Category: Europe

Giverny, France

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This summer I was in Paris for a few days. I decided to take a short day trip to Giverny, which is only an hour or so away by train. Giverny is famous because it is where Claude Monet lived and painted many of his most known pieces.

Giverny is a small town with many B and B’s. It is also the home of the Museum of Impressionists.
The garden in front of Monet’s home is surrounded by a beautiful meadow.

 

This is the main basin with some water lilies Monet may have painted!

 

 

Next I traveled to the gardens.
The gardens were very important to Monet, who had many books on botany and hired several gardeners to help him plant precise designs and layouts. Monet waited 4 years, perfecting the landscape, before he painted his best known work of the water lilies at his new home.

 

I was beyond lucky that I got to visit on such a nice day. Walking around his garden and small town felt as though I had stepped back in time; and I can see why he was so inspired to create art around this French countryside.

Ireland – The Road to Croke Park

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After staying in Galway for a few
nights and seeing the West Coast, it was time to travel across the country to
see my Nittany Lions play the Central Florida Knights.
Halfway through the drive we stopped at Clonmacnoise.

 

Clonmacnoise is a ruin of the first monastery in Ireland. It was
strategically build right off the Shannon River and was used as a center of
learning, trade and craftsmanship.
This is the “Whispering Arch,” which was used for confession.
A priest would stand on one side and a member of the church on the other. They
would talk into the arch, and it would travel around to the other person on the
opposite side.

 

Many of its graves have the Celtic Cross, which is a cross with a circle
around it. Legend has it that the circle was added when Christianity first came
to Ireland. St. Patrick added it because the people at the time were pagan and
worshiped the sun.

 

When Pope John Paul II came in 1979, this structure was built for him to
say mass. Look at River Shannon in the background!!

 

 Do you see me??

 

Once I got to Dublin, I went to Trinity College. This is the Long Room
which is part of the colleges library. Tourists are able to see the Book of
Kells before leaving the library as well.
This is the Molly Malone Statue.

 

To the locals, she is also known as “The Tart with the Cart.” Her
ghost is often seen at night on streets in the surrounding area.

 

The Guinness Brewery was awesome! It was only open to Penn Staters and
the beer was so, so good!
 Can you find me?

 

This is the Ha-Penny Bridge that crosses the River Liffey. It was the
first pedestrian bridge in Dublin, and for years cost “one penny” to
cross. Thats how it got its name, “ha-penny!” Other than the name, it
is also known for its cast iron design.

 

 

Here I am with Christ Church in the oldest part of the city… where the
Vikings landed and set up a village.

 

 

And lastly, here I am at the Dublin Castle.
What a great trip to Ireland!! The football team won, so I went home extra happy 🙂

 

Ireland – County Clare

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County Clare has many different landscapes. While driving to the Cliffs of Moher, we went through the Burren.

 

The Burren may have a lot of rocks, but it grows three quarters of the islands flower species!

 

The Burren National Park is one of six in Ireland even though it is the smallest in size.

 

This side faces the Atlantic Ocean!

 

The Cliffs of Moher was an unbelievable sight.

 

Can you see people walking on the other side?!

 

Here you can see a lookout castle in the background.

 

Ireland – Connemara and Kylemore Abbey

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The wonderful friends I met in Ireland were on my tour of the West Coast! The first day we went to Kylemore Abby in Connemara.

 

I was lucky enough to have front row seats for my tour of the beautiful countryside.

 

This was our first stop in Connemara.

 

The river, grass and mountains were stunning!

 

Even though Ireland is known for cloudy skies and rainy days… the sun came out for these photos!

 

Kylemore Abby is nestled on a hill right on the water.

 

When we stopped for lunch, we saw a sign promoting the Nittany Lions football game against UCF. GO STATE!!

 

This is the view looking out from the Abbey.

 

The Abbey was built in 1867 by Mitchell Henry, a wealthy doctor from Manchester, England. He and his wife, Margaret Vaughan (shown above), came here on their honeymoon and fell in love with the property.

 

Mr. Henry then built the castle for his wife and 9 children. After Margaret’s unexpected death, Mr. Henry then built this chapel for his late wife.

 

 

The Abbey is also known for its Walled Gardens.

 

The current owners, the Benedictine Nuns, are trying to restore the remaining greenhouses.

 

Mr. Henry sold his estate when he moved back to England to the Duke and Duchess of Manchester. The Duke then had to sell the property in 1920 due to gambling debts. The Benedictine Nun’s got the Abbey and started a private boarding school for girls. They purchased this estate because they were fleeing Belgium during WWI. Unfortunately, the school closed down in 2010, but people from all over the world still come to marvel at the property and its gardens.

 

They also come to play with sheep 🙂