Choose Marianna's Next Adventure!

Time for a little audience participation. I got my exam schedule and it appears that I will be finished my exams by May 10th. My trip home isn't until May 23rd, so I'm thinking some more soul searching funtastic traveling needs to be done. So loyal readers, I want some input. Where should I go?

Option 1. Budapest

Pros: My friend, Nadia, from high school, is studying in Germany and says she'll meet me there for a few days. It's supposed to be gorgeous. It's supposed to be cheap. 

Cons: Our schedules make it so that we would only be there together for a day. On a top ten list of things to do in Budapest, going to the Tesco (supermarket) is listed as number 6. 

Option 2. Croatia

Pros: GORGEOUS. Major cocktail party points when I can drop the phrase "well when I was in Croatia...". 

Cons: Flights are a bit more pricey than I would like to pay. This could be a sweeping generalization but I'm not sure how great of an idea it is for to travel alone there. It could be a great idea! But it could also be a bad idea. I don't know...I need to find out more about Croatia. Currently all I know is that Dr. Kovac is from there and 10 years ago this probably wouldn't even be on my options list. 

Option 3. Iceland

Pros: See Croatia

Cons: Not happening. It costs almost as much as a ticket back to America. But I REALLY WANT TO GO!

Option 4. Scandinavia....somewhere

Pros: Pretty. Most people speak English. Gives me a few countries to choose from (I would only choose one) OMP really loves Sweden, I should probably check it out. Volvos. 

Cons: A Google image search of "Helsinki, Spring" brings up not one, but four pictures of a snow covered city. I hear it's pretty expensive

Option 5. Paris

Pros: Paris in the spring..ooo lala. Crepes.

Cons: Well...it's in France. I have a history with France...and it's not a good one. Also I've been there and I was really hoping to go someplace new. 

Option 6. Other-leave suggestions in the comments

Pros: Pretty, fun, safe,
cheap

Cons: Ryanair/Aer Lingus might not fly there...

I've added a poll to the side of this page. Choose your answer. If I pick your answer I'll send you a postca.....no, no I won't. Thats a lie. 

If thats not enough fun for you, leave a comment telling me why you chose the destination that you did. We're not going on popular vote alone. If that was the case someone like Meagan could screw me over and vote "Other" 31 times and end up sending me to St Petersburg. (see, when you comment on my blog you might just get a shoutout as well!)

It's just like a choose your own adventure novel, so have fun! And don't choose wrong or you might end up falling into an endless pit or something.

The Return of Caroline

8:00 PM-Some friends and I decide that starring out the window at the rain, while fascinating, was getting old. Time for cards!

9:00-After a few rounds of spoons and other lame card games, a feisty round of slap jack gets everyone fired up.

9:45-We are in full on competition mode, starring each other down, slapping the jacks with such force that I know someone is going to get hurt.

10:00-I realize my sister was supposed to return tonight, wonder aloud about that while starring down a friend...maybe it will distract him and I can sneak in on the next jack. My friend calls me a horrible person for not knowing where my sister is...neither of us win that round. I get my phone out of my bedroom in case she calls.

10:15-We switch to kent. For those of you unfamiliar with the game, you pair up and work out a secret signal with your partner. Once one of you gets four of a kind you do your signal and your partner yells "WE WIN!" (actually they're supposed to call kent apparently, we liked WE WIN better). My signal? "Hey, I wonder where the hell my sister is". If the other team catches you on your signal then they call you out on it and they win.

10:30-Screaming match has ensued over whether or not my partner yelled WE WIN before my friend called her out on it. My adrenaline level is reaching new highs.

11:00-The game reaches a level of competition only seem amongst world class athletes. Caroline calls to say she had reached Dublin and was on the bus. Our conversation

Marianna: *far too excited from game* HELLO!  WHATS THE DEAL!

Caroline: I'm on the bus

Marianna: Great, gotta go

Caroline: *bad connection mumbling*

Marianna: What?

