Author: Emma Hecht

Location: Ireland/Switzerland/Germany

Two weekends ago, late on a Saturday night, I flew into the Shannon airport in Ireland and got into a cab with three other Valpo students and our very Irish cab driver. He was one of the nicest, funniest people I’ve ever met, but I had absolutely no idea what he was saying for at least a quarter of the drive. Most of his sentences went something like this: “Oh! Yeah, ye hmnhmnhmn Limerick!” Yes, Irish people do say “ye” for “you.” And yes, they’re mumblers (disclaimer: in my own personal experience). We made it to our hotel just fine and the next morning (the morning of our only full day in Ireland) and woke up at a nice and early 10:30 am to take a three- hour bus trip to the Cliffs of Moher. As I ambled off the bus, still trying to wake up from my nap, I was stunned at how beautiful the Cliffs were. They span a little under nine miles long, are over seven hundred feet tall, are over three hundred million years old, and have starred in movies like Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince and The Princess Bride. Maroon 5 even filmed a music video there. And, as my words are totally insufficient to describe them:

(Photos above by Mark Young, markyoungphoto.com)

We spent our entire day at the cliffs, only heading back into Limerick when we thought we were going to pass out from hunger. After scarfing down our late dinner, we headed back to the hotel to go to sleep before we had to get up at 4:45 am to make our flight back to London. Last weekend was another excursion—this time to Salzburg, Austria and Munich, Germany. My friend Claire and I went to Salzburg specifically to do The Sound of Music tour, which is hands down the most touristy thing I’ve experienced since I’ve been in Europe (the bus was packed full of Americans). When we arrived at our Airbnb, our hosts, Luke and Jenny, said that they had never seen The Sound of Music… and apparently, that’s typical for Austrians. Pictured below is one of our stops, which we made not for The Sound of Music, but for the beautiful Austrian view.

Our next stop was Munich for the first day of Oktoberfest. Just a five-minute walk from where we had just gotten off our train, we stood and watched the long parade of floats and bands, which led to the tent where the opening ceremony occurs (in which the mayor taps the first keg with a loud pop and says “O’zapft is”. “It’s open.”

Throughout the day, we walked around. In and out of different beer/food tents, in between amusement park rides, by food stands selling schnitzel and heart-shaped gingerbread cookies. Inside the tents, there was live music, everyone standing on tables… we got to witness over five thousand drunk Germans singing (at the top of their lungs) John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”

This weekend we’re off on a class trip to Stratford-upon-Avon and Bath, both located in central England.