CLAIRE O’REILLY
Staff Writer
The last few weeks of my study abroad experience can only be described as a whirlwind roller-coaster ride — a ride you never really want to get off from, but one that makes you motion sick after a while.
Although I would like to stay in Ireland forever, I have also reached the point of being ready to go home. I feel as if I’ve been living in a dream for the past four months, and it is difficult to grasp that, by the time you all are reading this, I will only have nine days left in Ireland. That’s 216 hours to soak up the last few drops of this experience.
Last weekend, I went on my final adventure outside of Ireland. Looking back now, I can’t imagine spending those days any differently. I traveled to Budapest, Vienna, Salzburg and Florence in a matter of five days. It was quick, but the days were long and boiling over with adventure.
Despite having to rent a bathing suit resembling that of a lifeguard’s or a camp counselor’s, Budapest was absolutely incredible. I have never experienced anything quite like the Szechenyi Spa Baths. Imagine the air being around 35 degrees and parading around in a swimsuit, but then stepping into a thermal spa and quite literally feeling all of your troubles melt away. I would live in that bath if I could, seriously.
Vienna. Oh, Vienna. Of all the Billy Joel jokes that could be made, I will just say that I am so glad Vienna waited for me. I sipped on hot spiced wine out of a stein, scarfed down an entire waffle filled with custard and smothered in whipped cream and caramel and ate spoonfuls of homemade pumpkin soup out of a freshly baked bread-bowl. The Vienna Christmas Market will forever be in my heart. The walkways flooded with people laughing, lights twinkled on the massive tree acting as the centerpiece to the whole event and a warm, cinnamon-sugar aroma delighted my senses. Holiday cheer was palpable in the air.
Salzburg was next on the list. Multi-colored buildings lining the streets, more Christmas markets and The Sound of Music tour awaited me. The town was a cute little mountain town, and a quiet one since it was a Sunday. We got on our bus and drove to certain areas seen in “The Sound of Music” movie. We saw the gazebo, the church Maria was married in and a few other iconic spots. Of course, we listened to the soundtrack throughout the whole tour. The hills really were alive with the sound of music.
Outside the church where the wedding happened, there was a smaller sized Christmas market. Here, I inhaled a stick adorned with german chocolate covered strawberries. This was a purely blissful moment. I can still taste the buttery smoothness of the chocolate mixed with the tangy sweetness of the strawberry.
This wasn’t the only market I ate my way through. At another Salzburg market, I ordered a bratwurst with mustard and then immediately made my way to the pretzel station and ordered myself an apple strudel pretzel. (You could say I ate well on this trip.)
This entire trip was through the travel company Bus2Alps, who offer bus trips to popular student destinations while abroad, and these buses depart from Rome and Florence.
Florence was completely unplanned. We originally were supposed to head back to Rome, stay in a hostel overnight and then explore the city a little before heading to the airport to fly back to Dublin. When we found out our bus would not arrive back in Rome until about four in the morning, we realized we could not check into our hostel and we had absolutely nowhere to go.
At the beginning of this trip, I ran into a girl wearing a St. John Fisher shirt in the bathroom, and was so excited to see a Rochester reference that I had to introduce myself. Her name is Andrea and she ended up saving my, and my friend Kristen’s, life. When she found out we had nowhere to go, she immediately offered up her apartment in Florence. I have never been so thankful for a person in my entire life. It reaffirmed my belief that life carries us to meet certain people and certain places, and that these experiences are made a part of our journey on purpose.
Exploring Florence was absolutely one of my favorite experiences throughout my entire semester, and the fact that it was so spontaneous made it even better. We spent the day strolling around the cobblestone streets, climbing up to the Piazzale Michelangelo, digging into traditional homemade Italian pizza, sipping on red wine and, of course, enjoying gelato at the Ponte Santa Trinita. It’s safe to say Florence stole my heart, and I definitely want to make it back to Italy one day.
Making Europe my playground for a few days was the best way to end my study abroad semester. I can’t believe it’s almost over. Soon I will be lounging on my couch with my black lab snuggled up next to me. Christmas music will be playing in the background and the smells of holiday baking will be wafting around my home. I am so excited to be back in Rochester for the holidays and to reunite with family and friends. I also can’t wait to be reunited with the rest of my wardrobe, seeing as I’ve basically been wearing the same five shirts and few pairs of pants over and over again for four months.
Most of all, I am looking forward to sharing my experiences and my crazy stories with the people that mean the most to me. If I had to summarize the best, most important thing I have learned in these past few months, I would say this: Don’t take everything so seriously, relax and take a deep breath because the best, most exciting things happen when plans go astray. And with that I say, “so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodnight.”