Caroline: *bad connection*

Marianna: I can't hear a word your saying but don't worry I'll be around, gotta go.

Kent was calling

11:45-Caroline's not back yet....a bit worried by that. Unfortunately we've just been called cheaters and thats a personal offense so I have to defend my honor.

12:00-I see Caroline walk by our window. In the middle of a heated match so I'll wait for her to knock on the door. She knocks, still in the middle of a match, this is one of those situations I'm going to regret later. Luckily the other team snags a Cinderella victory and I can run to the door. She's tired and cranky. I make her toast and tell her she can use my bed. The concessions I make in order to quickly return to my card game.

12:05-The card game has been put on temporary hold, so I catch up with Caroline about London. Sounds like a good trip, she saw lots of people. 

12:30-A few more hands pass, but the intensity just isn't there anymore, I'm falling asleep, time to close up shop.

1:00-I make myself a little bed on my floor using my duvet and a sheet. Its the same bed Caroline used all last week, she always made it look comfortable. Eh.

2:30-I finally get to sleep, I enter a crazy dream in which Melinda from American Idol, Nancy Reagan and I all appear on the Maury show to discuss the dangers of Facebook. 

3:30-I wake up panicked that Caroline missed her plane. 

3:45-6-More crazy dreams, unaware of how many involve Nancy Reagan. 

6-Wake up panicked again. Discover that Caroline is making funny noises in her sleep. Have a good giggle about that. Included in them "oooo" "grrrr" "ugh...well then". 

6:44-Jump up completely convinced that this time we've overslept, just in time for the 6:45 alarm to go off. Caroline springs into action, I spring into my bed the minute she gets up.

6:55-Caroline leaves, I head back to bed. Crazy dreams begin again in which I am a guest at the Grammy's and am apparently a big deal but no one will tell me why and they won't let me sit down until I figure out why I'm supposed to be there. 

11:40-Decide it's time to get up and get my day going. Hope Caroline made it to her plane on time. 

Rain, Rain, Go Away

It has rained ALL DAY. 

I shouldn't be too surprised. Very few days go by here that it doesn't rain, but usually it's a sporadic thing. Take yesterday for example. I woke up at around 7 and it was snowing. Hard. Lots of snow falling. It hasn't snowed here at all. From what I hear it rarely snows. The snow wasn't sticking, but big thick flakes were tumbling down. I went back to bed, as I didn't have class and couldn't think of any good reason to be awake so early when it was so cold. When I woke up again 2 hours later there was bright sunshine. Crystal clear blue skies, sun shining. When I went outside it was a nice temperature that only required a sweatshirt. Hahaha...ohhh Ireland. I e-mailed my mom and told her that it would probably be hailing by lunch. It was. Lunch time exactly, skies opened up, heavy rain, hail. Followed by a sudden stop, return to bright skies. It blew my mind, and it was only lunchtime. A few hours later I witnessed a phenomenon that I have waited my entire life to see. I was able to locate the exact start of a rain cloud. As I walked back from the park it was raining on one side of the road, crystal clear on the other. This of course means RAINBOW, which is always exciting. 

So this is why I am so fascinated by the fact that it has been raining, heavily, all day. We didn't have any periods of slight rain or dreariness. Instead heavy rain, constantly falling. 

Is this a boring entry? Probably. But I assure you, it's been blowing my mind all day. To the point where I haven't been able to research and write my papers. 

Living With Caroline: Part II

I'm trying to convince Caroline to do a guest entry. One of my biggest regrets when Old Man Pete came to visit was that I didn't have him do a guest entry, so I'm not letting the opportunity get away this time. Until I crack her, here's a quick update.

