork yet, had my weekly cinema dates with brenda, my last hike with the club on a gorgeous day in the irish mountains, booking my flight home :( and deciding to go on an italian adventure by myself where i frolicked through venice, florence, pisa and rome and ate more in those 6 days than i ever have. i really recommend traveling by yourself. i also decided to move to connecticut with the roomie when i moved back to the states in march.

march - ahhhh! it went by too fast. every day in march i was doing something from last dinners or pints to goodbye parties, an amazing weekend in dublin with brenda, a ztatastic weekend in london, a great patrick's day, a completely drunk clubs and socs, seeing old friends, ireland winning 6 nations, figuring out how to pack up the last 20 months of my life, saying goodbye to all my friends and crying most of the flight back to the states, back in nj for 4 days, buying a car - colby and moving to connecticut.

april - starting work in connecticut which i loved, the ridiculousness of living with amy again, danish ghosts, margarita nights, working 16+ hour days, getting to see my loves again, gator, seeing jeanne run the boston marathon, i'm on a boat, meeting up with a college friend and seeing bruce springsteen, and being very happy about everything.

may - super crazy work, an absolutely hilarious birthday weekend for roomie's birthday, sailing, drinking waaay too much, fun on the long island sound, some bad decisions, lots of work, getting the summer job in dc! and still just very happy with life and the decision to move back to the states.

june - extremely sad to leave connecticut but a great going away party, home for a week where i subbed hs and then down to dc for the summer to work at the leadership conference. immediately hit it off with my summer roomie, a hilarious staff orientation week, hooking up with the boy, back home for my little bro's graduation, my first session and the great group of scholars who dealt with me always singing taylor, kelly and miley, being sarah palin, the craziness of the staff at night and just loving what i was doing. started dating the boy, got offered to work the international session, home for 2 days.

july - back down in dc for the international session, got asked to interview at a school up in nj - which would require me to drive from nj to dc 2x in 3 days, but I GOT A TEACHING JOB, had a blast with the international session and exploring dc & nyc with these scholars, bus 5 and the bus belt. back to my westpark loves for the 2nd session and more dc ridiculousness with that. sad for the sessions to be over, the most hilarious end of cycle staff party, back to new jersey, happy 24th birthday to me!

august - a few days of relaxation at the shore with my family, continuing to see the boy every chance i could, enjoying the end of summer, camping with the boy, lots of trips to philly, seeing karen in nyc, and about to enter the real world.

september - ahhhh, first day of teaching! crew reunion trip to md, broke up with the boy, joined zta alumni group, teaching going well, really spent most of the month focused on getting everything well at school.

october - still pretty focused on school but loving it! my co-workers were fabulous, my students pretty good, lots of zta alumni events, getting koko - my mac book! a great weekend in philly with jeanne getting to see my crew team row, then a hilarious halloween with the connecticut gang, getting tickets to see t.swift in may.

november - going to maryland and wac for the first time in 2.5 years! loving some time with friends who i saw while i was there, seeing little!, school still going well, lots of seeing friends for dinner, trying something i never thought i would but it is going well, waay too much shopping with my mom, fun in the city with friends, thanksgiving parade with my dad and then ski practices started.

december - ahh, seriously? school still going well and i'm loving it, but ready for a break! dealing with snow, a great weekend in connecticut, a nice christmas, getting to see friends, a fun night in the city with my family and another new year's eve.

