I’m writing this in one of my favorite cafes in Rome. The bartender drew a cartoon in my cappuccino foam, and I am eating a beautiful apple pastry that looks like a rose. No one could accuse of me of doing anything of short of “taking it all in.” 

I leave the day after tomorrow, and I have already teared up several times. I haven’t even packed yet, because that would mean accepting that I have to go soon.

One of the best things about being in global city in Europe is the ability to travel! This term I was lucky enough to do two trips to 4 different cities: Porto-Portugal, Barcelona-Spain, Dublin-Ireland, and Edinburgh-Scotland. Each were so much fun in their own way! Portugal and Spain both spoke different languages than English and so it became a interesting game of how am I going to understand and get around... but we do live in a world where many people speak English so I was fortunate enough to be able to understand some people!

Well, this is one of my very last posts on this blog!  In ten days I will be checking out of the apartment I've been living in for the last four months, turning in my beloved Museumkaart, and meeting up with my parents to spend the holidays in an airbnb in my favorite neighborhood of Amsterdam.  I'm so thankful I'm staying for the holidays because if I had to think about leaving this incredible country in just ten days I would be miserable.  Also I get to check off all the last-minute items on my Amsterdam bucket list!  Not

I write this from my home in New York, looking out the window on the snow covered ground as the breeze from the thirty-degree weather blows through my open window. It's a harsh change from the humid summer weather of South America that I was in approximately 48 hours ago. It's been 48 hours since my plane landed in the United States and I've spent a lot of this time longing to be back in South America. To walk the streets of Buenos Aires and Santiago with the amazing friends that I've made during my time abroad.

Shortly after we went on our trip to London, the IES Abroad students took one last trip before starting our various programs at Trinity, Gaiety, and so forth. A trip to "The North", as many Dubliners and other Irish alike call it. Specifically, we took a long bus ride to Belfast to see what this country's divide was all about (and to have some amazing experiences along the way).

As my final week in Ireland comes to an end, I am flooded with conflicting feelings of excitement about going home and sadness about my time being over. I have had such an amazing time studying at Trinity and exploring so many new countries; I have loved the sense of independence that living on my own and traveling solo has given me. On the other hand, I miss my family, my friends, the California weather and wearing shorts in December (it’s sooooo cold here).

If you’ve read any of my last blogs, you know that weekend trips have been a key part of my study abroad experience. If you study in a major European city, take advantage of your location and travel around. 

Tips on how to make the most of a weekend trip:

The bus wound through the scenic Austrian countryside, revealing picturesque views at every turn. I marveled at the strikingly green valleys and snow-capped mountain, the orange glow of the sun going down on the flame-colored leaves of the trees. It almost seemed that all the seasons were happening at once, frozen in time in the tiny Austrian villages we passed. After a 5 hour journey west from Vienna, we arrived at the glimmering glacier of Kitzsteinhorn.