Saturday night brought the Caroline in Dublin reunion tour. Caroline had spent a year in Dublin five years ago, and was anxious to return to some of her favorite haunts. She listed off names of her favorite clubs, pubs and bars and I secretly Googled them to make sure they were still around. Hey, I wasn't going on a pub crawl and finding that  O'Whatevers had turned into a Centra (the Wawa-esque convenience store that I mentioned earlier). They were, so we set off. Our first stop was The Barge, which Caroline described as a great place to dance. Well it would be...if they had music. Apparently Thursday is dancing night. Oh well, they still had beverages. It was still a very nice hang out bar. We continued on to Portobellos, which she warned would have a "knacker" crowd as she described them.  Lets just say I saw a woman with a mullet...and her hair was down to her waist. Think about it. Plus side, alcohol here got cheaper as the night went on. I didn't question it, all I know is that by the end of the night I was paying 4.50 for vodka and lemonade, when anywhere else in the city I would be paying at least 7. I made a mental note to return. This bar also brought my favorite interaction with a Dublin guy

Dublin Guy: So you guys are friends?

Caroline: Sisters

Dublin Guy: *pause* Biological?

heh. 

After our interaction with Dublin Guy, Caroline turned to me and said "lets go get some food". I'm game! So we went across the street to her favorite late night food joint. Which used to be called something else, but was now a kebab place. This didn't faze her. We looked at a menu and she decided that we HAD to have the garlic cheese fries. Those are three things that I'm pretty sure my sister hates. Whatever. So we get them, and it's garlic mayonnaise and shredded cheese on top of fries. Disgusting enough. Then Caroline comes over with packets of vinegar, ketchup and salt to pour over them. Wow. My stomach is in pain just thinking about it. In Caroline's defense I was rooting her on. It seemed like a good idea at the time. We scarfed those down in record time and decreed that they were "Perfect" even though we both knew full well that they were not. 

Sunday continued the eating adventure with a trip to O'Neils for a carvery lunch. A carvery lunch is basically a base of meat, and then tons of sides that you can pick. It led to this humorous exchange while waiting in line for food. 

Me: Hey, what are those

Caroline: Where

Me: Between the potatoes and the mashed potatoes

Caroline: More potatoes

ohhhh Ireland.

We watched a soccer match while eating our delicious grub, and planned to leave at halftime. Halftime came, however, and it was snowing. Well, as much as it can snow in Dublin, which isn't much. But the fact that it was cold enough for snow to form led to us deciding to stay and watch the second half. Plus it was snowing in the game as well, and that was just hysterical. While it was just raining once the match ended, we still wern't in the mood to stick around so we went back to my apartment and watched movies. nice.

On Monday, Caroline walked 11 miles. Here's how that happened

I went to class like a good person. When I came back the two of us walked into the city together. This is the first 2 or 3 miles of Carolines 11 miles. We stopped by her old apartment which really just made me hate her. See, my apartment is student housing on campus. It's.....crap. Caroline's former apartment is in a gated community of row homes. There are freshly mowed lawns and flowers everywhere. I felt nothing but anger the minute we stepped onto the grounds. I hate her. Did I mention she walked 11 miles, because she did...she'll probably tell you next time you see her.

We continued into the city for some exploration. I just asked Caroline what exactly we did because I couldn't remember, and truthfully I was bored just listening to her recap our day. Basically we walked. It was nice. We stopped for some lunch, it was good. We bonded. But then I had to get back to school for my second class. I took the bus because I'm not crazy like Caroline...who walked 11 miles. I'm not exactly sure what Caroline did in the city after I left, but when she came back she had food! So I let her in. She then collapsed on my bed...you get tired when you walk 11 miles. 

