Just a quick note.

Readers,

My semester ended today. I took my last final, and it went really well! I've been packing my life into three bags, and tomorrow I'm heading off on another adventure to Edinburgh, Berlin, Prague, Munich, Paris, Bordeaux, and Arbroath. After that trip is over, I'll be heading home to Iowa, and I promise to finish my stories from my semester abroad. There are quite a few left to tell, and I hope you'll enjoy reading them even though they're a bit delayed from when they actually occurred. It's been fun writing posts for you all to read, and I appreciate all of your comments!

See you again in a few weeks!

Pat

The Hauswald Invasion: Part Two

As a great way to see more of the country we got tickets for a bus tour of the area northwest of Glasgow. Early Friday morning we got together and piled into the little bus with our driver, Tom, to head off on our adventure. After getting out of Glasgow we drove through the countryside to Loch Lomond and stopped in a small town on its shore. We got to walk around and take amazing pictures for about an hour, then we piled back into the bus and continued the tour. We drove all along Loch Lomond until we reached the southwest corner of the highlands, which were amazing to see. We continued along windy roads that seemed to never end until we reached the coast town of Oban, which is considered the seafood center of Scotland, and we got to walk around and find a place to eat lunch. We elected to go to a seafood restaurant on the pier so we could have fresh fish and a great view of the bay. I had a delicious fish pie, which is bits of fish covered with mashed potatoes and cheese. Mom got seafood chowder, Dad got mussels, and Steve had traditional fish and chips (his favorite). All of the food was delicious, and we had a great hour of lunch before heading back to the bus to make our way back to Glasgow. The route back took us along a few lochs and through a few small towns until we stopped at Invarary to see Invarary castle and pick up some souvenirs. After seeing the town and castle, our next stop was the "Rest and Be Thankful" pass, which is a huge cliffside in the highlands that people used to travel. The cliffs were so high and steep that travelers were supposed to stop at the top, enjoy the view, and be thankful that they made it. After that stop we drove back to Glasgow, and when we got back I got a text from none other than the legendary Chris Williams. It read, "Pub?" I told my travelers that we had to go have a pint with Chris and Ross. It's part of the Scotland experience. We met up with the duo at O'Neils pub, had a drink, and listened to Chris's riciulously hilarious stories for a few hours. After our sides had officially been split, we decided to walk up the hill to an Italian restaurant called Amoré to have supper. It was delicious! Afterwards we headed back to O'Neils to listen to a band and have a few more drinks before going back to the hotel to call it a night.Our original plan for Saturday was to hop on a train over to Edinburgh to see Glasgow's "pretty sister" city. After we woke up, however, our adventures had taken most of our energy. We decided to bum around Glasgow for the day. We did a bit of shopping, had lunch at a pub, and took naps in the afternoon. When it came to suppertime, Steve was too tired to go out so we abandoned him and headed to a little French restaraunt downtown. I loved that place. The atmosphere was really cool, the wine was amazing, and the food was even better! I can't wait to go to France... It was a great time eating, drinking, and chatting with my parents. In Scotland, nonetheless. After we stuffed ourselves with food and wine, we walked back to the hotel to play some cards and call it an early night.

Sunday morning Mom and Steve went to mass at a local cathedral and then we got on a train heading for St. Andrews! Dad and I were excited to no degree. On Sundays the Old Course is open to the public for walking, so we were finally going to walk at the home of our beloved sport. It's like Mecca for golfers. Everyone has to go at least once before they die. After a train ride filled with card games, we got to St. Andrews and headed straight for the course. Dad and I planned to walk the whole thing while Mom and Steve wandered through the town. We started off by taking pictures at the famous sights and then headed down every fairway and across every green. It was great walking the course and thinking about how to play it... now all that's left is to actually play it! I'm already looking forward to coming back solely for the reason of playing some serious golf. We met up with Mom and Steve a few hours later and went to find somewhere to eat. We found a local restaurant and ordered some haggis, neeps, and tatties so the three could get a taste of Scotland's most famous dish. I'll always love me some haggis, and the others thought it was alright as well. After supper we made our way back to the train station, chilled for about an hour in the warm, setting Scottish sun, and then hopped on the train back home to Glasgow.Their final day in Scotland was spent shopping, relaxing, and eating. After exploring more of downtown and relaxing for the afternoon, we went to an Italian restaurant called Qua for our final meal. Once again, the food was delicious. Our waiter was really nice and planning to go to America, so we had a good chat with him about that. After we stuffed ourselves one last time, I had to say goodbye to the family because they had an early plane to catch. It was amazing having them visit me in Scotland. I really felt like I knew my way around the city and country, and I got to see some new sights from my new home. They made it safely back to the States, and I started killing time during the three weeks until my first exam. I can't wait to come back with my dad and play some serious golf!