2009 was incredible. considering i was pretty nervous how the year would be, all i knew last december 31st was i was leaving ireland in march... the rest was unknown. and for it to have turned out this fabulous. well, i'm extremely lucky. i loved my last few months in ireland, got some amazing vacations, loved connecticut, had a blast in dc and then found a teaching job i couldn't be happier with. everything worked out fabulously.

hopefully 2010 will be just as amazing and i'm ready for what it may bring!

hope everyone has a fabulous night :) happy 2010!

oh, and yay for my 300th post here at heart in ireland :)

ahhhhh!

umm, so last week quickly went out of control. like from 15-60 in about 12 hours. i just had SO MUCH stuff to do! and like no time.

wednesday was a snow day. we got like 4 inches of super wet heavy snow, and up by school they got about 7 inches. and then it rained and made life gross. it was nice, though i hate using a snow day up in december. i slept, which was glorious. and then graded 40 world war II propaganda projects which took forever! and then thursday was test day, so i now had 100 tests to grade on world war II and antebellum america. and thursday i also ran practice, and i made my skiers do our crazy ab workout from college, haha! and then i went to the christmas concert at school. and i also had to make sure i had sub plans in order. i swear that is just as much work! because on friday i was going on the model congress field trip. so i was just like sjfsgkkdgkdkfdkfd.... and then i went to connecticut for the weekend to see the fabulous roomie and other mystic friends.

and i just finished grading the last few tests because progress reports are due tuesday morning at 9am. so tomorrow i need to go in slightly early and enter the grades, i just finished grading. and when my one class was like are we getting tests back and i said, no i didn't get to finish yours - i responded with sorry i had a life this weekend. i don't sit around all weekend grading tests, i like the weekends just as much as you guys do. they laughed. and i am so glad this is the last full week before christmas. i am soooo looking forward to 10 days off. and maybe i'll get some stuff ready in advance, so the next chapters will be easier? and with midterms and everything. ahhhh, so much going on. but i love it.

so i've been neglecting the best of 09. so here is the last week! how did that happen? eeek!

December 8 Moment of peace. An hour or a day or a week of solitude. What was the quality of your breath? The state of your mind? How did you get there?

moment of peace? all the long car drives i've made this year. i do a lot of thinking in the car alone, while rocking out to my favorite music and just wondering. or popping into my favorite coffee shop in cork - tribes on rainy sundays with a great book to just sit and relax for a few hours.

December 9 Challenge. Something that really made you grow this year. That made you go to your edge and then some. What made it the best challenge of the year for you?

best challenge is a tie between moving back to the states and my first few months teaching. both have been extremely rewarding and oh so challenging. but i love it. i'm so happy i'm back in the classroom and that moving back to the us has been as amazing as it has. honestly 2009 has just been incredible.

December 10 Album of the year. What's rocking your world?

ummmm, i think you know this. but taylor's fearless. i know it came out in november 2008, but it has honestly been my soundtrack this year.

thought for one in 2009 i'm quite fond of the glee soundtrack (yes, i went there)

December 11 The best place. A coffee shop? A pub? A retreat center? A cubicle? A nook?

ummm, best place... i can't choose. there are too many places i've loved. from ireland to my travels around europe to connecticut, dc, philly, maryland, new jersey....

December 12 New food. You're now in love with Lebanese food and you didn't even know what it was in January of this year.

red wine. wasn't a big red wine fan until the roomie and i went to spain in january. now it is almost all i drink! especially spanish red wine. now i want a glass.

December 13 What's the best change you made to the place you live?

ummmm, i lived in 4 different places this year.

cork, ireland - mystic, ct - westpark hotel - new jersey

December 14 Rush. When did you get your best rush of the year?

best rush. getting the phone call 4 hours after my interview offering me the teaching job. i was completely shocked and couldn't believe that i was going to be teaching this fall! it was so surreal!

how is everyone's week? i can't believe christmas is so close! my students remind me everyday! and i'm excited for this weekend and seeing my love in philly! yay :)

night :)

blog challenge: best of 2009

so something on the 20sb blog caught my eye and we're going to see if i can do this.

it is the best of 2009 blog challenge. 31 days, 31 posts to look back on 2009 and reflect.

and as you might have guessed, 2009 was pretty awesome. like i still keep expecting to wake up and the last year has been an extremely long dream.

so december 1st is about a trip. your favorite trip in 2009.