On Tuesday Caroline went down to Bray and Dun Laoghaire. I went to class. Everyone else gets to skip class when friends and family come, but my sister makes me go to each one. If Caroline would write a guest entry, then you would be able to hear about how great Bray and Dun Laoghaire were. Unfortunately all I can tell you about are classes. Which were good. We discussed "A Love Divided" a hokey drama that we had to watch about Catholic and Protestant intermarriage. When we both got back from our days, we headed out to town for happy hour and dinner. Caroline took me to her favorite happy hour joint which offered 2 for 1 drinks from 5-10. It was 4:50 when we got there. I made Caroline walk to the end of the street and back because "It's never good to be the first at happy hour". While we were still the first, much to my dismay, at least we didn't sit there awkwardly refusing to order until 5, like she planned to do. After drinks we went to Wagamama, which is a noodle house chain. If you're in the UK/Ireland area (or Boston apparently) I highly suggest hitting one of these up. Massive amounts of delicious food. After dinner we had a fight about where the nearest bus stop was. Turns out we were both thinking of the same stop, but using different terminology. I said it was at the bottom of Grafton St. She said it was at the top of Grafton St. Turns out we have different definitions of "top". Hers is at the bottom of a hill, whereas mine is at the TOP of a hill. 

The night ended with us hanging out at school at a birthday party for one of my friends. 

Today she made me go to class again. She mysteriously disappeared into the city and did stuff. She has not yet officially calculated the amount of miles she walked, so I'm sorry but you'll have to wait for the final number. She came back just in time to make me and my roommates dinner! Perfect timing. She's getting packed up for her trip to London tomorrow. She'll be making a brief reappearance Saturday night before heading back to the states on Sunday. 

Official number is in. Caroline walked over 8 miles today. Making her total 24+ miles. Make sure you congratulate her next time you see her, this is sure to be one of her talking points for the next month. It should be noted, however, that she is currently standing next to my heater desperately trying to aid her stiff legs. What a weakling. I'm going to go eat some cookies now in celebration. 

Living With Caroline: An Ongoing Series

It doesn't matter whether she's in Philadelphia or Dublin, my sister is ridiculous. Within the first 24 hours of being here she 

1) Made me clean my room "Look, I'll help! It will be fun and go quickly!"

2) Tried to hail a bus like a taxi "Oh look, there's the 10! Hey! Hey! Why didn't it stop?" "You need to be at a bus stop..."

3) Broke into my apartment with a mop. 

Wait...what was that last one again?

We had returned from a shopping trip to Dundrum, which is a mall nearby. We had started to make chili when I realized we didn't have any milk. Not that we needed milk for the chili, but it's one of those things that I think should always be in the fridge, just in case my bones start to feel a little weak. 

So I tell C-dawg that I'm going to run to the small Wa-Wa-esque store on campus to grab some milk. C-dawg ponders staying behind and decides to come with me at the last minute. As I'm paying for the milk it hits me...I didn't bring my keys...my roommates aren't home...it's Saturday. I turn to Caroline, "I FORGOT MY KEYS" I exclaim. She smiles, "whoops" and giggles. I stare at her "No...I forgot them, they're inside, we CANNOT get in". She seems unfazed. I don't think she realizes that this is not an American university. You can't just call public safety to let you in. "I'll climb through the window" she tells me. We walk back up to the apartment, yea...not even she could fit through the opening in my window. To make matters worse I can see my coat on the sofa next to the window. My keys are in my pocket. The window on the opposite side of the room is open! But I can't reach the jacket. "Oh well" Caroline says "We'll just wait in the hallway". Who is this person and what did she do with my sister. Oh well is not usually in Caroline's vocabulary. I run down the walk to find my friend Will who is enjoying an illegal BBQ. Will tries to call my roommates, none of them pick up. I announce that I'm going to go try and find an RA, everyone immediately packs up the BBQ and heads inside. I'm a total fun killer. I failed to find an RA and instead return to my apartment. Caroline and I stand outside my window starring in. "On the plus side" Caroline says "You've proven it's fairly impossible to break in to your ground floor apartment". Thanks C-dawg. Will comes by to inspect the situation. In a moment of brilliance Caroline asks if he has a mop and a large hook. Well...half brilliance. Will says that he can help with the mop part and runs to grab one. Together the three of us then shimmy the mop in through the open window and use the head to tap open the other window. Will and Caroline then take over as I anxiously look around, convinced that the Guarda is going to come out of no where and take away my residency for breaking and entering. A voice calls out of a window "Hey! What are you doing!" I whirl around ready to defend myself with my life. Luckily it's my friend Becca laughing rather than some concerned citizen. Eventually Caroline, proving to have a disturbingly rational idea of how to handle the situation, has Will  flip the jacket off the sofa, and sticks her hand through the window to grab it mid-air. She pulls it out, grabs the keys and says "Right then, that went well". After a few moments of standing there muttering "wow....wow.." Will heads back to his apartment and we head back to make our DELICIOUS chili. 

