Emily Scheirer is a photographer based out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She is currently working toward obtaining a BFA in Photography from Point Park University, and is now in her junior year. Additionally, Scheirer works as a preschool dance teacher at The Dance Company for the Performing Arts in North Versailles, Pennsylvania. She loves to portray real experiences and emotions through her work, and is excited to be able to observe cultures outside of her own!
pre-trip blog:
It’s crazy how quickly this semester went by. I can’t believe that our trip will be beginning in almost two weeks! I still have so much to do and so much to prepare before we go, so I’m still not even entirely sure that it’s all set in completely. Now that finals are over, though I can really focus on our trip. I’m anxious to get everything done, but that is pretty much outweighed by the excitement.
I’ve traveled out of the country before–to Canada when I was younger. However, we drove in a car rather than flying, so this will be my first experience on a plane. I’m a little nervous, but hopefully we’ll have a smooth trip. I’ve always wanted to travel to Ireland, and am extremely grateful that I have to opportunity to do so now.
I’m Irish (like a lot of people), and have heard my family talk about traveling there for my whole life, and now I actually get to go! I’m super excited to be able to experience the country that many of my ancestors came from. As well, I’m really excited to experience the beauty of Ireland. When I learned more about Iceland as well, I was enamored with the culture and the land and am so ready to experience it in real life. I can’t wait to experience these rich cultures with my friends!
Day One – May 14, 2017:
After what seemed like an endless layover at JFK yesterday, we finally boarded the overnight flight that would take us into Reykjavik. All in all, the plane ride went pretty smoothly. Aside from the fact that I found it difficult to sleep, the plane itself was a little more spacious than the one previous, and we were provided with dinner and free movies to watch. The fact that I hadn’t slept well didn’t really make much difference when we landed and were finally in Iceland!
The airport was a little confusing at first, but didn’t take much to get through, and we were on our way in no time. After getting our first experience of Iceland’s odd sorts of architecture through encountering the airport bathrooms’ oddly shaped sinks and bathroom stalls that more resembled department store dressing rooms, we breezed through customs and went to claim our suitcases.
Now, the fun part: my suitcase didn’t show up. Three suitcases from our group didn’t make it to Iceland with us and mine had to be one of two that were left at the Pittsburgh airport. Luckily, I have enough in my carry on bag to last me for a little while, and despite the initial panic, we were reassured that our bags would be expedited and would arrive the following morning. Fingers crossed!!!
And thus, we went on with our journey into Iceland 🇮🇸. We met our tour guide, Helga, and she guided us through a short sight seeing tour. We drove through Hafnarfjörður where I saw some of the most unique settled landscapes I’d ever encountered . 
We also stopped at a few other places before being set free to roam around Reykjavik independently before our rooms were ready. As it was still very early, we walked to as many souvenir shops and stores as we could before stopping for some lunch: crêpes–maybe the best I’ve ever had. Reykjavik itself was so adorable. From the colorful buildings to the overwhelmingly friendly atmosphere, it’s kind of hard not to feel at home. Though the prices in the stores are almost off the charts, the beauty of Iceland as a whole outweighs the cost and forced you to want to experience every little thing. Even having had my suitcase left in the states,
Following our lunch break, we shopped a little more and ended up at the Icelandic Phallological Museum (I’m sure you can guess what was on exhibit). Hundreds of different species’. It was interesting and probably a little scarring, but a fun adventure.
Later, we checked into our hotel and got ready to go to our first group dinner. It was delicious! I didn’t even take any pictures of the food because I was so hungry and it was so good that I had to just dig in.
Overall, I’m loving Iceland. The graffiti here is even beautiful! I’m not even put off by the fact that it’s 11:00pm and barely dark outside. I can’t wait to see more of this beautiful country on our tour tomorrow! Now, I’m off to bed and hoping that my suitcase shows up in the morning!
