Week One: The Grass is Greener

Did everyone have the most stressful couple days leading up to their departures?! After my car getting towed, delaying my flight because of my lack of a passport and visa, and almost having to cancel my trip all together, I am finally in Dublin. If you get to know me at all over these next few weeks, which I hope you do, you might start to figure out that I am not a nature lover. By that I mean I prefer a street over a trail and air conditioning over wind. So why did I choose to spend 5 weeks in a city filled with green landscapes? While I still might be trying to figure that out, the simple answer is that when else will I ever be able to.

So after a frustrating journey to Ireland I have now been here for just over a week. During the cab ride to the apartment I was surprised by the lack of green in the city of Dublin. Instead of hills and well, nature, I found myself driving through a city filled with cobble stone streets, coffee shops and pubs. So many pubs. While Dublin is an urban environment for the country of Ireland it is very different from what we know to be considered urban.


Street in Dublin @lexieberg



After spending time in Ireland, or the correct term, The Republic of Ireland, the school took us to Northern Ireland which is part of The United Kingdom. Here is where I came across the typical green landscapes that I had been expecting to see. As the locals say, "the grass is greener on the other side of the border." Stopping in Belfast, Derry and Donegal via bus, we were given a true scenic and historical tour of multiple cities. Cities that look straight off a postcard.

 Slieve League Cliffs @lexieberg

 

As previously mentioned, I have pretty strong feelings towards nature and having to hike miles to be able to see such incredible views. So while I did hike to the top of almost every hill, below is a more realistic photo of me sitting and enjoying the view rather than hiking it. Basically I was living up to every Europeans idea of Americans being lazy. But hey, I am still hoping I can blame it on the jetlag. My hope is to have a different outlook on such activities by the time I leave so I will keep everyone posted and photograph my progress along the way!

 

 Slieve League Cliffs @lexieberg