This is what happens when Caroline is around. 

Commenting

My sister is here, hooray. Tonight at the pub we were discussing our favorite topic, my blog and how funny we both think it is. She revealed that she had sent the link to numerous friends of hers, which I was happy to hear. My mom has also said that she has passed along the blog to friends, and friends at UCD have told me that they have told their friends. So I put my readership count somewhere higher than Perez Hilton but not quite as high as Stuff White People Like (if the world were fair this would be true). Yet on average I get about 2 comments per entry. 

This does not compute.

I am not getting paid to write this blog, my payment comes in form of feedback. I'm not lying when I say I check this blog multiple times a day to see if anyones commented. 

Even if I don't really know you, say hi! I now present "Marianna's Guide to Acceptable Commenting"

1. Positive vs. Negative

It's ok if your comment isn't positive. Think this was a subpar entry? Let me know! Think my fashion choices for that day were silly? Let me know (also let me know if you liked what I was wearing, a la Ch'nel)! Somewhat offended by my actions? Let me know! 

On the flip side, positive comments are AWESOME!

2. Name

Its ok if you don't want to put your name on the internet. Come up with a nickname that you and I would understand. My dog apparently keeps commenting and, unless my mom's lost so much control over him that he now has full computer access, it's pretty safe to assume he's not actually the one writing. 

3. Content

The comment doesn't even have to pertain to the entry, maybe just a little note saying hi, catching me up on the local gossip. I know I'm usually pretty self centered and don't like to hear about anything that isn't praising me...but I kinda miss you guys and would like to hear what's up. 

I can EASILY withhold the last month and a half of blogging from you if you don't start leaving comments.

Thats a lie. 

Finishing the Italian Adventure

Daily Update: Went out to the movies last night with my friends Griffin and Olivia. The movie theater a couple of towns over was having student night which meant 4 euro tickets. Even by American standards thats cheap. This is the second time I have gone to the movies in Ireland and I've noticed that they have very nice movie theaters. Both theaters had areas for you to sit and hang out with friends, ample seating and were immaculately clean. We saw 27 Dresses, which was cute, recommend it to anyone looking for a nice chick flick. 

Unfortunately we've reached the end of our Italian adventure. This will be the last entry about Italy *tear*. Never fear, my sister Caroline arrives on Friday, so I'm SURE hilarity will ensue, most likely at her expense. Look forward to reading about that next week!

Thursday

We've been bombed. That's the only possible explanation for the hostel shaking boom that just woke me up at 1 am. Nick, Steve and I jump up screaming expletives. Liz continues to sleep. Another crashing boom. Across town my friend Pinky is convinced the Vatican is being nuked. The room is pitch dark, the booms continue every thirty seconds or so. Liz is sound asleep. After a minute of silence I hear Niagra Falls outside my window. I lie back down...wow. Now THAT was a thunderstorm. 

Our friend Sarah was going to be touring churches in our neighborhood that morning with her class. She invited us to join her and we eagerly agreed. An excellent decision as we were led to some fascinating hidden gems right in our area that we never would have thought to visit. We also stopped for a coffee break and I discovered Italian hot chocolate. Now I despise hot chocolate...but this was gooooood. 