Day Two: May 15, 2017
Today began with breakfast in the basement of the hotel. It was wonderful. I’m beginning to think that there isn’t any bad food in Iceland, as everything so far has been absolutely delicious. 
Next, we headed out of the hotel for a short walk around Reykjavik to visit some historical sites. Then we were off to visit Perlan, the future museum of Iceland’s natural wonders. It’s still under construction and set to open this summer, but anyone can tell that it’s going to be beautiful. The architecture alone was amazing, and it had wonderful views of Reykjavik. 
Next, we went to Thingvellir National Park. As with most of the things we’ve seen in Iceland so far, it was gorgeous. I loved being able to see such natural and beautiful wonders and took about a million pictures, though they can’t even do this place justice. I guess you just have to experience it in person! 
We then headed off to a dairy farm where we got some ice cream, saw some cows, played with dogs, and pet Icelandic horses! I’d say I t was a pretty eventful farm visit. 
We then went off to the Geysir hot springs, and had 
what was probably the funniest moment of the entire trip so far. First, we walked along the path and found the first geysir. We thought it was going to erupt, and stood and stared at it for a longer time than we needed to, as nothing happened. Eventually we figured that we should walk on and found Strokkur, a much bigger geysir that erupts about every eight minutes. After watching it erupt twice, we thought we would walk to the other side and watch again. Bad idea.
Needless to say, we got wet. But perhaps it was worth it to be able to say, “I got splashed by a geysir in Iceland.”
Lastly, we went to Gulfoss. It was just as beautifully as I had imagined that it’d be, if not more. Again, pictures don’t even do it justice but, of course, I took bunches of pictures anyway. 
Finally, we embarked on the hour-long trip back to the hotel. When we arrived, we were hoping that our luggage had made it to the hotel, as we had been informed that our cases made it to Iceland this morning. But of course, they hadn’t been sent yet. So we set off for dinner, another wonderful three course meal—this one had an amazing view. 
After dinner our luggage arrived!! It felt great to have all of my clothes back. (I don’t know how I’m going to be able to let my suitcase go when we have to board a plane again)
Day Three: 5/16/17
Today, our last day in Iceland, was media visit day. For whatever reason, it was incredibly difficult to wake up this morning—exhaustion set in hard today. And yet, we pressed on. After a quick breakfast at the hotel, we hopped on the bus and were en route to our first visit.
Promote Iceland’s office was almost exactly what I thought it was going to be: a clean, modern office that maintained its professionalism while remaining comfortable. Sven Birkir Björnsson talked to us about the company’s campaign, ‘Inspired By Iceland’, in which they aimed to increase tourism and awareness of Iceland and its culture. Throughout his presentation, it was amazing to see just how much advertising played a role in the knowledge of Iceland around the world. I thought it was also particularly interesting that social media played such a role in their marketing strategies. I liked as well that they really focused on presenting Iceland as it is. The authenticity of the campaign and the country as a whole is–in my opinion– part of the charm of Iceland.
Next, after returning to the hotel to rest for lunch, we headed to our next visit with the Reykjavik Grapvine. Being a (former) photography major (now a minor), I don’t know much about print journalism, so I thought that I may be completely lost there. But the atmosphere of the workplace was so comfortable and laid back that it was competent stress free. I really liked that the magazine main focus is exploring the culture that is unique to Iceland and that they cater to tourists and native Icelanders simultaneously.
After the Grapvine visit, we headed back to the hotel to discuss the day, and then were sent off to explore again. We got hotdogs from the small place just outside of our hotel–again, all the food we’ve eaten has been delicious. Next, we ventured back to the crepe place for one last time before we leave. I ordered the same crepe as the last time, but this time they wrote my name on it! So of course I had to take a bunch of pictures and post them everywhere. 
Then, we went back to Hallgrímskirkja to go up to 
the church tower to look out over Reykjavik
The view was even better than I thought it’d be! It was a great end to a perfect stay in Iceland. It’s sad to be leaving tomorrow, but I’m really excited for Ireland 🇮🇪.
