Category: Europe

Submitted by Danny Maney on the 2023 summer session program in Ireland…

This past week, we had a “free weekend” and a majority of the people I was with decided to go to the next largest Irish city, Cork. The main reason for going there was to visit the Blarney Castle, which apparently is an Ireland tourism staple. When we went, it was like nothing I had ever experienced before. The trip up to kiss the blarney stone was a must when we visited. One of our inside jokes was that we would rank all the castles we went to based on how hard it would be to siege them. This started when we went on a tour of a tower in Waterford and the tour guide talked about how they made the steps uneven so it would be harder to siege for a long time. Anyways, the Blarney steps would have been particularly hard to siege and it was this long spiral staircase that had a bunch of little doors to the different rooms of the castle. There was also a “murder hole” where I guess the castle dwellers would dump hot water down on invaders, I found it interesting that this was something of note in the castle. When we got up to the roof, the stone itself was a lot smaller than I expected it to be. It was part of the castle wall and when we went to kiss it, we had to bend backwards to reach it. I never really thought I was afraid of heights until that moment. There was a railing and there were workers to hold us up but the whole ordeal was quite terrifying. I can’t think of any American tourist attraction where something like that would happen. We also got to walk around the grounds after and it honestly didn’t feel like we were even in Ireland anymore. There was lush greenery that made me feel like we were in the middle of the jungle. 

Another thing that we did in Cork was go walk around the University College Cork campus when no one was around. There were a lot of differences between this campus and UD for example. There was an art gallery that was open for us to wander around and was free. Also, we made it into one of the lecture halls and it was significantly smaller than the ones in UD. There was also a main green area which again was smaller than the one at UD. This campus was also very different from Trinity college, which is where we stayed in Dublin, mostly due to age. Trinity was founded in the 1500’s while UCC was founded in 1845. There was also a river that flowed through campus and it made for some really nice pictures. I found it odd that we were just able to go into most of the buildings, even though there weren’t that many people there. This would never happen at UD as I think that most of the academic buildings are closed on the weekends. We also got to see a cathedral and again I am absolutely in awe of the way churches are built here. A lot of the catholic ones were built more recently, as after the protestant reformation under King Henry the VII, all the old churches were seized and converted the Protestantism. The Irish Catholics really had a chance to build magnificent churches in the 19th and 20th centuries. (Submitted on July 18, 2023)

Submitted by Moira Gervay on the 2023 summer session program in London, England…

My last week in London is very bittersweet. I had such an incredible time on this trip, and I’m sad to be leaving. I learned so much, both about myself and the culture I was immersed in. 

Our last week mostly consisted of working on our final projects and cramming in any last-minute visits that we wanted. On Monday, we visited Pentagram as a group. Pentagram is a global design agency comprising 22 partners stationed at various locations. Each partner has their own design team, and the agency is run entirely by them, including the business side. I loved this visit, as it gave me insight into how an agency can run on such a large scale while staying fairly in-house. I hope to open my own design agency one day, so the advice we received was super helpful and interesting.

Later that same day, we visited Abbey Road. While it was cool to walk across the crosswalk that the Beatles did, it was very dangerous to do so considering how many cars are trying to drive through on their afternoon commutes. All the tourists are such nuisances in their eyes. It was cool to see Abbey Road Studios, even if just from the outside. I’m a huge music fan, and I often incorporated it into my design work.

We spent our last day shopping up a storm trying to cover all of our friends and family’s souvenirs. We returned to Borough Market in the early afternoon to get some lunch. I got more chocolate-covered strawberries. I think they were one of my favorite parts of this trip. After Borough, we took the tube to Portobello Road to keep shopping. I found some perfect gifts for my friends and even scored a red leather jacket for myself. I always have fun chatting with the shop vendors and digging through piles of old things. I wish we had more markets like this in Delaware!

Overall this trip was unforgettable. I gained so much knowledge and insight (and an additional 5 pounds added to my suitcase from all the gifts), and I look forward to taking what I learned and applying it to my final year at the University of Delaware. (Submitted on July 9, 2023)

Submitted by Courtney Hicks on the 2023 summer session program in Volterra, Italy…

