Every Song Ends, But Is That A Reason Not To Enjoy The Music?

One of my favorite quotes of all time just happens to be from one of my favorite tv shows as well. In the tv show One Tree Hill, Peyton, who is one of the main characters, her birth mother tells her the quote, "Every song ends, but is that a reason not to enjoy the music?" This quote means that no matter if something good ends in your life, don't think of it as ending, but enjoy the time you have while it lasts. Live every moment like it is going to end at some point and love every moment of your life.

Now this particular quote comes to mind with me because my semester abroad is coming to an end and it is coming quicker than I thought it was going to. I just went on my last trip this past weekend, into the week, and it was quite bitter sweet. Of course there are little things like I no longer have to leave campus at 3 in the morning to get to my 6 a.m. flight on time, which I brought that upon myself yes, but it was still a tiring day of traveling, and I now do not have to walk back from the bus stop off campus where the air coach drops me off, back to my dorm in the cold, which is also nice. It is just little things that I did for one last time that I will not miss, but there are the thoughts going around in my head that with how frequently I have been to the airport within these past 3, almost 4 months, that my last time going to the Dublin airport will be when I leave Ireland and go back home to Chicago. It is a bitter sweet feeling because as much as school has stressed me out and just little things here and there, I will miss Dublin and Ireland in general so much. This country and this city have become a somewhat partial home to me these past few months and it is something I will always look back on and cherish.

Going more in depth with my last trip, what I've been doing since my last blog has been quite simple. I ended my classes last week so this past week has been what is called a "revision week." It is a week long period of time that students have off classes before they start their two weeks worth of finals, so since it was our last weekend, my roommate Haley and I decided to travel for the weekend as well as into part of the week. Now before I get into talking about our trip, I want to talk about the few things I did before our trip. I'll start it off where I finished my last blog, directly after my Nice, France and Monaco trip. After that trip is was the last two weeks of classes for me at UCD. Now with the last two weeks of classes, comes our last homework assignments due and with my particular classes, I only have 4 homework assignments left. They were four very major homework assignments so I wasn't getting let off easy either. So to start off, for my Introduction to Celtic Civilisation class, and yes that is how they spell civilisation here in Ireland so I'm sticking to what I've been using the past few months. Anyways, I had another essay to write for that class, which was worth 25% of my grade, but that was the first assignment due so I started it before I left for Nice. I had my tutor look it over to make sure I was doing it correctly because with these classes having either one or two assignments equaling 50% of your grade and then your final equally 50% of your grade, you want to make sure you do the assignment correctly otherwise you really don't know how well you will do in the class. Now after I finished that essay, I started my second assignment which was my second Introduction to Folklore essay. This essay was worth 25% of my grade as well as my first essay, but with my particular interest in the topic I was given, ie. Halloween in Ireland, this essay was fun to write. After that essay I had my last two remaining assignments which were both for my Irish for Beginners, which is my Irish language course. Throughout the semester we had little homework assignments in this class, and previous to the last two, we already have had three. Now what the assignments consist of are either translating something from English to Irish, answering some questions in Irish, writing in different tenses, etc. They were just assignments to help us learn the material, so one of the last two assignments I had was just another normal homework that I was used to. That assignment I did in one night because it was over something I had just learned, which was future tense and the weather, so it was easier for me to complete it right away. Now with that being said, my last assignment ever here at UCD and my last assignment for my Irish language class was a listening test. Throughout the semester, sometimes my teacher would have us listen to audio files of people speaking Irish and we had to write down what they were saying, but in Irish, so for our last assignment, they wanted to do that same thing except on a more difficult level. Originally we were going to do it in class just like before, but because of how long it was, we got it as a take home audio file instead. What the listening test entailed was we had to do what we did with previous practice rounds. We needed to listen to the material and write down, in Irish, what the person was saying. Now a minute and a half of talking doesn't seem like a long time, but when the language you are learning isn't your first language and you just know the basics, as well as the way they speak the language isn't the way the words are actually written so it was a challenge to say the least. It was a difficult test and when I turned it in, I warned my teacher that some of those words I know didn't make sense because it is what I heard. I personally think I did good on it, but I turned it in non the less.

Now going more in depth with my last two weeks of classes, I went to my classes, we talked about the finals and that was pretty much it. My Irish language class we did practice a part of our final where we were only allowed to look up a few words, and out of about 200 words, I only had to look up three and I got a B- on it. That to me makes me less stressed for my final, because if I wasn't prepared at all for that practice final and got a B-, then I can only imagine the grade I am going to get on the actual final when I study and prepare myself.

