Cheap Flights from London to Dublin, or Dublin to London

While traveling around Europe I had to use many different types of transportation to get to many different destinations. In this entry I will be talking about the different options that are available for cheap flights from London to Dublin, or Dublin to London since they are pretty much interchangeable. Basically when it comes to getting cheap flights from London to Dublin, or Dublin to London, or anywhere in Europe for that matter, the airline of choice is Ryanair. I just searched for a flight for one adult from London Stansted to

Study Abroad Packing List

I remember during the months leading up to my study abroad adventure in Cork, Ireland, wondering what I should pack for my trip. I knew that with the luggage limits that most airlines place on size and weight that I would not be able to bring the normal amount of stuff that I usually bring to school for a semester.  remember searching the internet for a study abroad packing list that would include all the necessary items that I would need for my 5 months out of the country. Here is the study abroad packing list that I wish I had before leaving on my trip. It includes things that I was very thankful I brought and other items that I wish I had thought of before I left and its in no particular order.

Study Abroad Packing list

View an Extended, Printable Packing List with less description  in my Google Docs Extended Packing List Click Here

Best Cell Phone Provider Cork Study Abroad

So while I was getting ready to go to Ireland I had heard through the grapevine that it was unnecessary to try and bring your own cell phone with you from America and that it was more economical to purchase a pay as you go phone when you get there. This is definitely the case. When I first got to Cork I immediately wanted to get a phone but I did not know which provider to get. I figured that I would just talk to some locals and the new friends that I made and figure it out from speaking to them. I ended up going with Meteor and it was a great experience overall. Meteor gives

Mardyke Arena / Working Out in Cork

So while in Cork I decided that it would be a good idea to workout and stay in shape because when I did return to the USA it would be summer time and I would want to be physically fit and ready for beach season. In Ireland they do no use lbs for their weight sets, they use kilograms and at first I thought this might be a little bit confusing because I might have to convert the numbers in my head while lifting and I did not really want to worry about that while in the middle of my workout. Luckily I was able to us an olympic weight set while in Ireland which made the change that much easier. They gym in Cork was called

Paris 2/25/11 - 2/28/11

So last weekend I went to Paris with Arielle and her family. I left for the airport last Thursday right after handing in my economic consulting project. I had to leave a day before everyone else and stay in Bewley's Airport Hotel for the night because there is no bus to Dublin from Cork that would have gotten me to the airport on time for our 12:30 pm flight. The bus ride was the usual from Cork to Dublin nice and long with a quick rest stop about half way, overall it was about 4 and a half hours to the city center of Dublin. Upon arriving in the city center I had to figure out how to get to the airport because it was about 10:30 pm and it looked like the place was getting ready to close up for the night. After asking a Bus Eireann worker what I had to do next he directed me to a Dublin double decker bus that

Belfast Trip Day 1

So on Thursday morning our IFSA Butler group met up outside of University Hall to get on our bus to Belfast in Northern Ireland. I don’t remember the exact length of the bus ride but I would estimate that it was about 5 hours from Cork to Belfast with a stop about halfway. The bus was not to full and I was able to get 2 seats to myself on the bus, which was nice to have for such a long ride. Our group also shared the bus with the group of IFSA Butler students who are studying in Cork. They were the ones who got the bad end of the deal with the bus because they got picked up early in the morning in Limerick, had to drive down to Cork to pick us up at 11:15am, then drive North again to Belfast. We were not exactly on the way if you

City Center to University Hall

Here is a video that I took on a bus ride from the Cork city center back to my dorm room. This also happens to he the bus ride that I lost my cell phone on. I figured I would make the video so that you can judge the distance from my dorm to the city. I am on the second level of a double decker bus. I have to take the number 8 bus to get to and from my dorm. You can see more of my videos at www.youtube.com/studyabroadcork

First Day and Night in Galway

While I went to bed early upon arriving in Galway the next morning it appeared I was more tired than I had thought because I slept until about noon. We did not do much in the morning and basically relaxed in her apartment waiting for my friends from Cork to arrive on their bus. They had left Cork around 4 pm and we expected them to arrive about 7:45 pm. Around 4pm we were getting tired of the apartment and decided to head down to Galway, walk through the streets and get some food. The walk to the city center is pretty far from Arielle's apartment and is

The Bus to Galway

This past weekend I traveled to the town of Galway on the western coast of Irleand. I departed at 6 pm Thursday night because I do not have any classes on Friday and I wanted to beat the visiting student rush out of Cork. The bus service that I used was Citylink and I believe I made a good decision leaving on Thursday. The bus was about half full and I was able to secure my own seat, which was nice because the ride from Cork to Galway is about

First Night In Cork

So after eating dinner there were no more IFSA Butler activities for the night, which led our group to the decision that it was time to explore the town that we had been dreaming about exploring since we went in our applications months ago. The group exited the River Lee and walked down Western Road towards Cork's city center. Part of the group broke off and entered a Pub called Preachers and the other half including myself continued on because we wanted to explore a bit more. We went a little deeper into the city but did not venture to far because it was still unfamiliar territory for us. Ultimately we

Dublin Airport and Trip to Cork

After landing in Dublin Airport Arielle and I picked up our carry ons and departed from the plane. We took a long winding walk through the airport and came up to the Ireland Border Patrol area where they had to check our passports to let us in the country. I was kind of nervous leading up to this because I am a dual citizen and have both a US and Irish passport. I had used my US passport to enter Ireland before, but this time I was planning on using my Irish one. Since I had never used it before I was afraid the agent would take it look at it and just laugh at me and ask for my American passport. When I came up to the station and I heard the agent yell "European Union Passports over here!" I hesitated at first but then went and handed him my passport. He looked at it, looked at me, then said

Crossing the Pond

While this is a bit of a late start now that I am somewhat settled into my new University I figured it is a good time write a bit about my trip so far. Starting from the beginning with the flight across the pond, aka the Atlantic Ocean. I flew on Continental Airlines out of Newark International Airport on my IFSA Butler group flight. The flight left at 9:50 pm (EST) on January 1st, 2011 and was scheduled to arrive in Dublin on January 2nd, 2011 9:30 am (Ireland Time). The trip to the airport was nice with little traffic and we arrived about 3 hours before departure, when we entered the building the line for Continental International flights was incredibly long