I'm terrible at blogging

Where did the last 20 days go?  So much has happened in the last couple weeks that time has kind of flown by.  The nice thing about not having time to write anything down in the last two weeks is that I have plenty to talk about. 

To start things off, the weekend before last we went on a group trip to San Sebastian.  I would imagine someone would be hard pressed to find a place more beautiful.  Mountains leading in to the sea, a tiny green covered island, and an amazing pedestrian only narrow street old section of town.  Could life get better than that?  Even the ride to San Sebastian, despite being on a bus, was beautiful.  Shortly after leaving Barcelona we passed by Montserrat, if you haven't seen it you haven't lived.  Next came a couple hours of Spanish countryside, rolling hills covered in fields and windmills.  Then came the mountains.  A bus ride with views like that takes no time at all. 


After getting back home and unpacking we got back to "normal" life for a day.  While sitting around talking, my friend Meghan brings up the fact that she's going to Dublin the coming weekend.  Without much effort I was able to be convinced that Ireland would be the way to spend the weekend after my birthday. 

Tuesday, my birthday, was very fun.  I was spoiled by all my wonderful friends here.  First we went on a program provided catamaran cruise off the coast of Barcelona.  Great views of the city and the mountains behind it.  After the cruise we went to a few Irish pubs for some Ireland practice.  We went to a touristy pub for dinner and drinks where I found what very well might be the biggest burger in Spain.  While the hamburger isn't exactly Spain's signature dish, it was my birthday and I wanted a burger! 

Thursday night Meghan and I left for Ireland and after a 20 min metro ride, hour bus ride, 2 hour plane ride, and another 20 min bus ride we had arrived.  Meghan's friend Kevin met us close to where the bus had dropped us off.  We walked back to his flat and got settled.  We were so excited to be in Ireland and Kevin had such entertaining stories that we found ourselves still awake at 4:30 am.  At that point I had looked at my watch and looked out the window to see the sun rising.  Summer solstice in such northern places are odd like that.  The sky wouldn't get dark until 11:30 and would start to light up around 4.  The next day we walked around Dublin trying to find the Guinness Brewery.  This was one of the first times my sense of direction had failed me miserably.  After asking a very nice bar tender, who even flagged us a cab, we made it to the Brewery.  I had NO idea how massive that place is.  Seven floors devoted to the making and history of Guinness.  When people say that Guinness tastes different in Ireland, they are not doing it justice.  It was SOO much better.  We ended the night by visiting a few of Dublin's iconic pubs.  The next day we went to have some lunch and ended up stumbling across a street band that was so good we stood in awe for a good 20 min.  After that we decided to go check out the Street Performer World Championships which was being held in Dublin that weekend.  I cant even describe the acts we saw and do them justice so I will finish by saying... WOW!  After another combination of cabs, buses, planes, and metros I left Ireland behind me with loads of great memories and a great new friend.


And that was my week in summery.  Tomorrow is my last day of classes for this session of my program.  Which means that I should end here and avert my attention elsewhere.