Sarah had to get back to her school for another class, so Liz and I decided to go inside the Colosseum. For days we had explored the exterior, but it was time to take the plunge and go inside. After standing in line for about 45 minutes we reached the front. I tried to get a student discount but they would only give that to EU citizens. Note, when I open a national monument to myself, only American citizens get student discounts. I then gave the ticket teller a 20 for an 11 euro ticket. He asked me for another euro so that he could give me a clean 10 back. Everyone wanted to do this in Italy. They HATED making change unless they could give it to you in bills. I did not have a euro on me so I said "sorry, I don't have a euro". The man starred at me and said "Everyone says that, you're lying". I hate the Colosseum. After getting change we walked in. It was raining and I was bitter so my first thought was "eh". After the sun came out and my mood brightened with it, I could fully appreciate the Colosseum. It is quite awesome. 

We went over to Sarah's after that to make dinner and hang out. We stopped at the supermarket and picked up a Roma soccer easter egg. In Europe they have these giant chocolate eggs around Easter. These eggs usually have toys of some kind in them. We were extremely excited to get a Roma one. After cooking dinner we cracked it open to discover it came with a paper model of the team. Too cool. Pinky and Julia joined us and we had a nice evening catching up and watching America's Next Top Model. 

Liz and I returned to the hostel. I havn't seen (or heard) hostel guy around lately...I hope he's alright. 

Friday

It was a beautiful day when we woke up. Absolutely gorgeous. "Let's go to the beach!" we cried! So we gathered the troops, packed a picnic lunch and set off on the subway....which took us to another subway...which took us to a tram....which took us to the beach! By the time we reached the beach the sky was a murky gray. The wind was whipping everywhere and it was beginning to rain. We were dead set on reaching the beach, however, and we were going to have a picnic if it killed us. We hunkered down on the beach as the sand covered our food and whipped into our faces. Failure. 

After declaring the picnic over we ran back to the tram. Once safely back in the city we grabbed some gelato before heading back to our friends apartments. Another delicious meal was cooked and we reflected on our time in Italy. 

Liz and I returned to the hostel and found Nick and Steve packing up, they would be leaving tomorrow as well. After talking for awhile Nick dropped this bomb on us "hey, did you hear? Hostel guy was taken to the hospital the other night! Didn't you hear him running up and down the halls cursing, appendicitis or something like that". He's ok, to our knowledge. Sounds like it was quite a scene though...my inner horrible person is sorry I missed it. My outer (and inner) good person asks everyone to hold him in the light for a quick recovery. 

Saturday

Time to pack up and leave Sandy's. Hostel guy has been replaced by a member of his multi-cultural posse. I never explained, HG was Polish, ran the place with his sister (I think), and had this multi-cultural posse of people who did random jobs around the place, I'm assuming in exchange for free room. I think it adds to the character of the place.

Anyway, the new guy checked us out and told us we could keep our bags in our lockers until it was time for us to leave. Liz and I went to walk around a little bit before our train left for the airport, but it was raining, hard. I'm pretty sure it always rains in Europe, thats what this whole abroad experience has taught me. After becoming fully soaked we decided maybe we should go back to the hostel and head out. Great...this will be a fun trip home.

The trip home went off almost without a hitch. Liz bought too much stuff in Italy and had to check her bag because it was overweight. She told me to go ahead through security and "hold up the plane" if she was late. As the boarding time got closer and closer I began to worry. I'm clearly capable of hold up a plane....but how to do it without losing my flying privileges forever? I was already on thin ice thanks to Dublin Airport security incident. Luckily she made it. I still havn't mastered the art of flying Ryanair and ended up being the last person on the plane. Which meant I got the last available seat, which actually wasn't bad at all. I sat in the aisle seat of the front row, which was definitely an experience. I've never sat that close to the front before....lots of leg room! If I knew Italian I would also be able to have gotten all of the flight attendant gossip, but alas, I don't. 

As the bus back to UCD drove through Dublin I was happy to be back, but I couldn't help but pine for Italy. An amazing two weeks I won't soon forget.

It looks photoshopped.....but its real
The sun is deceiving you...it was sooo not there the whole time
It was impressive
These guys were EVERYWHERE
ROMA ROMA ROMA!
My loves 
The Beach
That bag was being held on by the wind
Good times were had by all in Italy!