Submitted by Audrey Berry on the 2023 spring semester program in Limerick, Ireland…
This past week marks our first few days on spring break! Me and my girlfriend have planned a 14 day trip to Italy and Greece! So far, we have traveled to Corfu and Athens! The architecture is absolutely stunning. Corfu was a wonderful Island get away – but it suprised me that so many things didn’t open until April 1st! Still, it was a friendly and colorful place with lots of relaxing experiences. Greek food is also amazing. Then, we went to Athens. Athens is amazing – I love how it blends together authentic Greek culture with modern city living. We did a bunch of cool things – went to the acropolis, saw a beautiful lake, went to parks, and stumbled into a university gathering! We even got to sculpt our own clay faces! But the best part was definitely the amount of sweet cats that roam the streets. I also stayed in a hostel for the first time ever and even made friends with a roommate. Unfortunately, it would not be the true European experience if I didn’t fall victim to at least one pickpocket. My phone was stolen right out from under my nose. Luckily, my girlfriend has hers so we’re living off of that until we return to Ireland. Before you go places, make sure to research all the tricks! They’re certainly experts at what they do. All in all, this experience has been amazing and I can’t wait to see the rest. (Submitted on April 6, 2023)
This past week was amazing! We spent the rest of our trip traveling around Italy! We visited Rome, Venice, and Milan. We saw so many major sights, such as the Roman forum, the colosseum, and the duomo – we even got lucky and got into the colosseum for free because it was the first Sunday of the month! It really surprised me just how massive it was, same with the duomo.Another surprising thing was Venice. People sometimes talk of Venice as being dirty or smelly, but I found it to be extremely beautiful (albeit expensive). The gondola rides specifically cost a pretty penny, so we ended up taking a smaller one called the traghetto that was 2 euro for 2 minutes. We also took a boat to three of the local islands – we saw a glassblowing demonstration, an ancient church, and a beautiful colorful town. As wonderful as the trip was, I also learned a few lessons along the way. We ended up getting a ticket and running late to TWO airports – make sure to not only check the transport times on public transport but also the times they come, it may save you a 100 euro taxi to the airport. Overall, everybody was kind and the experience was once in a lifetime. (Submitted on April 11, 2023)
Not much has happened this past week. We returned from Italy and Greece – such an epic trip! As such, we are just taking time to relax and catch up on work. Classes are horribly stressful right now. And it’s becoming somewhat sad to see the people who I’ve befriended because I know that the semester is coming to an end. Overall though, things are good (albeit somewhat stressful). (Submitted on April 22, 2023)