An Irish Wedding

     So I packed my bags and headed to the airport to catch my flight to Dublin. I was very excited to go back to Ireland because I can't seem to get enough! I was also super excited to be reunited with Granny, Joe, & Katie who would be arriving from the states.

First stop: Santry

Sophie & I
She is absolutely adorable!

        My Aunt Colette "fetched," me from the airport and I spend the first night at her house. It was nice to catch up and see Nicola and Ashley. As well as little Sophie, Nicola's daughter who was just three weeks old! It is wonderful to see how our family just keeps growing...the more the merrier as I always say!!

           The next day I made my way around on Dublin City transit take first the bus, than the Luas tram to meet up with Deirdre. It was a nice treat being in a country where English is the first language...it therefore was a breeeeeeeeeze finding my way.

To Sligo We Go!  (You see what I did there?!)

         Friday morning Deirdre, Granny, Joe, Katie & myself crammed into the car to head up north to Sligo for the wedding! I was very excited to experience an Irish wedding and see all of my relatives who I haven't spent time with in a while! It was a lot of fun and it was such a happy time! I'm so glad I was able to share this experience with so many of my loved ones. 

The newlyweds cutting the cake!
Congrats Enda & Nora!

Enda (a.k.a. the man of the hour), me, Adrienne, Katie, Joe, & Reggie.

Dinner during the reception.

The Shift performing at Cullen's 

After the wedding we heading back to Kildare to stay with Dee a few more nights. We ended up going to see my cousin Gavin's band, The Shift, play at a bar in Wicklow. It was a lot of fun, and again great to hang with another part of the family!

Always the right time for a Guinness!

She was a little overwhelmed with all of the birthday cakes
 she had over the course of the week...

The whole crew!
Granny, Katie, Gaven, myself, Rob, Gerard, Phil, Greg, Nina, Joe & Dee!

Granny and I at St. Stephen's Greem

We spent the day in Dublin city soaking up the sun and walking around St. Stephen's Green. 

You gotta love Dublin!




To Kerry We Go!

Ladies View
Lakes of Killarney

Making our way around the Ring of Kerry.

Joe at Uncle Florrie's house.

Caherdaniel, Co. Kerry
Granny's hometown

We spent Granny's 80th birthday in Ireland! It was so great to spend the day with her and there were plenty of surprises and birthday cake to go around!

Out to feed the horses with Caroline.

A bunch of the cousins at the Blind Piper.

The Abbey off the beach in Derrynane

One of the many fairy houses in Derrynane!
You can search for them throughout the park and they are all unique!

Lovely dinner at the Galvins'!

Just fakin' it til I make it!

All good things must come to an end...after a wonderful week and a half I had to start my trek back to Belgium. I was so happy I got to see all of the cousins I haven't seen in more than 8 years. I have a whole new appreciation for the beautiful country of Ireland.

As of now I have been to 20 different countries in my lifetime, and aside from the good 'ole U.S.A. (because there is no place like home) Ireland is my top pick! From the city of Dublin, to the breathtaking beauty of Kerry, there is not a place that I have been in this country that I didn't like! Hopefully I'll make another trip over here before July 1st rolls around!


 Italy is next! Bring on the pasta!

Life in Leuven

         So after the fam left I had a couple of weeks of down time. I tried to enjoy it as much as I could since my schedule is basically jam-packed until June...but I'm not complaining. My schedule consists of trips to Italy, Denmark, England, as well as some more guests just to name a few. I organized my room, did a bunch of errands and tried to catch up on my readings...joy! But I suppose I have to do some work sometimes! I also spent a lot of time with Amelie, the 5 year old I babysit a few times a week after school. I help her with English because she is speaking Dutch throughout the rest of her day.

Serving the City:

        I logged some community service hours during my free time in Leuven during iCare week when the whole city puts in time to work for the good of the community. I spent 2 days at Poverello, a local soup kitchen, that provides meals for those who face poverty. We were painting, cleaning, and helping get the place organized! It was really enjoyable because we got to spend time with the locals who volunteer there all the time and I got a real feel for what it was like to be a part of the community.

Katie and I painting at the Serve the City site.

Katie, Cait, & I also put in some time at the Oud Markt!
#soleuven

You learn something new everyday! 

 

After passing this circular plate in the groud for the past 7 months, I just realized that it raises on Thursday nights (the big "going out night" for students) to be a public urinal! If you remember my Amsterdam post, there were these urinals along the streets all day erry day, but luckily Leuven keeps it classy and hides them during daylight hours. 

The hidden urinal in front of the fak bars on Tiensenstraat.

Casually eating some lunch with Amelie in the town center.
The beautiful weather makes our walk home a lot more enjoyable!

We celebrated Tessa's 21st birthday!
 She is one the the wonderful Belgians who lives in my unit! 

(Back Row) Astrid, Lucas, Mayank, Caroline
(Front Row) Myself & Tessa

We also played this fun game in the courtyard one evening with some valuable unit 3 members! The game involved throwing wooden sticks a distance and trying to knock over wooden blocks. It has a similar idea to horseshoes...minus the horseshoes if that makes sense...
And be careful, it can get dangerous if you get in the way of the game pieces!!



Leuven is still as wonderful as ever and I can't wait for the spring!
Nothing better than a beautiful day in a beautiful place! 

Back to Ireland I go!