I have landed in Italy. I don’t think I have processed it but there are many emotions and feelings running through me. I arrived at the airport and waited for my group in arrivals. I was super nervous. Once they arrived I felt a bit shy and left out, which is very different for me as I am a very outgoing personable person. But since I know no one, I kept to myself till we were on the bus. A girl named Olivia sat next to me and a simple hi has taken us from strangers to inseparable friends. The bus ride to SIAF I was trying to take in everything I saw. It was so different from the US. It was quiet, historical and most importantly beautiful. Looking out the window makes you realize the importance of location and where you are in life. Once we arrived I was eager to check out where we were staying. This is where Liv and I met up with more students in our group and wandered around campus. It was so nice and peaceful and the view is something I would have never expected from a campus. I couldn’t believe I got the opportunity to be able to learn, explore and enjoy such a well known country. I thought our first day we wouldn’t be going anywhere but we got to tour the city of Volterra, our first Italian town. It felt like I was in a movie. The sites were unreal and there were so many people. This is when I was able to start listening to people talk around me and see how others communicate. It was fascinating. I know for this being my first day, I was in for a real adventure that will broaden my horizons in all aspects. I had to remind myself, I was in Italy. (Submitted on June 11, 2023)

We are off. 9:30 and the bus is off to Florence. As I was half awake on the inside I was nothing more but excited to go back to this lively city. I landed in Florence Monday, June 5th one day before the trip started. Because of this, I had a day to admire a few of the monumental attractions. Friday, June 9th I was able to go back and finish what I have started accompanied by my classmates and friends. We were able to go on this excursion, an in-depth tour of the building of this city and how it became such a tourist attraction and crowded city. Then as 5:30 started to approach Fanta, Shams, Lydia, Olivia, Liv, Dayana, Sarah, and Camielle meet for a vegetarian dinner to end the day. It was very peaceful and a way to get close to each other on more than a student-to-student level. After that was the trip to the hostel. Where I experienced a new adventure. Who would have thought I would be sleeping under the same roof in the same room as people I have never met before? Crazy. It was an experience that I hope to try again. Meeting new people, hearing their stories, and understanding their ways for a short time was fascinating. Not only was Italy giving me a different perspective on life but we’re the people I was meeting in and outside of the trip. 

Two nights in Florence will always be one of the most memorable memories I acquired here. I got to spend my weekend with fellow females on this trip without the distraction of male humor and comments. I was able to take in the atmosphere, and admire the different fashions and pricing compared to Volterra. One complaint that I noticed straight away was how much of a tourist town that was and the number of employees that worked in all the local stores who spoke and understood English. The values these locals had for Volterra differed drastically. Many are money oriented in Florence because of the takeover of tourism, which Volterra is very community-orientated. This I noticed while I browsed the aisles of each clothing and retail store I entered. It was an opportunity and learning experience I wouldn’t change for the world. I wonder what’s in store for next week. (Submitted on June 18, 2023)

Submitted by Danny Maney on the 2023 summer session program in Ireland…

The second week in Ireland has been very eventful and jam packed with new experiences. We have settled into more of a routine and the streets of Dublin have become more familiar to me. One thing that has stood out to me this week is just how old everything here is. For example, we visited the Book of Kells, the oldest Bible in Ireland as well as the Trinity College library. In contrast to America, where the oldest things are 400 years old at most, there are a lot of things in Ireland that are significantly older than that. And the fact that they just sit on a college campus akin to UD is so cool. While the Book of Kells was relatively small, it was still very pigmented and impressive. It made me think about how these people crafted such a thing when they did not have access to modern technology and how painstaking it must have been. 

One of the other excursions that we went on this week was to Malahide Castle, which is in the northern part of Dublin. This is by far my favorite experience thus far, I felt it was something out of the Netflix show Bridgerton. The tour guide explained to us how the castle used to be used for balls and that the ladies would have to avoid the fireplace as it would melt their beeswax makeup and it would cause them to need a touch up. This is where the phrase “mind your own beeswax” comes from. I didn’t realize that there were even castles in Ireland, but due to its complicated history with England it makes sense. There were also beautiful gardens on the grounds that we walked around.

The reason why I titled this post as beyond the pale is because this week we took a trip to Waterford in the south east of Ireland. This term comes from the original English occupation of Ireland in the middle ages where the area surrounding Dublin was the only place that was under English control and it was referred to as “the pale”. Everywhere else was known as the “wilds” as it was controlled by the native Irish people. The reason I wanted to talk about this trip was because of what I noticed on the train there. We passed many pastures full of beef and dairy cattle, as well as sheep and horses. The proximity of these pastures together as well as the mixing of species are practices that I have not seen in America. On UD’s Webb farm each of the herds has their own pasture and they rotate accordingly. I think that the reason they do this is because of the lack of space. America has endless pasture land whereas in Ireland it is probably limited, so it makes economic sense to keep animals closer together. I would really like to learn more about Irish livestock keeping practices while I’m here as this is the area I am interested in studying in veterinary school so I will be sure to add more in subsequent posts if I learn anything more. 

