Travel Plans!

So, just hours after my last post, a group of us all sat down together and made some travel ideas a reality! We will be going to Dublin, Ireland for a long weekend up and coming! I am going with Aly and Meggi, and Karen had already planned on being in Dublin at that time. I guess there's a literary conference and the Pope will be in Dublin as well that weekend, so it might be a little hectic, but still great.

We looked at so many different places before deciding . . . it started out with Aly and I agreeing to go to Istanbul, Turkey together. We both really wanted to go, but plane tickets to get there right now are way too much with having to pay for housing and food on top of it. So we eventually partnered up with some other interested travel people and literally looked for flights everywhere! We have a field study our last week here to Austria, Hungary, and Slavokia, so those neighboring areas are already kind of covered. Before coming here, I was super anti- travel to the stereotypical destinations, but it came down to either going somewhere stereotypical that we could afford, or not going anywhere. Within our budget range for flights, was Dublin, Paris, Amsterdam, Toulouse, Madrid and London. Logistically, Toulouse wouldn't work unless we skipped class on Thursday-- highly frowned upon, only having like 11 of them total. London would have been horribly expensive once we got there with all of the Olympic preparations happening. Aly had already been to Madrid. And Aly will be going to Paris later on this summer, so it didn't make sense for her to pay to go twice. So between Dublin and Amsterdam, we went with Dublin!

I personally am a little over 30% Irish, so I'm really excited about going! It was definitely a little chaotic planning it all out, but after all these days of planning I'm really just glad to have actual concrete plans. We're going to stay at a hostel right downtown somewhere-- it has a lot included with it and looks like a good place as far as hostels go. So we're really excited!

Aside from Ireland, I am hoping to make it to at least Germany and Poland. I am unoffically making it to Poland after the field study and before flying out to South Africa, I just need to book my train and such. I'm also like 25% Polish (and happen to have a crazy Polish last name), so Poland is the one extra place that needs to happen in my mind. Germany will be a little more difficult just because of time. Dresden is close enough that a day trip is easy to make happen, but I don't think I will have enough time to make it to Munich for an overnight. If I do go to either of those cities, that trip will have to happen next Sunday/Monday. There just isn't enough time!!