Non school related things happened in my last two weeks as well. I planned some spring break activities with my friend Jansen from back home so that I am looking forward to, I was invited to a Thanksgiving dinner with my roommate Haley, her mom and sister because they were here in Dublin visiting which was very sweet of them to do, as well as my dad finished building me my room for my spring semester and my sister Kaelyn painted it so that's a lot of fun. It sounds weird, but the story is too long to type so just trust me on the fact that my dad did amazing, as per usual, as well as my sister and I am very excited to see my small, little, make shift room in person. As well as that, I took a break from assignments the weekend of November 23-25 since that weekend was my weekend break between trips and I went to go see the Grinch in theaters. It is the new animated version of the Grinch who stole Christmas with Benedict Cumberbatch voicing the Grinch and I highly recommend it. Of course it is the same story line, with just a few changes, but the story is still the same of Cindy Lo Who having an impact on the Grinch and making his heart grow three times bigger than it originally was, but with that being said, they added a few other characters and broadened the story line and made it so adorable. Kids would love it and if you are anything like me, and my family of course, then your inner child would adore this movie so I suggest you go see it to get you into the Christmas spirit.

Now to start talking about my last trip. Haley and I decided to go to Northern Italy, which we chose Milan and then we planned on spending a few days in Milan, but then take a train to Interlaken, Switzerland, so that is exactly what we did. Since our last day of class was that Thursday November 29, we got a 6:30 a.m. or so flight for that next day on Friday. We left campus around 3 a.m., for the last time I would like to add, and we left for Milan then around 6:30 a.m. We arrived in Milan around 9:30 that morning, so once we went through customs and were starting to exit the airport, we needed to get to our hostel. Since the airport was so far away from central Milan, we needed to find a way to get closer into the city and the best way for us to get there was to get a bus ticket. We bought a ticket to get us from the airport to the Milan Centrale train station because the train station was the closest to the inner city.

After buying the ticket and getting on the bus, we rode for about 45 minutes to get to the train station and then starting walking the 45 minute walk to get to our hostel. We of course

were getting very hungry since we have been awake for so long, so we stopped at this café

place called Caffé Hardy where because we were so hungry and the prices were so decent that we each got pasta and a pizza. The pizza was 5 euro and the gnocchi that I got was 7 euro so all together my meal was 12 euro which is what it would have normally been anywhere for just one meal. After lunch, we finished the walk to our hostel. Since we got to our hostel a half hour earlier than our check in time, we ended up having to wait for our room to be ready, but once it was, we put all our bags away, made our beds and relaxed for a bit. We ended up taking a small nap, but then after that we woke up and decided to go downstairs and get a drink because once we got to the hostel, they gave us a free drink ticket for their bar so we decided to use it. The unfortunate part of that was when we went downstairs, they had an event going on so we decided to go walk around outside and try and find somewhere to get some coffee or something. A girl from Portugal that we met came with us and we ended up finding a bar called Bar Arti where we stopped in an ordered some hot chocolate because it was cold out. This particular hot chocolate was on the thicker side and was one of the best hot chocolates I have ever had. So once we finished that, we walked back to the hostel because we were told after their event left, then dinner would be served, so we went back and hungout for a bit while dinner was getting ready. I ordered a glass of prosecco while I was waiting and then I ordered penne pesto pasta for dinner. It was very delicious and a good way to end my first night in Milan.