The Hauswald Invasion: Part One

Since Iceland's volcano decided to take a break from canceling flights, my parents' flight was still on! I was so excited for them to arrive so I could show them my Scottish life skills. Their flight was supposed to arrive around eleven, and they told me that they would call me when they got to their hotel room. Since they were staying a few blocks away from my dorm, I would just walk down and meet up with them. Around one they still hadn't given me a call, so I called the hotel and asked if the Hauswalds had arrived. The lady informed me that they had, so I was confused as to why they hadn't called me. I decided to walk down to the hotel and see if they were in their room, so I had the reception call their room for me. After a few rings, a man's voice that wasn't my dad's said, "Yello." I was really confused, so I responded, "Uh, dad? It's Pat, I'm downstairs, can you come meet me down here?" The voice said he would, so I sat in a chair and tried to figure out who I just called. My imagination first developed a scenario in which a Russian hit man was hired to murder my parents, pose as them in the hotel, and then attempt to kill me upon my arrival. Naturally, I would vanquish the assailant with a flurry of James Bond-esque moves, save the day, and get the girl, and then I snapped back to reality. After a few minutes of waiting none other than my dad's brother Steve walks out of the elevator with a huge grin on his face. I was completely baffled as to why I was hugging my uncle in Scotland, but all became clear. While we walked up to my parents' room he told me that he talked about coming with my parents a few months ago when they planned the trip. After picking my jaw up off the floor, we knocked on my parents' door and were greeted by two zombie-like creatures named Brian and Judy. Evidently the jet lag sapped them of their energy, and they collapsed as soon as they got to the hotel. After we relaxed for a while I took the three of them to a pub called the Counting House. It was one of the first pubs I went to in Glasgow, and it used to be a bank so it's a really cool old building with a huge bar and lots of seating. We got some classic pub food, pints, and headed up to my flat after we finished. I introduced the family to Scott, Adrian, Mikey, and Jing, and we looked up things to do for the rest of the week. After spending a few hours in the flat, we left to walk around Glasgow Cathedral and through the Necropolis, which is a huge graveyard. After a bit more walking we got a cab to a different pub for supper. I realized that I had to act as a translator for my family when the waitress came up to our table, asked for our drinks, and was met with three blank stares. Slowly the three turned their confused faces to me, and I laughed and told them what she wanted. I guess the accent really is difficult to understand... We spent the night playing cards and relaxing at the hotel.For the second day, I took the advice of one of my professors and took the gang on a train and ferry ride to the tiny Isle of Cumbrae. I walked down to the hotel, ate breakfast, and then we walked down to Central Station to catch a train to the small town Largs. They really enjoyed the train ride, which is understandable because it took us along the coast and the train system in Europe is beautifully efficient. Before too long we were in Largs waiting for the ferry to take us the short journey across the water to Cumbrae. The island is only twelve miles around, so it's easy to walk around, and it's truly Scottish. There is only one tiny town on the entire island, but it still has the basics: pubs and a golf course. We wandered about the island to check out the sights, and we stopped at a pub on the pier to eat. Eventually we headed back to Largs to catch another train back to Glasgow. After we hopped on the next train to Glasgow, a young girl drunkenly stumbled into our train car. Instantly the entire car reeked of alcohol, and she did not look well. We all thought she was going to start crying and asking us for help, but the instant she noticed us her mood changed to belligerent anger. She glared at us and started yelling some very nasty things before heading through to terrorize the next car. The conductor came to the car to coax her out onto the platform (by law they can't touch her, only police can), but she passed out before he could get her off the train. Since she couldn't be moved, the train had to be canceled. On the bright side, we got to watch two huge policemen drag her off the train and down the platform as our other train drove away. Oh, Scotland, how I'll miss thee :) For the night we walked down to the Merchant City to find a restaurant, and we ended up eating at a delicious Italian restaurant called the Italian Kitchen. After we ate we had another relaxing night at the hotel.For day three I decided to give the travelers the Glasgow walking tour. We started off in the morning by walking through the city center to the subway station so we could catch a short ride out to the West End. We walked around to the botanical gardens and by some other sights before reaching the University of Glasgow and its Harry Potter-esque towers. After stopping for a pint at the Ubiquitous Chip on Ashton Lane, we walked back to the hotel to get ready for our night out to the theater! Also at my professor's suggestion, we got tickets to see the Scottish National Theatre's production of Peter Pan, which was originally written by a Scottish author and set in Edinburgh, not in London like Disney had it. We went to my friends and my favorite Italian restaurant, Piazza Italia, for their pre-theatre menu. Sharing wine, starters, and delicious main courses, we had a great time chatting and soaking up the restaurant's atmosphere. It was fun to watch their reactions to the food. I remember exactly how I reacted to my first time eating at Piazza Italia, and those three reacted the exact same way. It was precious. After we were finished we grabbed a cab over to King's Theatre, got our seats, and the show started. It was an amazing production, we all really loved it! After it was over we cabbed our way back to the Merchant City and went out for dessert. We had some delicious coffee and desserts at another Italian restaurant, which was a great way to end the night.