favorite trip... where do i begin? i had some pretty awesome travels in 2009, but hands down my favorite was my college roomie coming to visit me in ireland and our trip to spain in january.

it was an amazing 10 days. showing my best friend the country i fell in love with and all over my home in cork. driving in ireland in peat the best rental car ever! and after a few hilarious adventures in eire we took a holiday in spain. i loved spain. from my interesting attempts to speak spanish, where i seemed to speak lolcat spanish, getting to see picasso's guernica, hilarious nights drinking red wine and tapas, playing in the mediterranean sea and drinking sherry... it was a trip i'll never forget and something that roomie and i'll be able to look back on and laugh :)

and for a bit of the amazing photography :)

amy and i at blarney castle

petting the fishies at the alhambra

gorgeous scenery in galway.... where i coined the term scenerygasim

amy and i at the med sea... loooved malaga

at the alhambra

runners up: italy in february or chestertown in november

venice in february

the colosseum!!

chestertown in november

matador's hats, red cheese, sherry, lolcat spanish and hugging history

Last Wednesday Amy and I were up SUPER early to catch our flight to Malaga, luckily I only live 15 minutes away from the airport but I was still up at 4.15 to be at the airport for 5.30. Spent the time waiting for the flight getting excited and reading, the flight itself wasn't too bad I read the guidebook to refresh my Spanish history and culture and took a slight nap, but was just excited for the sunshine! Once we got to the airport we got Amy her coffee and she became more human :) Flying into Malaga was brilliant! The Mediterranean Sea and the coast and the mountains!

our first view of SPAIN

So we landed and found the bus into the city and the set out to find our hotel, but the city was GORGEOUS! It was sunny! and warm and just really cute.
We found the hotel pretty easily and then set off for the Alcabaza which is a Moorish fort, the one in Malaga is from the 8th century. The area of Spain we were in was under Arabic (called the Moors) control for about 700 years until they were kicked out by Ferdinand & Isabella (of Columbus fame) with the final city being Granada in 1492. So back to Malaga, the Alcabaza was fab! It was just fun to walk about and take funny pictures.

Amy and I being our usual selves

the Alcabaza

It was walking along here I say to Amy - Tu pones su chaqueta en se bolero? She was like why yes, I am putting my jacket in the matador's hat.... oooops, I was going for bolso (bag). That was really the only instance of completely wrong word that was also hilarious. But Amy also coined my Spanish - LOLcat Spanish, because my verbs were usually completely wrong, I used la/el wrong and ended words with the wrong one o/a... but she understood what I wanted to say, just my execution was lacking. But for almost the whole trip we spoke in Spanish with people when ordering, at hotels, and such. We even spoke in Spanish to each other walking around and such too. I was surprised at how much I remember though!

So after the amazing of the Alcabaza we walked around until we found the Mediterranean Sea! Which was cool, now I saw it when I was in Barcelona three years ago, but it was at night, so seeing it during the day and with Amy was just fun! I cartwheeled and we frolicked and it was great. And there was SUN!

Amy and I and the MED SEA

in the MED... it was COLD!

So after the fun in the Med, we wondered about the city, had an AMAZING lunch. The idea of a "menu del dia" a three course meal for like €10 is great and more places should introduce, plus we had some fantastic sangria! After lunch we headed to the Picasso Museum and saw a few of his more random pieces, but was actually pretty awesome to see his later stuff. And then we just walked around and pretty much collapsed in the hotel.

We were up early on Thursday morning to catch the bus to Granada, it was a nice hour and a half and we got gorgeous views of the mountains. Once we found the cutest hotel in Granada we set off for the ALHAMBRA!
The Alhambra was a Moorish Palace/fort during the Islamic rule over Spain. This was their last city to fall to Ferdinand & Isabella. It was absolutely amazing! The palace was completely gorgeous, the architecture is unbelievable. The intricate carvings and tiles, you just walk in and WOW! You don't know where to look.

there were little pools everywhere, used as a natural airconditioning

look at all that GORGEOUS architecture!

