HERE, THERE & EVERYWHERE

WOW. Life is crazy. I really feel like I have been here, there and everywhere the past five weeks. This is, unfortunately, my last post of this blog. As strange as that seems to me all good things must come to an end. So I just want to say thanks to all of you who have actually taken the time to read the sometimes rediculous things I post here...but lets be honest, ya just here for the pictures! Lol, but the joke is on you because I haven't been good at posting very many on here. So I guess this one is a reward for sticking it out til the end with me....that and I finally figured out a more efficient way to upload pictures :) Anyway, here are a few snapshots from my travels over the past few weeks. Hope you enjoy!

Tivoli! This was one of my favorite stops of the trip (this is in Italy I might add). We took a day trip to Tivoli to see these amazing gardens. If I were a big deal way back when I would totally build a villa here....not a bad view to wake up to everyday!

My friends Mary and Rebecca exploring the gardens with me.

The Colosseum in Rome!

The Pantheon...definitely one of my favorite spaces in Rome.

The Trevi Fountain....always a crazy amount of people here but it's amazing so who can blame them.

The Colosseum....really big....really ruined....I guess modern architecture is starting to win me over.

THE VATICAN! It's kind of a big deal :) I even got to sit in a mass while I was there. However, I'm not catholic and it was in Italian....and it wasn't the pope giving the message so I sketched the alter during it....

HAHA, this photo is for Boring Ben. If you want to know the story I can tell you in person but as Ben would say, "This is the perfect picture. Why would you take a picture from anywhere else....that would just be stupid!"

PARIS! I love the city of Paris. I know being an architecture major makes me see the city differently, but in my book it is a must see for Europe. This crazy looking building is the Pompidou. It is a building for the arts and it was actually one of my favorites....you just can't "judge a book by its cover".

The Louvre! This place is wonderful but overwhelming. It just goes on and on and on and on and.....but serious. It's big.

inside the Louvre

Okay this photo is in the wrong place....this was an art installation in the Pompidou. I call it " Rhino on Steroids"....rhino being an architecture computer program, not the animal.

This is what the outside of it looked like. It filled an entire room. It was about 10 feet tall, 20 feet long and 15 feet wide. The photo above is me standing in it. Oh, and it is made entirely of paper and eyelets. CRAZY COOL!

the modern skyline of Paris from the top of the Pompidou

Amsterdam! I loved Amsterdam! The people is this photo are sitting around this pool with their feet in it. This was a great community space.

Some of my architecture friends and I hanging out at one of the beautiful parks.This is what people in Amsterdam do a lot is seems...just chill. (Then again, if I were on weed that's probably what I would do too. That being said, I don't do drugs....just for the record....and neither should you. So, if you ever go to Amsterdam don't buy "mint" candy bars, bad things will happen.)

Just me trying to be artsy....however, this kinda sums up a lot of Amsterdam....bikes, flowers and tidy Dutch architecture.

So pretty! This was a "proud to be Dutch" moment!

just more beautifulness

TULIP MARKET!!! This booth in he market had a flowers hanging from the ceiling drying...everywhere! It was incredible!

The city has lots and lots of canals which I love because it keeps the city quiet and more pedestrian friendly.

Back to London! I loved London so much when I was there over spring break that I jumped at the chance to stop by one more time before heading back to the States. I wasn't there long but I did make two big stops. The first was here at Westminster Abbey. I couldn't take photos inside unfortunately though.

This photo is for Prof. Hoffman. This was a sick foot bridge I saw along the river. Yay for pretty structures!

If you ever make a trip to London, make time to just take a walk along the river at dusk. It's one of my favorite things to do in London. Also, notice these crazy benches along the way.

I love signs in foreign countries...and I found this one particularly encouraging on my hike up the dome of St. Paul's.

The awesome view of London from the top of St. Paul's Cathedral.

just me attempting to take a self photo....success, kind of.

My "experiential" picture....it was a bit breezy to say the least!

The modern skyline of London.... love it!

This is what happens when you have a non-artistic person take a picture of you....just you and no background. Oh well, you win some, you loose some :)

My awkward, illegal, sideways picture of St. Paul's Cathedral. I can't tell you how much I love this church!

the front of St. Paul's

Barcelona! We went to Park Guell designed by Gaudi. You get there via outdoor escalators and lots of them!

the view of Barcelona from the top of the hill in the park

the group (Kathryn, Rebecca, Sarah and Josh) being "natural"....lol, love them :)

Gaudi's architecture in the park

We decided his architecture kinda looks like it belongs in a fairytale world...like Disney World!

