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Dublin

 Dublin was our last spot on this trip, and I am honestly so sad to be leaving it. Dublin took a second for me to get used to because it was so different from the other places we saw. It was very quaint and charming, and I found myself grow comfortable quickly. The people there were very welcoming and I didn’t feel like I was visiting - they made me feel very homey. I loved Guinness which was surprising to me because everyone at home was telling me how much I would hate it. I really enjoyed walking the streets at night because I feel like it really showed Irish culture with all the live music and laughter. My favorite part of Dublin was either the Book of Kells or the comedy club. The Book of Kells was lovely to see because it was just a beautiful and historic site, but the comedy club really showed me what the Irish are like! Sarah the tour guide said that if you really want to know what cultures are like, then you should go to a local comedy club. I can now say that she is 100% c...
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London

  In full honesty, my first impression of London was not a great one. I didn’t particularly like the West End Soho area. Although I appreciated the many theatres and cool sights, I felt incredibly out of place and unwelcome, and a few of us got called very rude names by some people walking past. We called it a night fairly early due to general discomfort and decided to restart the next day. However, once we saw other areas of London, I realized that it was actually an amazing place, and that I just had to find my nook of London! I loved seeing all of the iconic places like the London Bridge and Birmingham Palace. On our free day, I had a lot of fun exploring Westminster and Kensington. They were both such lovely areas with very kind people. It wasn’t as chaotic - there were still touristy spots but it was nothing compared to the super big areas. I really enjoyed seeing more low key spots like Regent’s Park. I felt much more comfortable in these areas, and I enjoyed talking to peopl...
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Edinburgh

  Edinburgh is a city I can definitely see myself living in. From the moment we got there, I fell in love with the old architecture, the charming accents, and the hospitable atmosphere. I’m not sure if I was just naive, but I never felt unsafe or uneasy, even when we were walking at night. My favorite part of Edinburgh was seeing Calton Hill. There was a stunning view and rich pieces of history all wrapped into one hill. Another favorite part of Scotland was when I travelled with 2 others to Dunbar. Dunbar was such a quaint little town that had the most beautiful coastal views. It wasn’t crowded at all which I enjoyed, and there was plenty to explore. The people there were so kind, and so excited to speak to us whenever we went into a shop, pub, or restaurant. Overall, Scotland is a place I would love to visit again. It is a great location in the sense that you can take the train to many other European countries, and it has a special vibe to it that I can’t quite put into words. I ...
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At the boarding gate

 As I am writing this, I’m sitting at Concourse C59 waiting for our first flight to London. I cannot wait to finally travel to all the places we’ve been talking about. Even though I’m literally at the Pittsburgh airport and I’m around all my fellow travelers, this trip still doesn’t feel real to me. First little road bump of the trip - I forgot my phone charger so I had to buy one for 40 dollars. Oh well!  We board in 15 minutes, so if this blog is shorter, my apologies. I’m hoping we have time to walk around in Glasgow for a little bit. I’ve always heard stories about how lovely that city is so I think it would be cool for us to see both Glasgow and Edinburgh. The next blog I write, I’ll be across the pond! 
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Dubliners Blog

 I have always been an avid anti-Joyce reader, which started when I was forced to read A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man in high school. I have a hard time appreciating stream-of-consciousness writing, and I did not find him to be as talented as everyone said he was. For this reason, I was dreading Dubliners as soon as I saw it on the syllabus. For the most part, I remained consistent with my dislike towards Joyce, but I found myself genuinely intrigued by Gabriel's discomfort and the tension that I found present at this party. It honestly reminded me a lot of how many family parties go today, where many people there are at vastly different stages of life, and some people became very economically successful, while others just hope they are written in that person's will.  In my family, we are all very politically divided, and it gets tense the moment someone mentions who the other one voted for, and I found it funny that Joyce was already writing about this when Gabriel...
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Blog 5

 As we get closer and closer to the trip I find myself experiencing the pre-trip butterflies. I don't know about you guys, but this trip is all that's getting me through my typical end-of-semester slump. I keep telling myself that in a few weeks I'll be in a country I've never been before.  My mom was born and raised in Slovenia and moved here when she was 23. I can't imagine packing everything up at this age and going to an entirely new land. However, my mom has always said that she can see me moving out of the US at some point, and I have a feeling I'll fall in love with one of these countries we're going to. Now that she's in my head about moving internationally, I just know I'll subconsciously be scoping out which place I'd want to live in the most.  I find myself getting overwhelmed at how much there is to see in each city in the limited time we have. I don't want to regret how I spend my time on this trip, so I decided to start research...
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Mrs. Dalloway Blog

 I have definitely gotten behind on my blogs, so here we are at the end of Mrs. Dalloway! I had already read this book in a previous class, but I found that I appreciated it much more this time around. I find it interesting that the entire novel revolves around Clarissa throwing a party, which is usually filled with many housewife roles like preparing food, getting table placements set up, and things of that nature. Clarissa is going about those motions and running into certain people along the way that make her question deep parts of life. This begs me to think that by being with her husband, she does not ponder life as much as she did before marriage.  I found myself resonating with Clarissa on a few levels. I have always had a fear, as many women do, that marriage will confine me to the title of being my husband's wife and that by losing my last name I will be losing my individuality and personal freedom.  I also found the character of Septimus to be interesting. He se...
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