Holidays and Happiness

Tuesday was another gorgeous day in Cork.  The weather was the perfect fall day, and no rain!  I had a few errands to get done in the City Centre, and it was a picture perfect day to walk around.

I had two classes on Tuesday, Cultures of Cities and Music.  Before I could go out and enjoy the day, I had a Music paper due that I needed to finish (due that night..oops).  However, I set myself to it and had time to go to the city.  Jane and I were going to have Grace over on Wednesday to have an early celebration of Grace's 21st, so I needed to pick up some birthday supplies!  I ran to the Euro Giant, which has everything you could imagine.  It was a quick stop, which gave me some more time to just wander the city.

The Christmas decorations were still going up all over the place!  To kick off the holiday seas, I got a "shortbread man," as opposed to a gingerbread man.  I stumbled upon a cute little bakery in the English Market, and I could not resist the amazing looking cookie.  I can say that it tasted as good as it looked!

After class, I went to the gym and came home and made dinner.  I had a new black bean, lentil, and vegetable soup I wanted to make.  Again, this was another Pinterest specialty.  It was so easy to make, and a great fall meal.  Luckily, I have trouble cutting recipes down for one person, so I have loads to last me the next few weeks :)

I had a quiet rest of the night, and I needed to rest up for Paris!

Be back soon!

XO,

Caitlin

Decorations are up!

A little holiday fun.

Dinner in the making!

Back in the Groove

Monday was back to my weekly routine.  I was definitely sad to see the weekend go, but coming home to Cork is always nice.  I feel like I have barely been in Ireland these past few weeks, so I am trying to soak in as much of Cork as I can when I am back there!

I did not have many groceries in the apartment, so Monday was definitely shopping day.  I have gotten a little lazy with cooking, and you can only eat eggs for so long!  I went to the English Market and picked up a few meals for the week.  When I was walking to the English Market, the shops on my street were setting up for Christmas!  I guess because there is nothing between Halloween and Christmas in Ireland, once Halloween is over the Christmas season begins.  I found it so funny to see window boxes still so full on one end of the street, and Christmas items on another...definitely a funny contrast.  Seeing wreaths and garland everywhere was definitely a little wieird, but I am a lover of Christmas, so I am not mad about it!

Once I was done with my errands for the day, it was time to make some dinner.  Monday was going to be salmon night, which I was very excited for.  Pinterest has been my lifesaver with recipes!  I made a honey dijon, garlic, parsley salmon with carrots and couscous.  It came out great, almost as good as Dad's cooking :)

A great start to my week! Be back soon!

XO,

Caitlin

Window boxes on one end of the road...

Christmas stuff on the other! 

 

Prague, I Will Be Back Again

Sunday, unfortunately, was our last day in Prague.  I was not ready to end an amazing weekend.  Prague, so far, has been my favorite city I have been to this semester.  Hopefully I will be able to go back one day :)

Jane and I left Hostel ELF a little before 11 AM, and I have to say, I was not mad about saying goodbye to Hostel ELF.  Jane and I definitely should have researched hostels a little bit more before booking this, but we learned our lesson!  After checking out of the hostel, we headed back over to Old Town Square.  We were looking to find some brunch, and Kelly had recommend us a number of places.  We ended going to Bakeshop, which was right near the square.  This was such an awesome place, and definitely catered to the many Americans that stopped in.  I had a pumpkin and few quiche with a cinnamon muffing.  The quiche was delicious, but massive!  I loved the pumpkin because it reminded me of the fall at home, but I was so sad I could not finish it, it was so big!  My muffin was great, and reminded me of Nana's Dirt Bombs.  They definitely tasted almost as good as the real thing :)

After brunch, Jane and I walked around the city for a while to look for some gifts and trinkets for everyone back home.  It is so hard finding gifts while in Europe!  You would think it is so easy, but that is so very wrong.  Once we were done exploring, we hades to the bus station to grab our bus to the airport.  Our weekend was officially coming to an end :(

The travel home were pretty routine, but Jane and I almost missed our bus to Cork!  The plane landed later than expected, so we had to run through the airport to catch it on time.  Thankfully, we made it!

Prague, I love you and I will be back (hopefully) very soon.

Be back soon!

XO,

Caitlin

Prague streets!

Breakfast

Deliciousness at Bakeshop :)

Prague, Petrin Hill...Perfection

Saturday was another full day of exploring Prague for me and Jane!  We had a list of things we needed to see, thanks to Kelly, and we could not wait to get going.

We began the day by heading to Radost again.  We thought we would give it another try, we really wanted these cinnamon buns!  Luckily the universe was in our favor, and we found them!  This was the greatest cinnamon bun I have ever had.  It was so sweet, and chewy, and walnut-y, and amazing.  Jane and I shared one of these and enjoyed a delicious cup of coffee (finally, good coffee), and it was the start to a great morning.