Day Four: 5/17/17
Today was exhausting. Probably because we only slept for a couple hours before piling back onto the bus and traveling back to the airport for our flight to Dublin. Waking up wasn’t too difficult, and I wasn’t all that tired while we waited for our flight at the airport. I was able to sleep for a few minutes on the plane, though–much needed.
The plane ride was another experience. The flight over wasn’t too terrible–for me–but we did have an awkward landing. The plane descended and prepared to land upon the runway, but something went wrong with the landing and the plane touched the ground (rather abruptly) and then quickly took off again. It was a little scary, but we flew around and tried again successfully.
After waiting in a customs line that seemed to take forever, we finally got to baggage claim. I was actually terrified that my luggage would have some kind of mishap again, but after walking in, my 
suitcase was the first one that I saw. Feeling much better and less anxious, I headed to the bus with the rest of the class. We were dropped off in Dublin and set off on our own to find lunch. As we didn’t really know where to go, we tagged on with the professors and our tour guide, Joe, to O’Neill’s Pub, which he told us was about 300 years old.
After lunch, we decided to just walk around and explore the surrounding area before we had to meet back up with our group. I was surprised to see that Dublin had many stores and restaurants that we have at home in America. I definitely think it allowed me to connect more with the country right off the bat. 
After getting a little lost, we found our way back and went on a little tour of the city before heading to the parliament building. I loved seeing some of the architecture and the buildings that have been around for so long. It is amazing to me to be able to see these buildings and institutions that have existed since the 1700s. 
Later, after checking into our rooms and going grocery shopping for breakfast items, we went to The Brazen Head, the oldest pub in Ireland. The food was amazing, the atmosphere was great and I loved it! Being so tired from the long day, we headed back to our rooms for bed (where I’ll be going right after I finish this post). Overall, I love Ireland already. We haven’t even been in the country for 24 hours and I already am enamored of the culture. I can’t wait to see what the next few days bring!
Day 5: 5/18/17
Today, we received our wake up calls and then got ready to go to a lecture at Dublin City University. All in all, the lecture, given by Dr. Eileen Culotty was actually very intriguing. I was surprised to learn about the history of the Irish media and how conservative and “anti-British” it strived to be. I guess, when taking history into context, it makes quite a lot of sense. I also found it very interesting that the Orish culture has been influenced so much so by the American media, as well as the British. The culture of Ireland today is, therefore, somewhat in line with our own. I’d noticed that there are a lot of “American” restaurants and shops here, which could quite possibly be influenced by this. Perhaps, this is why, though Ireland is far off from the US, it still feels somewhat familiar.
After the lecture, we went to eat in the DCU cafe, and after a short break, we headed to Harmonia, a magazine publication which supplies the most popular magazines in Ireland. At first, I didn’t think that there would be much to interest me at this visit, and thought it would be more of a journalistically oriented visit. However, I was pleasantly surprised at how friendly and interested in our fields of study the staff were. I really liked to learn about how a magazine company works and how much actually goes into the process of creating, publishing and distributing a magazine.
After the second media visit of the day, we went back to the hotel to change quickly and go shopping and exploring around the city. We walked for a while looking for somewhere to eat dinner, and finally decided on a pub about 15 minutes away from our hotel. After dinner, we headed straight back to the hotel.
Day Six: 5/18/17
On our last day of Dublin Media visits, we met with Heneghan PR, and The Press Photograoher’s Association of Ireland’s president, Michael Chester. First, we went to Heneghan’s office, and took a few group photos before heading to a nearby hotel for our lecture and Q&A session. It was highly interesting (more than o thought it’d be, as I have 0 Ad. & PR knowledge). What I thought was very interesting about the company was that they seemed to be extremely interested in us coming to visit with them and seemed to be genuinely excited about it. They were very invested in the presentation and describing what they’re company does to us, and seemed very down to earth and laid back while maintaining professionalism.