Gaudi's Sagrada Familia....still under construction of course!

The bridge where we hung out by the sea our first night in Barcelona....good times!

And so ends the craziness that is my European adventure. People ask me all the time if I am homesick and the answer is actually no. But am I ready to go home? More than I can possibly say! I am in Dublin at the moment waiting for my flight home this Monday. It's hard to believe this experience is actually coming to a close. I have learned so much and haven't regretted a moment of it. It is an experience that has changed my life and that I will most definitely never forget! Cheers friends!

A DAY IN THE LIFE....

I can hardly believe my time here is coming to a close! I remember like yesterday sitting in the London airport (half asleep with an awful tooth ache) freaking out about what awaited me on the other end of my next flight. I thought for sure that immigration was going to tell me I had forgot the most important document and that they were going to have  to hold me in jail 'til I found a way to get home which meant no school for the semester and behind a year in the program....okay maybe it wasn't that bad but I won't deny that most of those things went through my head during that layover. Now, classes are over and I leave for Venice in less than a week to start my crazy travel adventures with my Judson studio mates! Where has the time gone. While it will be hard for me to leave this beautiful country and the great friends I have made here, I am ready to move on. This has been an unbelievable chapter of my life, but one coming to a close and I am so excited to see what the next one holds.

So, all that being said I will move on to the point of this post. For everyone back home, and for my future self as well, I wanted to help you move past the magical veil of Ireland life to my reality. I decided the best way to do that would be to show you, as best I can, a normal day in my shoes. I guess to say "normal" is kind of incorrect since no week seems to hold the same adventures as the next, but this as close as I can get. So here is a day in my life through pictures. I must warn you, reading through to the end of this post may shatter the fantasy of the far off magical world I live in for you, but then again maybe the magical is in the reality and not the fantasy....Ok, here we go!

The first thing I see/hear every morning. This phone's main job is waking me up....having an Irish phone has made me way less attached to my phone and I like it that way. I'm honestly not really even looking forward to get an American phone again. I guess it is that old-fashioned part of me that still prefers human interaction over texting.

My closet....what to wear? Might I add how little is in here. In my opinion I packed light when coming to Ireland. Crazy for a girl I know!

European bathrooms...glad the water is warm at least. You just have to make sure you catch it at the right time of day... it's on a timer. 7:00AM = cold shower

So I wasn't going to post this one but I could resist sharing our awesome mugs with you all. Notice the classy broken handle...ironically enough this is how all of our mugs are. Also, I always eat my cereal out of a mug...is that weird?

A quick walk to my bus stop and then I jump on my bus to UCD. And yes, I ride on the top level just because I can...gotta love the double-Decker buses.

10:00AM - First class of the day-theory and design of structures.

My professor in action...last day of this class and I finally get what she is teaching....well, kinda.

This is my friend Lauren from Australia. Somehow the two study abroad third year architecture students found each other :) Going to miss this girl and suffering through this boring class with her.

On my way to my next class/ my favorite class- history of planning. It's also only once a week which makes it even better. It's during this long walk I always question why I never decided to get a bike...

Final class of the day....STUDIO!  Four hour class-5 times a week. (Blah. AKA my least favorite class which is unfortunate. Not to be a Debby-downer but I will not miss this room.) A bonus is that we each basically get a whole table to ourselves. They also have awesome glue...you know you're an architect when you get excited about glue.

My walk to my other bus stop....around a building, through a big field, through an alley thing, around a locked gate...

...and through a housing community to my bus stop.Needless to say it took me a while to figure out this shortcut.

After my bus ride back it's just a short walk back to the house. Travel time from beginning to end: approx. 45 min. Now that spring has sprung the trees here are so beautiful.

The rest of my day was FAR from interesting unfortunately. This was the extent of my fun from about 4PM to 2 AM...drawings, models and tea. This was the week of a critique so I had lots and lots of hours of work. Also note my desk is now permanently in the middle of my room to get light for my drawings.Thus is the life of an architecture student.

So my life is often far from glamorous, but I hope you enjoyed a small glimpse into it.

Cheers friends!