We frolicked and took a ton of pictures of the palace and was just in awe of the amazingness of the Alhambra. We were running out of time so we didn't do the Alcabaza at the Alhambra but headed back towards town where we had a lunch along the street. And we went to La Capilla Real (The Royal Chapel) where Ferdinand & Isabella are burried and a collection of their artwork and a few other personal items are. The alter was incredible and just so intense. It was really awesome to see. Then since we had a little bit of time we went to the Cathedral next to the Chapel and there are no words.
It was so ornate and gold and just WOW! It was built in the early 1500s when the riches of the New World were coming in and just the magnifigance of the place was amazing. Like I've been to Westminster, Notre Dame, La Sagrida Familia, St. Patricks and a few other amazing cathedrals around Europe but this one took the prize. After this we headed back to the hotel for a siesta before going out for some tapas.

So trying to find a tapas bar in Granada was tough. We walked around a lot until we stumbled on one and went in. Amy ordered us two glasses of wine and the man brought us little ham and cheese sandwiches - now I'm not a big ham fan (or any type of pig really) but in Spain EVERYTHING has ham, so I've been trying really hard to branch out of my pickyness and at least try new things. So it wasn't bad, it reminded me of Pruschetto and with the wine it was fabulous (as was the wine) so we had two glasses of wine there and the second tapas was a tuna on bread with olives - which I tried olives again and didn't like, but the tuna was yummy. So we decided to head to another place we saw and this bar was where the sherry incident happened.  Where on accident we ordered sherry and when the wine came we were like.. its brown... and tastes like wine & whiskey together.. hmmm. Which we quickly discovered was sherry. It was horrible, which makes me laugh because in all of the books I read especially British ones all the older women always have a glass of sherry at night and ugggh, disgusting!  So that was realllly funny. So in order to get the taste out of our mouths we found one more place which was great where the wine was good again and the tapas was fab. 

Amy and the lovely sherry... 

So I was slightly drunker than I expected to be, but 4 glasses of wine and not much food throughout the day, guess that will do it to you. So we were up early Friday morning to head to Madrid. Now we weren't sure what to expect from Madrid, so the train ride was nice it was about 5 hours and we got to see lots of pretty scenery. And as soon as we found the hotel we dropped our bags, ate an amazing lunch and practically skipped to El Museo Prado. 

Where we spent the next three hours admiring Renaissance art. It was cool, lots of Valazquez, Goya and El Greco. Las Meninas was quite amazing to see, but I'm not the biggest fan of this style of art, I prefer more 19/20 century art. I love Picasso, Monet, Van Goh... But the Museum was still FAB! So we decided to have a fun night out and dress cute, but we still both were tired, so there was no crazy 5am disco in our plans. We went to 2 tapas bars and had an amazing cheese platter with the red cheese, that turned out to be cranberry, still laughing about that one! 

Saturday we slept in and went to a cafe for churros and they were devine!

I had a vanilla filled one, as well as some regular - the skitty ones which were then dipped in chocolate.. it was fab! After breakfast we went to La Reina Sofia where I got to see Guernica, which was incredible. It is huge and just so powerful. By it there are the sketches and such he used to create each of the charachters and they are just as amazing, the detail and everything is extraordinary! After spending like 3 hours we headed for El Parque del Buen Retiro where we just walked around and took pictures. We just walked around through the streets heading to the Palace and Plaza Mayor which had a cool horsemanship event going on. 

In the park

horse event in the plaza mayor

After this we had a fab late lunch and then wondered about shopping and just having fun! We went back to siesta, but ended up just staying in because we had to be at the airport for 8.30. So Sunday we went off for the airport and had a slightly delayed flight back to Dublin. Said a super quick goodbye to Amy who was running to connect to Boston, while I spent most of the day in the airport. 

So Spain was a complete blast! Looooooved it and getting to see roomie and the SUN!