After a short break, we had what was probably my most favorite media visit so far. Michael Chester, President of the Press Photographers Association of Ireland was pretty much amazing. He was very funny in his presentation but also radiated a seriousness and passion for what he does. His stories were incredible and all that he has accomplished in his career has inspired me to follow my own passions. It was amazing to me that he is such an accomplished and astounding photographer and has no formal training. As I, myself, seemed to had lost my drive to become a photographer a few months ago-so much so that I decided to change my major altogether- his love for it reminded me of my own love for photography. (Also super excited that we may be going on a photo walk with him during our free day tomorrow).
After the visits, we went to Trinity College to visit the Book of Kells. It was overwhelmingly beautiful. It’s still difficult to wrap my mind around the fact that we were actually seeing centuries old artifacts. It was so surreal to be able to see something in real life that connects us so to the past. The library was breathtaking as well. In addition to the beautiful book smell, it seemed as though the shelves contained more books than I’d ever seen in one place. I was in awe of the idea that this existed so many years ago and how many people had walked through the hall before me. I’m not even entirely sure that words can describe the feeling that I got walking through the Book of Kells exhibition and the library.
After visiting the exhibition, we went back to the hotel to change and decided to walk around and explore Dublin again. We ended up finding a place that can basically be described as Chipotle’s European twin brother. Even cheap Mexican food in Ireland is great.
Dublin City confuses the hell out of me. There are so many streets and side streets and pubs across town with the same names and endless construction, but I can’t help but fall in love with it more and more each day. I would seriously and absolutely consider living here.
Day Seven: May 20, 2017
Today, we took full advantage of our free day in Dublin. We had planned on going to the Guinness Storehouse before the trip, so that was definitely a must for us today.
Nkt long after waking up, we decided to get onto the DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) train and head north to Howth, a small, seaside village on the outskirts of Dublin. Despite getting caught in a few short rain showers, we made it there in no time.
Howth was great. Being outside the hustle and bustle of the city was pretty calming, and it felt great to be able to take in the beauty of the nature of Ireland.
We then stumbled upon the Howth Market, which was filled with small tents with food, crafts, jewelry, you name it. There, I shopped for a few gifts for family and ate my first Fish and Chips in Ireland. The food was delicious! 
Next, we ventured off to find Howth Castle. As we had only a short time to get back to Dublin in time to get to the Guinness Storehouse, we didn’t stay long, and then happened upon a church fair at St. Mary’s church. The atmosphere reminded me of home so much that it was almost unreal. 
After a quick stop at the fair, we rushed back to the DART. We soon realized that we would need to get off of the train, walk a few streets over, wait for the Dublin Bus, and then get off from there and walk some more. After what seemed like an eternity, we finally made it! The story of the brand was so interesting to learn about, and the museum was awesome. We went up to the packed sky bar to have put complimentary pints of Guinness (my first). I’m not really a beer drinker, but it was so smooth that it almost didn’t matter. If I had to drink beer, it’d probably be Guinness. 
After leaving the Storehouse and getting caught in the rain for about the 16th time today, we saw our first Irish rainbow. 
For dinner, we went to Ned O’Shea’s pub because it was close to our hotel, and had a menu that we could all agree upon. Luckily, though the restaurant was packed, we were seated right away, and very close to the band that was playing live. They played traditional Irish songs as well as some modern ones (¿Cotton Eye Joe¿?), and they were great. The food was also awesome (I broke down and got fish and chips again). It’s sad to think that we’ll be leaving Dublin tomorrow, but I can’t shake the feeling that I’ll be back her again someday. Here’s hoping! 
Day Eight: May 21, 2017
Today, we left Dublin and departed on a high speed train for Belfast. The train ride was about two hours long, and went through the country. It was really interesting to be able to see parts of Ireland that lie outside of the cities as we have been spending so much time there.
