Travel Tuesday: Galway, Ireland

Happy Travel Tuesday!

This week's Travel Tuesday is brought to you by the lovely country of Ireland, The Cliffs of Moher and Fish & Chips from the city of Galway. So on my backpacking adventure my friends and I took a bus to the west side of the country. It probably sounds familiar because it's the name of the song from P.S. I Love You (The Galway Girl), and yes I did hear that song played in the pubs! Since we were all on a pretty tight budget, Fish & Chips made for a cheap and delicious dinner! It didn't hurt that the downtown area was so adorable with boutiques and pubs.

Delicious!

An example of the cuteness, especially with all the Christmas lights up!

We then decided as a group to take this bus tour from Galway all the way to the Cliffs of Moher. It was one of the best decisions I've ever made! We stopped at different places along the countryside and the final view at the Cliffs of Moher was mesmerizing. I'm getting chills just thinking about it right now. Anyways, here are some photos of our journey:

Last but not least the Cliffs! For all you Harry Potter nerds out there like me, the scene with Dumbledore and Harry on the rock in the middle of the ocean is THIS rock (the tiny one in the corner)! It was so terribly windy that day though, which made it extra dangerous to be there.

And last but not least my favorite picture of myself from this day-

I've never looked prettier.

Until next time! 

xoxo, K 

Coffee Addict

Like many of you have already seen, I am enchanted by coffee and everything about it. It all started when I was a wee little girl (probably around 11), and my dad would let me drink coffee with him...well it was more like coffee milk and a pound of sugar or Irish creamer. Once I got into college and began to work as well, I found it essential to get caffeine one way or another. Every time my stepdad and I went somewhere together (and still do) we always get a Mocha to enjoy. I've had some of the best conversations over coffee, and made amazing barista friends while working at Starbucks. Here's a little history of my coffee passion through some photos. I have way too many photos of coffee so I'll have to pick and choose :)

While in Guatemala on a mission trip, we visited a coffee plantation. Here they are drying the coffee beans. I bought some whole bean from this plantation and from that day on I've been grinding my own coffee for my brewer! It's definitely worth the trouble, try it out sometime.

The next year I took off for Spain and experience a whole different coffee experience. In Spain, they call coffee "café con leche". It's pretty much espresso and steam milk in equal parts. 

Yes, those little glasses are some café con leches. These churros were a perfect snack between classes, or really whenever.

I made sure to take photos of my coffee experiences every country I traveled to. This first one is in England, and the second in Dublin, Ireland.

Now that I am a barista and know A LOT more about coffee, I've experimented with different ways to brew coffee. Here's all five of our coffee brewers in our humble abode. 

My favorite is my Italian coffee pot. You put it on the stove and the water boils and rises through the grounds to create a dense, espresso like coffee. You can buy one here like mine from Target.

Here's an awesome example of how it works! I used Spanish coffee grounds.

That's all for now folks! Enjoy your Thursday and if you're in Michigan, enjoy this sunshine!

xoxo,  K

Currently Reading: Onward by Howard Shultz

Currently Listening to: Gracious by Ben Howard