After our relaxing breakfast, we headed over to Petrin Hill and Observatory Tower.  This tower looks like a little Eiffel Tower, and is famous for the view of Prague from the top.  However, it was a hike to get to the top of the tower, literally.  It almost reminded me of Talcott Mountain.  The weather was spectacular, and it was a great fall day, with lots of foliage, making the walk extremely enjoyable.  When we reached the top of the Petrin Hill, we climbed the 299 steps of the Observatory Tower.  The view from the top was so magnificent, and because it was so clear out, it looked as if they city could go on forever.  This was something Kelly recommended we do, and I am so happy she did!  It was definitely a highlight of my weekend.

Post-hike, Jane and I wanted to sit and enjoy the scenery for a little bit.  There was a very nice park behind the tower, so we sat there for a little while.  We wanted to take the time to really embrace the moment and soak up the site.  We were so happy with how the day was going, and it was only noon.  Prague continued to amaze me with every activity we did.

We were staving by 2 PM, so we walked to the Old Town Square to enjoy some of the amazing street food.  I continued to have my fill on kielbasa and trdelnik, and I could not be happier.  If I could eat trdelnik for the rest of my life, I would not be mad about it.  It is a roll of goodness.  To work off my loads of trdelnik I had (and would) consume over the weekend, Jane and I meandered around the area for a few hours, exploring the shops, restaurant, and surrounding squares.  it was nice to just walk, without a destination.  I feel that we really could see the city that way and get to know the lay of the land a little bit more.

At around 5 PM, the sun was already setting.  Jane and I thought that it would now be an appropriate time for us to go get a beer/cider in the Old Town Square, I mean, we were in Prague which is so famous for its beer!  We found a nice restaurant in the middle of the square where we sat for over an hour just chatting and enjoying our drinks.  We then decided to head to another restaurant in the square to grab some dinner.  This place was really cozy with heat lamps and blankets all over the place.  The weather was definitely getting chilly!  For my meal, I was trying to be adventurous and continue getting local dishes, so i tired to beef goulash, which was really great!

Once we finished eating, it was already around 9 PM and we were so tired.  We headed back to Hostel ELF, cleaned up, and got ready for our last day :(

The weekend was fabulous so far, I could not believe it was almost over!

Be back soon!

XO,

Caitlin

Me, enjoying my cinnamon bun.

The beautiful day walking up Petrin Hill.

Observatory Tower

View from the top of the tower

Astronomical Clock in Old Town Square

Dinnertime!

I AM a Dreamer

Friday was our first full day in Prague, and Jane and I were ready to get going on the touring.  It took us a little while to get moving in the morning because our travels were starting to hit us, but, Prague was waiting for us!

We had a full day of sight seeing planned ahead of us, and luckily the weather was great!  We have been so lucky with the weather throughout all of our travels!  Our first stop was a restaurant called Radost.  Kelly had recommended this place for the cinnamon buns, which definitely caught our attention. We made it over to Radost via the metro system, which was very easy to use.  Unfortunately, they only served the cinnamon buns on the weekends, so, Jane and I stopped at the Farmer's Market across the street to grab something to eat.  We stumbled upon a bakery stand that was filled with yummy looking treats.  Granted, we could not understand any of the names of the items, so we just went with what looked good.  Our gut was right, and we had the most delicious pastry.  It was a frosted croissant filled with a chocolate pudding/frosting.  It sounds like a chocolate croissant, but it was so much more than that.

After enjoying our peaceful stop at the market, we took the tram to Prague Castle.  This was a really easy ride from where we were!  We got a little turned around and missed the correct stop, but, eventually we got there (see, Mom, I do save these details for you when I am safe and sound).  At the Prague Castle, we climbed the St. Vitus Clock Tower, which gave awesome sights of the city.  After my year abroad, it will be really interesting to see how many clock towers I climb.  You would think the hills of HC as prepared me for the stairs, but I was so wrong...

Once we went around the grounds of the Prague Castle, we made our way towards the Old Town Square and the Charles Bridge, two very famous spots in Prague (also on Kelly's amazing guide to Prague).  Our first stop on the way, a street food vendor where we had fried cheese.  Yup, you heard that correctly, a fired cheese sandwich.  Who knew you could combine two great things to make something even better?  The correct name of this was, Smažený sýr, but I was not even going to attempt to pronounce the Czech words.  So, I stuck with fried cheese.  After our pit stop, we made it to the Charles Bridge where we walked around for a while and looked at some of the prints of the city to add to our collections.  I decided to change it up and not get a print of the city, but instead I got a John Lennon Wall medley of pictures.  I am so happy with my purchase!  It is so different from the other pictures I have gotten, so it was a nice change.  Jane and I then made it over to the real John Lennon Wall, which I have to say was my favorite part of Prague.  The wall is so massive, covered in beautiful quotes and many bright colors, but it is still so hidden.  There were a number of people playing songs by The Beatles, and it was so peaceful.  