After the train arrived, we made it to the bus and into the center of the city. For lunch, we went into the beautifully decorated city hall to a small cafe inside. The food was great, but the building was even better! I think we spent more time walking around and admiring the architecture than we did actually eating. The stained glass windows were my favorite.
After lunch, we headed off to our guided bus tour of Belfast. The tour was great and very informative. We visited the Titanic shipyards and drove past the museum, drove around the city for a bit, and visited Belfast castle. The most impactful part of it-for me- was visiting the peace wall. It was so surreal to be able to stand there and see the wall in real life rather than in pictures and videos. I think that is is especially so, as we had been learning about the Troubles in class and we’re finally able to see an area that was impacted so much by these hard times. It was almost overwhelming to just stand there and look up and down at the barrier that had been erected between the homes. I’d have liked to have had more time there, but we were all very tired and in need of a hotel room. 
After our tour, we checked into the hotel to freshen up before dinner. We ate at Machugh’s ( proclaimed the oldest building in Belfast). The food was amazing as usual, and I am now convinced that Ireland has no bad food.
Day Nine: May 22, 2017
Our final day in Belfast was filled with media visits. We got to sleep in a little longer, though which was much appreciated. After getting ready and having a light breakfast at the hotel, we set off for BBC Northern Ireland. Not knowing much about broadcasting, I wasn’t expecting to be very knowledgeable of what wa going on in the visit. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that all of the information was presented in a way that made sense-to me, at least. It was really interesting to learn about the network and how the Belfast corporation fits in with the larger British network. It was also interesting to learn about the demographics that are invested in the BBC. In the meeting, Kathleen told us that the network has great numbers, but finds itself struggling to invest younger viewers in their programming. After the lecture/information session, we were taken on a tour of some of the different stations in the offices.
My group was taken to the radio studio, and I was amazed. I’d never been inside one before and I was surprised at how chaotic yet calm it seemed. We went into the sound booth while a radio program was being broadcasted, and were able to listen in on the show while talking with some of the people behind the show. We even got to listen as a 75 year old woman named Nellie called in to talk about television licensing (hilarious, btw–even the host couldn’t help but to crack a smile). After that visit, I’m not sure that I could ever work in such a stressful environment. Just all of the people talking at once was enough to make me nervous!
After visiting the BBC studios, we went to The Irish News. What really stuck out to me there was that the family owned paper has really been trying to focus on grabbing the attention of young readers. They have a number of initiatives directed toward this and have found great success. I really liked that we got to meet with people from almost all of the different departments at the paper. I think that it really gave us a feel for what the paper does. The visit was really interesting, and I liked learning more about the inner workings of a newspaper.
After the visit, we rushed back to the hotel to be able to get changed and go back out onto the street to ask people our Trump questions. Despite our trying, however, we weren’t able to get that many people to talk to is about him. Mos of those that we did stop would agree to answer the questions, but when we said that they were about Trump and American politics, they would then decline saying that they didn’t know much about either. Others did not want to be recorded, and would decline to answer the questions thereafter. Overall, there weren’t many people that were inclined to talk to us on Belfast. We did get a couple of good responses, however.
Now it’s off to pack and get to sleep for our departure for Galway tomorrow.
Day Ten: May 23, 2017
Today, we left Belfast for a scenic drive through Ireland to Galway.
The bus ride was long (and made a few of us pretty nauseous), but I was really thankful to have been able to see the countryside of Ireland. It was nice to see a few different sides of the country as we had spent so much of our time here in cities.
Our fist stop led us to Kells, where the Book of Kells was said to be originally housed. It was a very cute, quaint little town with a lot of history. After walking up the hill to the church building. We even got lucky enough to walk inside St. Cholm Cille’s house, as someone happened to have opened the gate with the key as we were walking by. After a quick walking tour of the Main Street, we went back down the hill to board the bus for the next leg of our journey. 
Our second stop was in Kinnegad, another small town, wherein we stopped shortly for lunch before finishing our bus trip.