Wrapping up, there is still a lot of adjusting I need to do to become accustomed to living in Ireland. There are a lot of social cues and norms that I struggle picking up and this sometimes leads to awkward situations of not understanding people. For example, ordering stuff at restaurants is particularly difficult. One morning I went to starbucks with my friends and I said my usual order and I got something slightly different. I also struggle with a lot of general anxiety and homesickness while I am here. I realized that I have never been so far away from my family and friends in my whole life and it is quite jarring. As the trip goes on, this is just something else I need to become adjusted to. (Submitted on June 24, 2023)

Submitted by Jack Roff on the 2023 summer session program in Volterra, Italy…

After returning from Rome, we went to the town of Siena and spent about the first hour of our time there getting drenched in the rain. Despite this, I still loved the town because to me it looked like a cross between Volterra and Florence. Exploring the town was a real highlight for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it despite it being so wet. However, the real joy for me from this trip came from the feeling I got while I was there, which I would describe as a feeling of belonging. I don’t think this word fully encapsulates what I’m trying to convey but it works well enough. What I mean is that as I walked through the town I felt as though I had a better understanding of the town and what it meant to be there. In the first few days at Volterra, I was uncomfortable. A foreign traveling novice in a richly cultured ancient town trying to interact with locals and understand customs. But by this time in the trip, I had been around Volterra many times and had even navigated my way through Rome. Walking through the streets of Siena I felt as though I belonged there. One of the best examples of this is when I went to get coffee from a little coffee shop just off the town center. I have had to get used to the coffee culture in Europe. In the U.S. not only are all the sizes bigger and more complicated (filled with extra ingredients like sugar), but the entire way you drink coffee is different as well. In coffee shops, you walk up to a bar order a coffee and then you are given it in a small cup that you drink there on the spot. There is no sitting and talking. You get it, drink it, and go. At this point, I felt like a local because I was able to go up to the barista and order the coffee without seeming lost or confused. While it seems strange to me that you wouldn’t sit and talk to friends over coffee going to enough of these coffee bars gave me an idea as to why the quick coffee culture exists. My current experiential understanding is that coffee is not a social drink in Europe (at least where I’ve been). Instead, This is replaced by the wine that is drunk not to become intoxicated but is meant to pair well with food and perhaps open up the conversation. To me, this explains the difference, wine became culturally recognized as a European social beverage long before coffee was really introduced and therefore coffee is used more as a quick “pick me up” while wine is considered a social drink. This connected with Europe’s history as coffee migrated from Ethiopia to Yemen and became the middle east’s social drink because Muslims were not allowed to drink wine. Coffee was not introduced to Europe until much later, possibly explaining the difference. This is a concise and seemingly unimportant topic but as someone with an interest in coffee, it was a really interesting revelation to have. 

On the ship, one of my favorite experiences was going ashore in Portofino. The area is beautiful, packed with the houses and boats of the super-rich, and there are some ridiculously cool things to do while you are there. The first thing my group and I did was walk through town until we got to a road that led to steps that led us up and into the mountainous area of the town. Even for someone who often hikes the sheer amount of stairs and elevation gain (650 feet) in that short period of time was challenging. What was even more challenging to get over was that there are people who live up in that area and farm. What I thought was a hiking trail was a thin road used to connect the town to the houses in the mountains. As we walked, we talked about what it must be like to live up there, joking about what a man’s wife would say if he walked all the way up from the town store only to realize he had forgotten milk. We decided that those who live up there must be self-sufficient in order to live. This line of thought led us to the idea that perhaps the locals who lived up there didn’t have farms simply so that they could sell their crops, but also because perhaps they needed them to survive. This could be the case or perhaps it’s just the thoughts of four comparatively soft Americans who need to get out more. Beyond this, I encountered another challenge when we hired a captain to take us out on a boat for an hour so we could see a 15th-century church and snorkel on an underwater statue of Jesus. This experience was a dream come true for me as I had never snorkeled before and despite being a swim coach, had never swam in deep water. Jumping into the water I was filled with amazement, happiness, and fear. I could fish swimming around me in every direction. I was living some people’s dream, snorkeling in the Mediterranean. I swam down into the water and saw the 2-meter-tall statue of Jesus about 20+ meters down. I really didn’t know what to feel. I felt amazed at how beautiful and cool the statue was but was also so unnerved by seeing a mysterious human-like object sitting at the bottom of the ocean. How could a symbol of love also inspire so much anxiety? Perhaps I just have a fear of the unknown of the deep ocean. In any case, as time in the water went on I became used to the statue and remembered how privileged I was to be doing what I was doing and that thought got me over the worry. If someone else were in my shoes they wouldn’t spend their time being worried about something so cool. I can easily say that going out on that boat was one of the best decisions I have ever made on this trip.