Sorry!!

Hey everybody!!

I am so sorry I have been so bad about blogging! I have one excuse, however... my internet has been down (some of the time!)!!

Anyway, I have to catch you all up on what I've been doing.

Starting with my trip to Milan... 6 of us went- 5 Americans and 1 Canadian. I've learned you have to differentiate. We stayed in quite possibly one of the sketchiest, grossest "hotels" you could imagine in an attempt to save a buck. When in reality you can get a normal hotel room for the same price, but it was a growing experience. Blocking out the barking guard dogs and the smell of urine is a nice challenge. We had a great time though. They city is the fashion mecca of the world, so of course we meandered through Gucci, Prada, and Louis Vuitton and the likes. It was amazing to see people carrying huge bags of the stuff that cost at least €5,000. It was ridiculous! Also, we had the best lasagna and tagliatelle bolognese ever! Actually it tasted quite like our version, but I was eating it in the open air in Italy! We went to the church where the Last Supper by DaVinci is held, but couldn't get in. Apparently you had to have reservations months in advance... but we were there! Almost. We also saw the huge cathedral that is in Milan...the Duomo. You should all check out my pictures on facebook. This place is amazing! We had an amazing time!

Then the next weekend I went surf kayaking off the coast of County Clare in a town called Lahinch, a huge surf town. Lets just say that the water was COLD, but we wore wetsuits, which much to my surprise actually do help. I am in the UL Kayak Club, which is great fun... the lads are CRAZY! We stayed at a hostel, but we had the whole thing to ourselves. We made dinner and breakfast every night like a 65 person family. Basically you get in your kayak, paddle out and ride waves like a surfer does. You paddle in with a wave and ride it! It is awesome, but its a little scary too. I liked it a a lot, but I flipped over a lot, which is terrifying. Not to mention cold. But you have to haul your kayak that is full of water back to shore, empty it out and start back over. It was great weather though. Sunny and bright! Almost like being at a warm beach! I hung out with my Canadian friend most of the weekend and we had a blast together. On Saturday night we had a costume party and went out on the town. It was hilarious! I appeared as Minnie Mouse, not a great costume but it worked! All in all I had some great laughs and got better at kayaking!

Then, this past weekend was the trip of all trips! 6 days of Belgium and Amsterdam! I went with my three best American friends: Josh, Shannan, and Cynthia. I was in charge of getting us hotel rooms, and risking the resentment of having a horrible hotel like we did in Milan I was very nervous about this job. Luckily we got there and everything turned out great! Enough beds for everyone in a fresh smelling place with towels and a private bathroom!! YAY! Brussels was amazing! It was a beautiful city with beautiful architecture and grrrreat waffles! And ice cream!! And I think everyone who knows me well enough to know my food texture issues would be proud to know that I (kind of accidentally) ordered mussels for dinner. A huge bucket of them that smelled like the ocean. And I ate them! They weren't horrible at all, but I think I could have used a side dish to help wash them down. We spent the day exploring markets and seeing sights in the city and we went to the Leonardo Davinci Expo! It was awesome! We got to see a bunch of his actual works and the best part of it is they showed movies about his life in Milan, and we had been to all of those places first hand! We had fun at night too- we hit up all the gay bars for my friend Josh. A new experience for sure. Except for we got attacked by gay men wanting to dance with us-that's right the girls. And... I think one of them stole Cynthia's phone off of me... or I dropped it somewhere. either way I unfortunately owe her a new phone. Sucks.

OK.... I have to go to the grocery store and wash clothes. I'll be back to write about the rest. This should do for now! Miss you all!