Finally, we made it to Galway. After checking in and getting settled, we walked into the heart of the city. There are countless shops and restaurants and pubs there, giving us a lot to do with our ample alotted free time tomorrow (we plan on getting a lot of our shopping done then). We walked around for a bit to get a feeling for what we’re going to be looking for tomorrow and ate at McDonough’s (at the recommendation that they have the best fish and chips). They were pretty good. I’m of no means a fish and chips expert, as I don’t ever really eat them very often, but I’d say that they were some of the best we’ve had here so far. After dinner, we shopped around a little longer and then made our way back to the hotel to prepare for the media visit to Galway Bay FM tomorrow.
Day Eleven: May 24, 2017
Our last day in Galway led us to Galway Bay FM, an independent radio station set in Galway Ireland. The station, run by CEO Keith Finnegan covers a multitude of areas including, news, sports, music, local interest pieces, and even has a slot on the weekends dedicated to the Gaelic language and music. I really liked that we were able to get so “up close and personal” with the inner workings of the station, and met the majority of the people working there. It was definitely a big difference from our visit to the BBC radio station, though it becomes difficult to compare the two as the levels at which they work are almost at complete opposite ends of the spectrum.
After the visit, the rest of the day was out to explore Galway. We decided to go back into the city to finish up on our shopping and to get dinner. We explored the shops and then walked down to the bay to sit and enjoy the view for a while. I also noticed that one of the fourteen families that established Galway had the same last name as my grandmother (Lynch). For dinner, we decided on a pizza restaurant that had been recommend by Keith at the radio station earlier in the day (Dough Bros Pizza). Again, the food was great. After dinner, we headed back to pack up and prepare to check out for our last day of the trip.
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Day Twelve: May 25, 2017
Today was our last day in Ireland, and it was just as wonderful as all of the days before it. We left our hotel around 9:30 and set off for the Cliffs of Moher. I think that I speak for a lot of us when I say that this excursion was one of the ones that I was most looking forward to on the trip. When you see images of Ireland, you usually see the cliffs, so I was excited to be able to experience them in real life.
First, however, we made a stop at a limestone field, which was absolutely gorgeous. Basically, it consisted of limestone rocks his sting up from the ground. Between and within the rocks there were some prettt deep cracks, so we were reminded several times to watch where we were stepping. I must say, some of the rock formations did look a little treacherous, and I didn’t doubt the stories of people accidentally stepping into them and breaking their legs. We only stopped for a short while, but i was glad to be able to get out and walk around.
Next, we headed to the Cliffs of Moher. They were just as amazing and breathtaking as I had imagined and–much like Icelandic nature–cannot be done any justice from images. We walked all the way up to the top of the cliffs, and even climbed over the slate rock wall to walk outside of the path and on the edge of the cliff. That’s about as far as I went, though. Some people were getting pretty close to the edges, but it was pretty windy so I decided to stay back.
After walking back and forth atop the cliffs, we headed back to the bus to get to our hotel before dinner. We got ready, and quickly went back up onto the bus to head for Bunratty Castle. I was under the impression that all of the acting and costumes would be overly dramatic and somewhat cheesy and touristy. As the evening was a pretty “touristy” event, I think that it was tastefully done overall, and an enjoyable experience. The food was pretty good for a place where cutlery isn’t used much. We had a potato-onion-some vegetable soup (drunk straight from the bowl), spare ribs, chicken with vegetables, and an exceptional apple crumble dessert (may favorite part). Then, the staff serenaded is with some beautiful songs.
I cant believe that the trip will be over soon and that we’ll be home tomorrow. Somehow it simultaneously feels like we just got here and yet have been here for an entire month. I’m so thankful that we’ve been able to experience these vibrant cultures, and will never forget the trip. I definitely feel more confident in traveling and want to continue to do so as much as I possibly can. I’m ready to go home, but I’ll definitely be coming back to Ireland someday. It was an incredible experience, and I can’t wait to see where the things I’ve gained on this trip will take me in the future.