After the Adventure.

My haste to get back to Glasgow was rewarded not only with the comfort of being safely back in my humble abode but with a wine-tasting the next day in Beverage Management. A wine saleswoman came to our class with a few different types of wine, and she taught us how to properly analyze and taste each wine. The proper process is to first hold the wine up to light and analyze its brightness, clarity, and freshness. After making sure there isn't anything wrong with its look, you put the glass to your nose, tilt it, and take a full whiff to pick out the scents and fruits given off by the wine. To enhance the flavors you have to add oxygen by swirling the wine. It was surprising how much stronger the smells were after doing that! Finally you get to take a drink of the wine, let it sit in your mouth for a bit, and swallow it. To enhance the flavors of this step we had to suck air in over the wine while it was in our mouth, which was a bit difficult but fun to try. It seriously made the wine taste like a different drink! We got to try a few sauvingnon blancs, a few chadonnays, and a few cabernet merlots. They were from all around the world; a few from South Africa, one from Argentina, another from Australia, and (of course) one from France. They weren't the most expensive wines, but some were pretty nice. Tasting and talking about wine for a few hours was a great classroom experience, and I highly recommend it to other college programs.

The rest of the week was filled with a few classes and reuniting with friends and hearing their crazy spring break stories. People were stuck in France, Spain, and even Greece! Eventually everyone made it back, and we enjoyed going out to eat to celebrate everyone's successful return. I had to write an essay, which proved to be a bit difficult because of the reunions and a bit of writer's block. After starting and re-starting the essay four or five times, it came down to me cranking about 2200 words on a Sunday afternoon. Such is the life of a student... On the bright side, I was looking forward to my parents' impending visit! The ash cloud backed off just enough for flights to resume, so the Hauswalds would be invading Scotland after all!