Saturday and Sunday in Milan were very eventful and full days to say the least, but I am going to start off with Saturday. So Saturday morning, we woke up around 9:30 or so to start off our day. We started walking to the Duomo which is the Milan Cathedral. We bought tickets ahead of time, but something happened so we needed to cancel our original tickets and go buy new ones, so that is what we did. We bought new tickets, then made our way back to the Duomo. We first went to the top of the Duomo and we were able to admire the beautiful views that the city of Milan had to offer. After seeing the views on the rooftop and admiring the beautiful architecture, we went to the Museum del Duomo. We were able to see the beauty behind the Catherdral. After the museum, we were able to go inside the Cathedral. We were able to see all the gorgeous stained glass windows, the high ceilings, some graves of holy beings, etc. It is a gorgeous building and anyone in Milan, I would recommend they should go to the Duomo. After the Cathedral, we got some lunch at this place called Motta Milano. I ordered some lasagna, Haley ordered some pasta and then we split pizza. We both decided we wanted to try the Italian Spritzers that they sold there and even though the food was absolutely fantastic, I wasn't a big fan of the spritzer. After lunch we walked to the Royal Palace of Milan, which had multiple different rooms with hand woven carpets hanging on the walls, gorgeous chandeliers and much more, but there was also a different part that we didn't buy tickets for, but it was still gorgeous. It was then getting pretty dark out so we decided to make our way back to our hostel and on our way back, hopefully stop and find some gelato. We of course found some and the place was called Gelato d'Autore. I got half cream and half hazelnut and it was absolutely delicious. It was so smooth and soft and it felt heavenly. We then went back to our hostel and stayed there the rest of the night. Sunday morning we woke up at no time in particular and went on to explore our last day in Milan. Since it was a Sunday though, we didn't take into consideration that most things would be closed so while we were walking around trying to find food, it was difficult. We ended up finding food at this place called Risotteria Massaré. I ordered spaghetti carbonara and we split a bottle of Chianti. The pasta was the best I have had yet in Italy and for someone that normally doesn't like Chianti, it was delicious. Although yes my pairing with white cream pasta and red wine was not very Italian of me, but I was in the mood for both so I thought why not! After lunch we walked back by the Duomo and walked around. We shopped a bit, which I bought a sweater and then we walked farther past to find a different area of Milan. We stopped for more gelato where I got some lemon sorbet which of course was just as delicious as it sounds, and then after that we came upon an old castle looking building that part of it was called the Museum of Michael Angelo. There were multiple different rooms in it that showed older instruments so that was cool to see as well as the outside, there was a trench surrounding the whole castle and there was even a renaissance horse dueling show going on which was interesting, but so fun to watch. After that it got dark out so we walked back to our hostel. Due to it being Sunday, there was no dinner at the hostel that night so we found a pizza place called Ecopizza where we got a pizza, brought it back to the hostel and shared it. We then went to bed because we had to wake up early to check out and to get to our train on time. Something that I find funny though is the only thing I consumed in Italy was pizza, pasta, gelato and wine. To me that was not a mistake at all.

Now we walked the 45 minutes back to the Milan Centrale train station at 6 a.m. and we got there around 6:50 a.m. Our train was leaving at 7:23 to get to Spiez, Switzerland so we were a bit early. We got on our train and then waited 2 and a half hours to get to Spiez. The views at the beginning of the ride weren't too pretty because they were mainly train stations and factories, but once we entered Switzerland, that changed pretty quickly. The last 15 minutes of the ride, the views were gorgeous. So upon arriving to Spiez at around 10 in the morning, we were not at our final destination. We bought another train ticket to get us to Interlaken which took us about 20 more minutes. Once we got to Interlaken, we got off the train and headed to our hostel. Since we got there early, we decided to stop for food. We found this place along the main road in the town called Chalet Beizli. We order cheese fondue because it is something Switzerland is known for, but it isn't known as cheese fondue, it is called raclette. Anyways so we got some raclette which came with potatoes, bread, small onions and pickles to dip into the cheese. Now I know what you're thinking, the onions and pickles combination sounds disgusting, but let me tell you, it was the exact opposite. It was delicious and even though I have had cheese fondue before, it was awesome to try something they are known for. After lunch, we walked the rest of the way on the road and found a tourist guide building thing called Skywings. We stopped in to see how much it would be to go see the 'Top of Europe' which is a viewing area where you are at the tallest train station in all of Europe. The man working told us that because it was going to be raining out and the clouds were so low that it would be a waste of money because you wouldn't be able to see anything. So with that, he suggested paragliding. Now my immediate thought was that it was similar to skydiving and I didn't want to do it. He then showed me a video of what it was and I realized that you are sitting down and practically floating the entire time. It really reminding me of zip lining and with zip lining in Harlan, Kentucky so many times, I said yes let's do it! I mean not going to lie, if you were to have asked me to go paragliding last year, I would have said no for two reasons. One, I still would have thought it was like skydiving, but two, I didn't really like to get out of my comfort zone, but since coming to Ireland and studying abroad, I've really been trying to advenuture more and to live life to the fullest and I think paragliding in no other place than Switzerland, it was perfect. So after deciding to go, we paid the nice man, went to our hostel and checked in, dropped off our bags, and went back to Skywings so we could be taken up on our paragliding adventure. Haley and I went, as well as two other girls from England. We each had our own professional with us the entire time and my guy's name was Res. He has been doing this for 20 years and was super cool to talk to. I genially enjoyed talking to him, so it made it that much more enjoyable. Anyways he then explained what to do to ensure success with paragliding, and then we took off. It was such a cool experience because the views were breathtaking. It started to rain the last few minutes while we were still in the air, but I didn't mind it. We landed pretty smoothly, I bought a few videos and pictures of the experience and we then made our way. Under this is a small video of my paragliding adventure. I hope you enjoy it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBqWu9EtSAI

