auf Wiedersehen

As I sit in my hotel room in Munich I really feel like a changed person because of this trip. I have never met so many amazing people in my entire life. I now have friends and a place to stay in Austria, Germany, Ireland, and England. The world is truly your oyster and its waiting to be traveled. I cannot explain how much of an impact this trip has had on my life. Thank you for listening to my adventures.w What follows are pictures of the people that impacted me the most on this journey.

Florian "Flo" from Salzburg 

Fabian from Munich 

Martin from Dublin 

Gareth "Gaz" from London

Charlie from London

Ken from London

London's Calling

Yes, I went back. And yes, it was just as amazing If not better.

I had my first ryan air experience flying from salzburg to london. However, they only flew to stansed so i had to fly to stansed and get an hour shuttle bus to london BUT the bus was 6 pounds. talk about a deal. When I arrived in london I went to the flat to meet Gareth (kens best friend/roommate), as everyone was still at work. Gareth had bought pizzas and we ate and went out to his favorite bar on a boat on the river. It overlooks parliament and we sat and enjoyed cider as the sun set behind the beautiful city of london. After that we went back and watched our favorite Buffy and stayed up to wait for Ken to get back from work. Ken was beyond excited that I was back and we had a nice catch up.

The next day everyone had to work so that left me the perfect opportunity to do some major London exploring. I fell in love with Oxford street and spent 3 hours in Top Shop. After that retail therapy I met Ken and we bought him a new outfit for the night as well. We then went back to the flat made daquiris and then headed out to Rhiannon's birthday party in Angel. This girl is loaded and basically rented out the entire top floor of this bar. It was real nice. The next day Ken had a casting gig so I spent the morning with Charlie painting our nails and enjoying ourselves. Then I took the tube to London Bridge to meet Gareth and Martin for drinks on the river. We set up camp there all day then returned back home to then go out to a club. Ken was so funny and so drunk that he curled up on the floor of the London bus that was taking us back to his flat.

The next morning Gareth made us amazing omlets and we then headed out to a suburb of london to meet up with Lucy and Ollie who arranged an amazing bbq in Ollie's back garden. There was an abundance of home made cheesecakes and cookies and appetizers and Ollie made all sorts of marinated meats. Overall, it was the best bbq I had ever been to. On top of that I lucked out on a sunny weekend in London!! I then taught all these english how to play edward 40 hands and they all loved it. We spent the rest of the night sitting outside enjoying some music and the beautiful sky.

That trip really solidified my desire to work in London. I will be back!

Österreich

Flew into Munich from London and managed to run into other students looking as confused as I was on how to get to salzburg. We all managed to figure out where the trains were and took a train from Munich to Salzburg.

The first night in salzburg we went to the Augustiner Beer Garden. This place was massive. Aside from it being so hot and humid it was a lovely first day. The next day we got to meet justice Kennedy and of course everyone was excited. We had dinner with him and at that same dinner I met two austrians named Noran and Fabian.

supreme court justice kennedy

Fabian and I became great friends and he ended up driving Di and I to a nearby lake and showing us most of Salzburg by his car. How do I manage to get my own personal local tour guide in every city i go?! (He is thinking about driving us to Munich too!) Anyways we all enjoyed ourselves there and tanned. And believe me after weeks in the rain of Dublin it was refreshing to get a tan.

fabian!

Salzburg is a small town where everyone knows everyone so by night 3 I was basically on a first name basis with the bartenders in the pubs (this does not mean I am developing alcoholism) haha. 

Why the bars know my name--karaoke night

Another touristy thing I was able to do was the sound of music bike tour. This was amazing as it was a 3 hour bikeride around the city to all the major Sound of Music places.

Lastly, we went and climbed austrian mountains to go deep into salt mines and walk from Austria to germany all while inside the mountains!

More to come on Salzburg but ill leave you with some pics

London-"Here comes the Sun"

I have to say I am in love with london. I am torn between loving both Dublin and London. They are just so different. Dublin is this little city full of amazingly friendly people who will go out of their way to make you feel good and help you out. London is this huge city full of different people and lovely accents.

I may have loved london so much because of the amazing people I was able to stay with. I stayed with one of my best friends Ken on the Southbanks right across the river with an amazing view of the london eye. Basically their flat was walking distance from everything. Ken lives with the most amazing people ever. His best friend whom he grew up with in liverpool--Gareth and then 2 amazing girls he went to college with.

The Premiere

View from Ken's bedroom

The love of my life

Gaz ♥

My best friend

World best 'scouse tour guides

If you ever have friends that live in another country--visit them. I cant tell you how amazing the experience was just to be the only American amongst all these English people who welcome you and want to show you an amazing time. When Ken had to go away because of the sudden death of his grandmother for a day his roommate lucy took me out for drinks and dinner. See pictures of us enjoying ourself. I just like the whole atmosphere of london. Whenever we would meet anyone we would meet at a pub, no matter the time of day. Everyone meets for a drink after work as an everyday thing. 

After walking around London and getting to know the city I soon learned that the Harry Potter premiere was going on. And if you know me that is like a life dream to attend a Harry Potter Premiere. Well my friend Di from law school also happened to be in London so because my friends all worked during the day I took the tube into Trafalgar to meet up with her. After 5 weeks in Europe without seeing any American from home it was nice to get lunch with her. We sat right near where they were setting up the red carpet stuff (on the side of Trafalgar and Liescter) With a crowd of 20,000 people and people camping out we just laughed at the idea of possibly seeing anyone. We were simply happy to be in London during such an event. However, after sitting at lunch for awhile we realized we managed to get on the side of the street that was blocked off from any more public access. So we slipped out the back of the restaurant and managed to get a great red carpet view. We made friends with a guy named Markus who had traveled all the way from Germany by himself. Anyways I will spare you the Harry talk but just know I had the woman who plays Tonks sign my passport and I touched Tom Felton. 

After a very tearful goodbye from my friend Ken (as it had been 2 years since we had last seen each other) I promised that I wouldn't let it be two years again until I see him. And true to my word I returned 2 weeks later for a weekend adventure, but more on that later...now on to Austria

Time for an Update

Sorry Sorry for being so behind! Just know that I am having a great time and enjoying myself.

Me with Martin in his wig & gown

So I had to say goodbye to Ireland 2 weeks ago. And it was truly the time of my life. I have made lifelong friends particular Mr Martin my barrister. We went out my last night and he treated me to a nice lovely night in Dublin. I have made friends with so many barristers and solicitors that I know when I go back it will be as if I had never left.

Below I have included pictures of things I never had the chance to write about. You will see my journey to the amazingly breathtaking cliff of moher, my guiness factory visit and my jameson distillery fun. At jameson I was chosen as a "whisky taster" and basically got to take 3 shots of whisky an american, a scotch, and an irish. Of course the irish one was the best! ;)

Moneygall--the town where O'Bama's ancestors are from (note the US flags)

The Irish love that O'bama is related to them!

My work--the four courts+River liffey

The River Liffey

Got a certificate for whisky tasting!

Favorite Place to eat in Dub-Queen of Tarts

Meet Jarilath: He is a barrister by day and plays in an Irish trad band by night! 

Posts about London & Salzburg coming soon!