The Spring Break Adventure - Chapter 5: Sunshiny Sorrento

Our train ride took us through the Italian countryside to Naples where we hopped on a local train down the Amalfi Coast to Sorrento. The view of the Bay of Naples was astounding, and Mount Vesuvius dominated the distant landscape. We met a nice older couple from England on the train, and they had spent their day exploring the ruins in Herculaneum, Pompeii's sister city. When we arrived in Sorrento we walked through one of the town's bustling squares and asked for directions to our hostel. We had to walk along the main street until we reached the hospital and then go down a hill. We found a hostel but couldn't believe it was ours. It was WAY too nice. This place was nicer than most hotels I've ever stayed in! It was amazing. Our room was enormous, had a working tv and its own (huge) bathroom. All for 25 euros a night? We were spoiled. After dropping off our things we asked the man at the front desk what to do and he suggested we walk around the tiny fishing village, Marina Grande, and get some supper from one of the family-run restaurants. So we did! Just down the hill from Sorrento on the water is a tiny village full of boats, ridiculous hotels, and restaurants. We walked in one restaurant but the lady told us they weren't open quite yet, so we continued exploring for a little while. It was a beautiful night! No wind, warm, and a wonderful sunset. Italy is amazing. After we explored a few neighborhoods, witnessed a proposal, admired the view, and found a few stray cats, we made our way back to the restaurant for food. The restaurant was run completely by a family. The mom cooked everything, and the kids/husband were the waiters and waitresses. We ordered the basics: spaghetti/ravioli with tomato sauce and some of the local wine, which they kept in a barrel right in the restaurant! Biting into my ravioli led to an explosion of the greatest flavors I've ever experienced. It tasted like a bite of tomato soup every time, and the wine was beautiful. It's almost beyond description. Once again, it was the best thing I had ever eaten. After a bit more walking around we made our way back to our super-hostel to crash for the night.To celebrate being in Sorrento we partook in the local resort culture and slept in until noon. It was another beautiful, warm day, so we walked through most of Sorrento. Away from the main street were tons of alleyways and small roads filled with shops, apartments, and restaurants. After navigating the roads and getting to a few views of the bay, we stopped at a pizzeria and ate lunch on the outdoor patio. We had some amazing pizza and people-watched for a while before heading back to our hostel to relax and watch a movie. I could get used to the resort lifestyle. After a short nap it was suppertime, so we headed back into town for a short walk and found an outdoor restaurant. I had Italian sausage and a salad. Molto bene! (Very good!) The Italian custom is to go for a walk before and after supper, so we took another walk through town, made our way back to the hostel, watched another movie, and called it a night.
Tuesday morning was rainy, so we postponed our day trip to Herculaneum. Instead, we had breakfast at the hostel and relaxed. I know it sounds like all we did was eat and lay around, but that's the beauty of Sorrento :) Around lunchtime we walked up the hill and found a little shop that made fresh Italian sandwiches. We picked up a few and ate them back at the hostel while watching another movie. Since our day trip was postponed we had to find something else to do for the afternoon, and that's when we found the spa. That's right, our hostel had a spa. It was located a few stories underground and was full of pools, baths, showers, saunas, various other awesome relaxation things, and the relaxation room, which was full of super-comfortable chairs, soothing music, and herbal tea. All you had to pay was twenty euros and you could spend the entire day in that haven of relaxation. After 4.5 hours of the most intensely relaxing experience of my life, I felt like a beautiful prune. We emerged around suppertime, so we found a tiny family-run pizzeria in town. We walked in and an elderly Italian lady greeted us with a huge smile. She was so happy to have us! Their sign said to ask about the house special, so I did. She got really excited and said that it was her homemade lasagna. I was sold, and the lasagna was a masterpiece. After yet another amazing meal we returned to the hostel, and I skyped with my parents for a few hours, trying to explain the amazing spring break experience.Wednesday we slept in, got sandwiches from our little sandwich shop, and hopped on the train to Herculaneum. On the ride we met a few nice families visiting from Australia. They were headed to Pompeii, and we had a good time swapping stories along the way. Herculaneum is another small town on the Amalfi coast, and it has preserved ruins similar to those in Pompeii. The couple from England that we met told us that Herculaneum was like a smaller, better preserved version of Pompeii. Although Pompeii was huge and had 'the atmosphere,' we decided to explore Herculaneum's ruins. It was really sweet seeing the preserved houses, roads, pottery, paintings, and statues throughout the town. Herculaneum was buried in much more ash than Pompeii; that's why it's better preserved. It was nice to explore because it wasn't so huge that you spent your entire day there. We saw everything we needed to in a couple of hours. After the train ride back to Sorrento we crashed back at the hostel. Cassandra borrowed my laptop, and I took a three hour nap, exhausted from the few hours of actual activity. When it was getting a bit later we decided to take another pre-dinner walk and find a restaurant for our last meal in Sorrento. I found a place called 'il Leone Rosso' (the Red Lion) online, and the place looked amazing. It definitely didn't disappoint. When our dishes arrived and we tried them out, we were both speechless. We didn't say a word for at least two full minutes. This food was definitely the best I'd ever had. After enjoying every bit of our final meal, we walked around a bit more of the town and ended up back at the hostel. Four days of relaxation and amazing food made Sorrento one of my favorite places in the entire world. I had an unbelievable time, and I can't wait to go back!
Little did we know that Mother Nature had quite the surprise waiting for us in the morning...
*for the conclusion to my Spring Break Adventure, see the post "Beginning with the End" from April 19