Now after paragliding, a few of Haley's friends who were studying abroad in Genova, Switzerland decided to take a trip to Interlaken to meet up with us. We met them, then walked to this place called Harder Klum which is this train that takes you to the the opposite mountain of the 'Top of Europe' and you can eat dinner at the very top. It ended up being closed so that was unfortunate, but we then decided to walk around. We found a chocolate shop called Läderach where I got some chocolate bark. I got fudge carmel and white chocolate rasberry and they are both delicious. After that we all decided on a Mexican restaurant. Between the 6 of us we split two pitchers of margaritas which I had three glasses so that was nice, but then I also got flautas. I got the small portion because one thing that I was warned about, that turned out to be true, was that Switzerland was very expensive, their food especially. Anyways after that it was absolutely downpouring and since Haley's friends had school the next day they needed to get back to the train station, so they did that and then Haley and I got back to our hostel. Because of how wet we were, we needed to dry out our clothes, but after that we went to bed. Since it was raining Tuesday morning as well, we decided to do a relaxed day. We woke up around 9:30 a.m., got dressed, checked out of the hostel, but left our bags there so we didn't have to carry them the entire day and we went on exploring. We saw a brunch sign the day before so we wanted to go get some, but we ended up finding out that one it was even more expensive than normal and two it was only available on Sunday's and with it being a Tuesday, you could understand our frustration. After that, we found a coffee shop called Tchibo where we each got a chai latte and decided to hang out and try and wait the rain out. Since it was also getting closer to lunch time and with us not eating breakfast, we were also getting hungry. We decided to go to Hooter's because that was one of the only places open as well as chicken wings sounded very appetizing at that point in time. It is super funny to say that I went to a Hooter's in Switzerland, but it is even funnier to say that there was a Hooter's in Switzerland. Anyways, after lunch, we admired more views, then walked to one of the lakes that Interlaken was seperating. Hence the name, Interlaken, meaning, between or linking two lakes. Anyways on the way, I stopped to buy a pair of gloves, but besides that the walk to the lake was a bit longer than I expected, but it was so gorgeous. We saw this old abandoned castle called the Burgruine Weissenau, which apparently it was a safe haven during the war and then it was turned into a convent. After seeing the castle, we made our way back to the trail where we found a bridge that crossed us over the river so we could get to the lake. The rivers and even the lakes were so blue that they look dyed, which of course they are not, but still it was beautiful to see. We finally found the lake and although it was beautiful, the view was somewhat obstructed. The clouds were blocking part of the mountains and with how dark it was getting it wasn't light enough out to see the full view, but it was still so calm and peaceful. I loved it. After the lake, we walked back to our hostel to grab our bags. Now Haley wanted to go see the other lake and with it being on the other side of town, I wasn't able to go because with walking so much the past few days, my leg pain was catching up to me so I decided to stay back, but I was able to talk to my parents and go get another chai latte so it was fine with me.

We met back up at the train station, waited about an hour, then took a train to Basel, Switzerland which was around 2 hours away. The reason why we left at night was because the closest airport to Interlaken was Basel so we wanted to make sure we got there with enough time for our flight the next morning. We then took a bus from the train station to the airport because our hotel/hostel was right next to the airport. We then ubered to the hotel, slept, and then got to the airport Wednesday morning. Our flight was at 13:55 so we woke up around 9:30, walked the 20 minute walk to the airport, relaxed for two hours, then went through security after we got our visa check, then waited and boarded the plane. We got back to Dublin around 15:00 because we left Basel a bit early so it was nice to get back to my dorm with a few hours before going to bed. I wrote about my trip in my travel journal and then I went to bed. I then was able to run a few errands today so that was nice, but now all I have on my mind is finals.

With all of my adventures I have talked about and wrote about these past few months, I need to follow my own advice and continue to enjoy my music even though it is coming to an end. I look forward to the rest of the memories I plan on making while I'm here, whether they be making memories by myself during my two weeks of finals or making memories with my family when they get here, I look forward to them none the less. For now though, I will study for finals and write about my finals experience in a future blog as well as I will be writing my school blog soon so stay tuned!