Jane and I then headed to Old Town Square where we walked around for a while and got a lay of the land.  We were so hungry and had not eaten in hours, so we stopped at some of the street vendors and shared a kielbasa and a famous Czech pastry, trdelnik.  This is a cinnamon sugar, almond, walnut, dough pastry, which I filled myself with throughout the weekend.  SO DELICIOUS.  


We sat in Old Town Square for a while and just relaxed, taking in all that we had seen that day, and the fact that we were really in Prague.  I still could not believe I was actually there.  Yes again, it was a "pinch me" moment.  After taking in our surroundings, we decided to walk around for a while and look for some gifts for people back home.  I was successful and got some surprises for my sisters :)
After shopping and a few more hours of walking around the city (and finding chocolate, because come on, it was Halloween), we went to a late dinner, at around 8 PM.  We went to a restaurant that Kelly had recommended, Vytopna Railway Restaurant.  This place is known for delivering your drinks to you on little train cars!  It was such a neat place, and delicious food.


We had a long day, and we were very wiped out and headed back to Hostel ELF.  We looked at my phone when we got back to see how many steps we had walked that day, and it was almost 27,000!  That's close to 14 miles! Friday was the perfect day, I could only imagine war Saturday would bring!


Be back soon!


XO, 


Caitlin

The mystery pastry 

View from the St. Vitus Clock Tower

Me and my fried cheese!

The Charles Bridge

The John Lennon Wall

My mark on the wall!

 The making of trdelnik

Afternoon snack of trdelnik and kielbasa

Chocolate fix for Halloween!

Vytopna Railway Restaurant 

 Pork Dinner

My last trdelnik of the day (with nutella, OMG)

Prague is Here!

PRAGUE AT LAST!  The day I leave for Prague has finally come.  I cannot believe it!  Prague has been one of the number one places to visit on my bucket list, and I was actually going, at last.  My entire abroad experience so far has been one bucket list check after another, and at times I really need to stop and remind myself what my life is.  I am so lucky to be doing all of this, I don't know how I am going to part from it in May!

Thursday was not as early as some of my other travel days have been lately.  Jane and I were catching an 8 AM bus to Dublin for our 1:30 flight.  The bus to Dublin can be a little bit of a pain, but I am becoming very good about sleeping in the most uncomfortable of places, so it is not horrible.  We got to Prague a little bit after 5, and we were going to get the student bus to the city.  Jane, luckily, looked everything up in advance.  We made a good team!

We arrived at our hostel, Hostel ELF, a little after 7 PM.  I do not have the words to describe this place.  It was so weird, oh my goodness.  When you mix the weirdness of the Hostel ELF and Halloweekend, you find an even weirder place.  But, it got the job done, Jane and I had a private room with Wi-Fi, we were set.

We were starving by the time we arrived at the Hostel, so we thought we would treat ourselves to a nice dinner.  My best friend, Kelly, studied abroad in Prague a few years ago and she made us the most incredible list of places to to go.  There was everything you could think of, food, drinks, desserts, site seeing, and so much more.  Jane and I went to one of Kelly's suggestions, Cafe Savoy.  It was a fabulous dinner, and the perfect night we were looking for.  I had a duck and gnocchi dish for my dinner, and treated myself to chocolate cake for dessert.  Jane and I were calling this weekend our one year anniversary of deciding to go to Cork for our Study Abroad year.  This was just the start of our celebratory meals :)

It was a nice night, so Jane and I walked along the river for a little while.  Just as we were walking out of the restaurant, fireworks started going off across the river!  This was a sign it was going to be a great weekend!

Be back soon!

XO,

Caitlin       

ARRIVED IN PRAGUE!

Dinner! I am being daring and trying local foods wherever I go--duck was a daring choice for me, but delicious!

Dessert :)

The Week is Over!

Wednesday was like a Friday for me because PRAGUE WAS ON THURSDAY!  I was so excited and could not believe that it was almost time to go.  I guess time flies when you don't go to many classes?  I swear, I am trying not to skip too many!  But, Prague was a priority for me.

I had a super boring day on Wednesday, just the typical getting ready for another weekend trip.  I went to my two classes, Sociology of Community and Politics of Church and State, and then went to the Mardyke for a quick workout!  I really don't like Wednesdays because they end up being so long, but it also means the end of the week is near.

I got back to the apartment at around 9:30 PM, and got to packing.  I think I have become a pro at packing for my weekend trips.  I'll probably jinx myself now for my next trip, but at the moment for Prague, I was an expert!  My weekend bag that my dad got me has worked out perfectly, and there have been no issues with its size for Ryanair (Dad, you were right!).

Thursday is an early day of travel!  Be back soon!

XO,

Caitlin

Another rainy, gloomy day in Cork :(