The Spring Break Adventure - Chapter 4: Roma

We spent a few hours in Dublin's airport waiting for our plane to arrive, which gave us a chance to take a breath and review the events of the past week. Before we knew it we were on the plane heading to Italy! The flight took us over the alps, which were extremely impressive, and landed in Rome around 9:00. The airport and parking lot was pretty busy with arriving passengers, cars, buses, and taxis. We both noticed the language difference right away. Neither of us spoke Italian, so we were equally confused. After wandering about the parking lot trying to find a way to the city, we asked a bus driver if he spoke English. He replied, "Yes," so we asked him if his bus went to the train station. He responded with a blank stare. I guess his English wasn't so great :P Eventually we found out that his bus went where we wanted, so we hopped on for the short ride into the heart of Rome. The city was absolutely massive. Its suburbs extended for what seemed like forever, and the inner city is a jumbled maze of cramped streets that always seem to be full of people and parked cars. My directions told us that our hostel was located right across the street from the train station, but all we saw were huge, neon signs with Chinese symbols. The block was full of family-run shops and Chinese restaurants, but we eventually learned that this was Rome's Chinatown. Eventually we found our hostel - it was above a family-run Chinese place and run by a Chinese family. They were super friendly and we were pleasantly surprised when they asked us what time we wanted breakfast! After dropping off our things we met up with Anna and relaxed in our room for the night. We walked Anna back to her hostel (where a bunch of people from Cassandra's program were also staying) and then wandered the streets looking for food. I was starting to sway while walking and stopped talking, which I'm told are the telltale signs that Pat is hungry. We found a little pizza takeout place, and I got to enjoy my first piece of real Italian pizza. It was the best pizza I've ever eaten. Period.
We didn't know what to expect for breakfast, and it arrived at 8 a.m. It wasn't much, and most of the stuff was strange. It consisted of a funky orange-ish juice, some awful cappuccino/milk-like substance, a lemon pudding filled croissant, and a coffee cake kind of thing. We found this all oddly hilarious, so we attempted to eat what we could. We planned a huge walking tour of most of Rome the night before, so we met up with Anna and Elizabeth (a girl from Cassandra's program) and got to walking. Our first stop was the Colosseum, where we got in line for tickets and then found out that Anna and Elizabeth's tickets from the day before didn't let them back in, so we decided to come back to go inside later. After walking through Constantine's arch and around the ruins, we stumbled onto the Mouth of Truth. It's a giant stone slab with a face carved into it. People go to the Mouth of Truth and put a hand into its mouth. The story is that if you're a liar, the mouth will bite you, but if you're a truthful person it won't. Fortunately our group was bite-free. We walked through more confusing streets, found a few back alleys, and made our way to the Victor Emmanuel Monument. The way Rome works is that you use your map as a general reference to your location since there are millions of streets all over the place. You wander along a makeshift path through the maze of streets and enjoy the monuments and enormous buildings that seem to be on every street corner. It's an amazing city, but it would take a ton of time to fully explore it. After making our way along a few more streets we found the Pantheon and then traveled along to Trevi Fountain. After tossing our coins behind our backs (to find true love) into the fountain, we walked to the Spanish steps. It seemed appropriate since the girls were spending half a year in Spain, and the steps didn't disappoint. There were tons of people just chilling at the steps and at the fountain. We went to a sandwich shop to buy some things for lunch, and we made our way up the steps and a hill to a huge park, Villa Borghese, where we had a picnic in the Italian sunshine. After lunch, Elizabeth and Anna went to explore more of the city, and Cassandra and I headed back to go inside the Colosseum and the ancient ruins. Both were amazing to explore, but our cameras had died and our legs were killing us, so we walked back to our hostel to nap for a few hours before finding food for supper. After relaxing and watching half of a movie, we decided to find an Irish pub to watch some football while we ate. We got pizza from a takeout place, watched Barcelona play Real Madrid (two of the best clubs in Spain), and chatted with the Irish bartender for a few hours. The pizza was, once again, the best thing either of us had ever eaten. After the game finished we called it a night and made our way back to the hostel to crash into our beds. We decided to evaluate how we felt in the morning to determine whether or not we would venture over to the Vatican City or sleep in and take an afternoon train to Sorrento.Sleep won. The day had taken all of our energy, so we attempted to enjoy our breakfast a second time, took showers, packed up our things, and ventured out to find a market to buy supplies for lunch on the train. After a little walk around Chinatown we found a local Italian supermarket. We stocked up on drinks, snacks, and sandwich material so we could have lunch on the train. After grabbing our bags and checking out of the hostel, we got our train tickets and navigated the tunnels underneath Termini station to find our train's platform. Rome had taken tons of our energy, so we were happy to sit through a train ride down Italy's coast to Naples, where we hopped on a local train down the Amalfi coast toward Sorrento. Little did we know that we were in for four of the most relaxing days ever!