Yikes it’s been awhile since my last post! A lot has happened. I can’t believe that Alex and I have finished our last solo trip (this weekend we’ll be in the hands of his parents since they are visiting!). Dublin was amazing but a few other things first.
Life got a bit harder for me on Thursday on the way home from school when my iPhone was stolen from me in broad daylight. I’ve told this story a bunch of times now, so just to condense it - a really sketchy dude got on the train with me and Alex in Differdange, sat right behind us, waited for us to get off the carriage in the city, and then (unbeknownst to us) walked right behind us and grabbed my phone from my pocket. I felt him do it and knew something was wrong right away - Alex saw him retreating, and of course it was too late. This obviously is a materialistic issue (I now need to come up with lots of money for a new telephone) but has made caused issues in more ways than just that. In fact, the money is the least of the issues:
• I feel so violated! I had just started to be comfortable here and feeling at home and like I could navigate around the city by myself. I will never feel safe on my own again while commuting here. Luckily I only have to do this once more before the end of the semester.
• I used my phone to take pictures every single day. Great camera quality and it’s so convenient! Luckily none were lost.
• The phone is very important for map and information storage for our travels. Fortunately Dublin went well (not a HUGE city) and we are with Alex’s parents next weekend and won’t need it to navigate.
• Really the only way I could have internet in my host mother’s home so now it’s hard to communicate from there.
At this point, I’m really unresponsive to “you need to be more careful” comments and kind, well-intended scoldings. Alex and I are both very low-profile, cautious, and safe travelers. I don’t think this is a case of getting “too comfortable” in Luxembourg. I also think one must exercise caution when suggesting that someone was somehow “asking” to be attacked/stolen from/hurt/etc by a criminal. It’s one of those things that is no one’s fault. Sure, I could’ve put my phone in my backpack that day. But I didn’t and now it’s gone. That being said, I do think that all of my peers (me included) need to make sure they are keeping their eyes open! During the whole train ride, Alex and I knew something was sketchy about the guy sitting behind us. We knew it was odd he waited to get off the train until we got off. It’s just hard to tell when and how closely to listen to your observations like that.
Within 20 -30or so minutes of him having taken it, we had been able to go on the computer and wipe it clean. No information - it’s essentially just a shell. So unless he has a new SIM card he is SOL.
I’m not sure what such a person with such motivations was doing hanging around in Differdange trying to target students, but I know that chances are I will see this person again and that freaks me out!
As far as dealing with the fact that I don’t have a telephone anymore…it’s not too much of a loss for me while I’m here because I didn’t have service (obviously) anyways. It’s going to be a strain for me to pay for a brand new phone on top of finishing an amazing semester of travel…but luckily I start work 3 days after I get home in a few weeks. My dad is being the best and is helping me by searching for used ones and looking into options over there (since I can’t buy one here under my family’s service). That way it will be there for me when I get home :)
So, it’s a pretty unfortunate note to end the semester on and leaves a bit of a bad taste in my mouth, but I’m trying my best not to let it completely overshadow my last experiences here. I’m trying not to let worrying about it dominate my last 2 weeks, and it can be hard not to think about it sometimes but it keeps getting better!
Now : Ireland.
Life got a bit harder for me on Thursday on the way home from school when my iPhone was stolen from me in broad daylight. I’ve told this story a bunch of times now, so just to condense it - a really sketchy dude got on the train with me and Alex in Differdange, sat right behind us, waited for us to get off the carriage in the city, and then (unbeknownst to us) walked right behind us and grabbed my phone from my pocket. I felt him do it and knew something was wrong right away - Alex saw him retreating, and of course it was too late. This obviously is a materialistic issue (I now need to come up with lots of money for a new telephone) but has made caused issues in more ways than just that. In fact, the money is the least of the issues:
• I feel so violated! I had just started to be comfortable here and feeling at home and like I could navigate around the city by myself. I will never feel safe on my own again while commuting here. Luckily I only have to do this once more before the end of the semester.
• I used my phone to take pictures every single day. Great camera quality and it’s so convenient! Luckily none were lost.
• The phone is very important for map and information storage for our travels. Fortunately Dublin went well (not a HUGE city) and we are with Alex’s parents next weekend and won’t need it to navigate.
• Really the only way I could have internet in my host mother’s home so now it’s hard to communicate from there.
At this point, I’m really unresponsive to “you need to be more careful” comments and kind, well-intended scoldings. Alex and I are both very low-profile, cautious, and safe travelers. I don’t think this is a case of getting “too comfortable” in Luxembourg. I also think one must exercise caution when suggesting that someone was somehow “asking” to be attacked/stolen from/hurt/etc by a criminal. It’s one of those things that is no one’s fault. Sure, I could’ve put my phone in my backpack that day. But I didn’t and now it’s gone. That being said, I do think that all of my peers (me included) need to make sure they are keeping their eyes open! During the whole train ride, Alex and I knew something was sketchy about the guy sitting behind us. We knew it was odd he waited to get off the train until we got off. It’s just hard to tell when and how closely to listen to your observations like that.
Within 20 -30or so minutes of him having taken it, we had been able to go on the computer and wipe it clean. No information - it’s essentially just a shell. So unless he has a new SIM card he is SOL.
I’m not sure what such a person with such motivations was doing hanging around in Differdange trying to target students, but I know that chances are I will see this person again and that freaks me out!
As far as dealing with the fact that I don’t have a telephone anymore…it’s not too much of a loss for me while I’m here because I didn’t have service (obviously) anyways. It’s going to be a strain for me to pay for a brand new phone on top of finishing an amazing semester of travel…but luckily I start work 3 days after I get home in a few weeks. My dad is being the best and is helping me by searching for used ones and looking into options over there (since I can’t buy one here under my family’s service). That way it will be there for me when I get home :)
So, it’s a pretty unfortunate note to end the semester on and leaves a bit of a bad taste in my mouth, but I’m trying my best not to let it completely overshadow my last experiences here. I’m trying not to let worrying about it dominate my last 2 weeks, and it can be hard not to think about it sometimes but it keeps getting better!
Now : Ireland.
Before you guys read about Ireland, let's just get this clarified:
So yes, Ireland is in the EU and is on the euro! It's not a Schengen country though so there was much passport checkage.
We had a great time there! What a beautiful country. We saw a good deal of the country through taking 2 days tours, as well. In fact, we have been around the whole of Ireland now!
On the first day, we arrived in Dublin at about 7:30AM (their time zone!) after having started our travels at 2AM that morning. We walked to the train station and rode a bus from Luxembourg train station to Frankfurt-Hahn airport. We got on a plane at about 6:30 and gained an hour on the way over to Ireland! We then took a shuttle to the city center and sought out our first tour bus.
On the tour we went through Glendalough, Wicklow, and Kilkenny. We had beautiful brisk, sunny weather which was totally unexpected for Ireland. The park at Glendalough (a little village that had been around since the 6th century) was just gorgeous, with mountainous views rivaling Interlaken!
After about an hour, our tour guide - who was great, by the way - brought us to Wicklow. Wicklow park is featured in PS I Love You and is just as gorgeous, but a little more rocky than Glendalough. In the late ‘90s the Tour de France also went through here. He let us hop out and take pictures and then we reloaded in the bus and went off to Kilkenny!
On the first day, we arrived in Dublin at about 7:30AM (their time zone!) after having started our travels at 2AM that morning. We walked to the train station and rode a bus from Luxembourg train station to Frankfurt-Hahn airport. We got on a plane at about 6:30 and gained an hour on the way over to Ireland! We then took a shuttle to the city center and sought out our first tour bus.
On the tour we went through Glendalough, Wicklow, and Kilkenny. We had beautiful brisk, sunny weather which was totally unexpected for Ireland. The park at Glendalough (a little village that had been around since the 6th century) was just gorgeous, with mountainous views rivaling Interlaken!
After about an hour, our tour guide - who was great, by the way - brought us to Wicklow. Wicklow park is featured in PS I Love You and is just as gorgeous, but a little more rocky than Glendalough. In the late ‘90s the Tour de France also went through here. He let us hop out and take pictures and then we reloaded in the bus and went off to Kilkenny!
Wicklow National Park
The tour guides on these bus tours are AMAZING. I have never regretted taking a day tour while in Europe. You get to see so much and you learn so much more than if you were trying to haphazardly make these mini trips on your own. They are generally very cost efficient as well. Our guide was very knowledgeable and let us know many facts. I was very surprised to learn that Irish is the national language there! About 5-10% of the population speaks Irish fluently, and otherwise it’s just taught in the schools. since it’s a national language, all of the signage there - in museums, on the roads, restaurants, etc. Who knew??
He also told us a lot about the national sport, which is called “hurling.” It’s over 2000 years old and is considered a “real man’s sport” unlike American football (to paraphrase our driver :) You use a field hockey-like club and wack a hard little ball around. Makes me think of quidditch. When we stopped in our last stop at Kilkenny (a very old village founded by the Normans), we saw a lot of hurling going on! We went to a castle and sat on the grounds for awhile - it was so nice to see grass for a change. Europe is not an exceedingly grassy place, mostly.
He also told us a lot about the national sport, which is called “hurling.” It’s over 2000 years old and is considered a “real man’s sport” unlike American football (to paraphrase our driver :) You use a field hockey-like club and wack a hard little ball around. Makes me think of quidditch. When we stopped in our last stop at Kilkenny (a very old village founded by the Normans), we saw a lot of hurling going on! We went to a castle and sat on the grounds for awhile - it was so nice to see grass for a change. Europe is not an exceedingly grassy place, mostly.
The castle at Kilkenny
The next morning we had a very early start for our Cliffs of Moher (or the Cliffs of Insanity if you like Princess Bride. They are also in Harry Potter and Leap Year) tour. This tour would be 12 hours long and would literally take us across Ireland. We made a few stops along the way. Our first was in Kinvara, a fishing town. We only stopped for a few minutes and got a picture of this tower. Supposedly hundreds of years ago this man called O’Brian stole everyone’s land in Ireland, and the only way to get it back would be to sell your wife to him for a night and he’d take her in that tower. Not a fun thought. The weather turned gloomy for this stop.
Then, Baby Cliffs of Moher! These are in a town called Doolin and are just minutes from the big Cliffs of Moher. We got a taste for the heights and Alex climbed around a bit in the rocks above these little cliffs.
After a few minutes in the exhibitions, we made one last stop in Bunratty, where we saw another castle and a rainbow, and then we began the several hour journey home.
The next day was our final day in Dublin and we just wanted to stick around and explore the city. We walked all around, hung out in Starbucks (my special request). We did some “shopping” but didn’t really buy anything (we really enjoy looking and seeing the different styles in different places). We stopped and had sandwiches for lunch and soon it was time to head back for our shuttle to the airport!
Our flight was supposed to be short but it felt really long because they had us sitting there for quite awhile. Eventually we landed in Luxembourg at about 11:15PM and finally I got home at 12AM. I’m very lucky to have gotten to sleep in this morning - I woke up at about 8 but Alex had to get up at 6AM!
Can’t believe I have only 17 days left here… unbelievable!
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