Alright well I know there's quite a few of you who want to here about my big week long trip that I ended exactly a week ago. I'll do the best I can to try and tell ya all the exciting things and my favorite parts. So here it goes:
Me and Marlo set off on our journey Friday the 20th bright and early at 4am. We flew out of Shannon and into London. We got into London mid-morning and were excited to start our weekend there. That excitement soon faded when the weather turned into cold, windy, torrential downpour raining. When we left our hostel it was was nice sunny day and we decided to go take a leisurely stroll around a park and to check out the London Zoo. Well as soon as we got off the tube that nice sunny day was gone. Plan B find the Sherlock Holmes museum and wait it out inside. Well by the time we found the museum we were cold, wet, and our feet were soaked! The museum was very cool to see but by the time we were done it was still raining. So new plan find one of our beloved Pennys (in London called Primark) and get new waterproof shoes so that our feet would at least be dry! After purchasing new socks and shoes we had to decide what next. It appeared to be done raining for a while so we decided to start making our way back towards the hostel and try for a Jack Ripper tour that goes on at night. We ate diner at our hostel, shared a bottle of wine (which we thought was much deserved after the day we had), and then set out on the tube once again to take the trail of the Jack Ripper murders. That night we went to bed not really loving London and hoping the next day would be better. Day two was substantially better. We went on a free walking tour of London and were able to see all the historical sights like Westminster Abbey, the Parliament building, and Big Ben; not to mention the weather was beautiful. After the tour we took a ride on the London Eye and were able to take in the whole of the city from up above. That night was a very chill night since we had to be up by 3am to get to the airport for our flight to Venice. Sunday morning we said goodbye to London and hello to Venice, Italy. As for my favorite part of London it would have to be the Parliament Building and Big Ben, gorgeous architecture! Oh and being able to master the famous London tube, I have to say I had that thing mastered half way through day one!
Alright city number two, Venice, Italy. First surprise to me was that they actually drive on the right said of the road like we do back home. I have been so use to driving on the left that this kinda felt strange to me. We made it to our hotel on the Island of Venice and it looked like it was going to be a beautiful day. We had no real plans for Venice so once we got checked in we decided to grab some lunch and then just walk the city and see as much as we could. We were able to take in quite a bit of this beautiful city on the water. Stopped in at many different shops and of course had our first taste of gelato! Venice was a very relaxing city, where we didn't have to worry about the hustle and bustle of things, we were able to just take in it at our own pace and we didn't have any expectations so what we were able to see was great to us. My favorite part of Venice would have to be just how beautiful all the buildings built around the Grand Canal was. It is a very beautiful city and the water is such a pretty blue-green color. With only one day to spend there the next day we were off by train to Florence.
So we're at city three now, Florence. Again we had no real expectations for Florence, I had gotten a couple suggestions of what to see from my roommate back home, Kaitlyn, since she spent a semester last year there. We started off by trying to find the Statue of David, which ended up being a fail cause the museum was closed. Oh well, on to the next thing on the list, the Durmo Cathedral. This place was huge and very pretty. With only one day, we took a couple pictures looked around at some of the surrounding statues and were off to find our next destination. Next on the list was the Ponte Vecchio Bridge. A guy from the hostel told us of a good gelato place near the bridge so we of course hit that up first :) and that had to have been some of the best gelato of the entire trip (strawberry and chocolate= so yummy!) The bridge was very neat and we had to cross it to get to our next stop. However, along the way across it we noticed that the entire bridge was lined with jewelry shops. So of course being girls we decided to shop for our dream engagement ring by looking into every single shop window! It was some good girl bonding time :) After dream ring shopping for a while we made our way up to Michaelangelo's Pizza. This is a Pizza that overlooks the entire city of Florence and gives you some gorgeous views. Once we had taken our fill of pictures we decided to check out the nearby palace. Unfortunately the palace was closing when we got there so instead we sat in the sun for a little while outside the palace and figured out what to do next. We figured it was time to head back toward the hostel and find a place for diner. Along the way we did some more ring shopping and then after diner it was more gelato, I think a good combinations of events. We spent the night in the hostel being good students studying and have girl talk. Ok so favorite part of Florence, besides the gorgeous views from Michaelangelo's Pizza, would have to be the engagement ring shopping on Ponte Vecchio Bridge. It was fun trying to find a dream ring in the middle of Florence, Italy. :)
City number four, Rome! We took a train from Florence to Rome and got to our hotel mid-afternoon. With only half an afternoon left we figured we would try to get Vatican city done. Well we got to St. Peter's Bascilla and the line to get in was pretty long, so we went to the Vatican museums instead. This museum was huge! There was so much stuff to see and so many beautiful paintings on the ceilings. We walked through the entire museum ending in the Sistine Chapel. I would have to say I didn't find the Chapel anything too special, but it was pretty amazing at the detail and intricate paintings covering the entire ceiling of the place. Once we were done with the museums it was diner time so we got some pizza and then headed back to the hotel. The night was spent being good students again and studying! The next day we were up early and decided to try and get St. Peter's Bascilla out of the way since we couldn't the day before. Well little did we know the Pope was actually giving a public address there that day so it wasn't open. We thought about sticking around to see the Pope speak but neither of us really cared to so we left and started our day filled with sight-seeing. We pretty much took in the whole of Rome in this one day. We spent the entire day walking from site to site in Rome, starting with the Trevi Fountain. After making a wish in the fountain we made our way to the Pantheon. We spent a good amount of time there taking pictures and walking around the inside. The next site was Vittoriano, some sort of political building. It was a pretty building but we really just wanted to get to the top terrace for the view. Once at the top it was very pretty, with views of the entire city including the Colosseum. That was next on the list, so it was off to the Colosseum, the highlight of the trip really. I'll tell you right now the Colosseum was my favorite part of Rome. We decided we wanted to take a guided tour so that we could get the full history of the place. The tour also included the surrounding Roman Forum, which is where back in the ancients times was the heart of the city. It was so amazing to see all these ancient ruins, knowing that I was standing on the very ground that historical people did 1000s of years ago. After seeing the Colosseum and surrounding area we made our way back to the hotel and had diner and shared a bottle of wine there. We both treated ourselves to a nice juicy steak, something I haven't had in months! Day three in Rome was spent seeing whatever we didn't have time for the previous days. It started with finally seeing St. Peter's Bascilla, which was ginormous and filled with beautiful painting and tombs of popes. Then we went and walked the Spanish steps, something I guess one is suppose to do while in Rome. Once we were finished with that we realized we had done and seen just about everything there was to do in Rome. Therefore, since it was an absolutely beautiful day, and our hotel had a rooftop terrace, we went back to the hotel and spent the day laying out in the sun and studying for finals. It was really just what we needed, a better day spent relaxing in the sun getting tans. Well I got a tan, Marlo got a burn lol. To conclude our last day in Rome we went back into the city to see the Trevi Fountain and the Colosseum lit up at night. I have to say this last day spent in Rome was my favorite part of the trip, we had a great day spent in the sun and then two of the most beautiful sites in Rome all lit up at night. We also met a very nice guy from Jersey at the place we ate diner. He was one of the waiters and noticed we were from America so he decided to chat with us a little. I totally called his back story that he was Italian, came to Italy to visit family, fell in love with it, and decided to stay; and that was exactly what it was. Me and Marlo walked away from that diner feeling kinda good about ourselves because it was pretty apparent that Jersey was hitting on us lol. A considerable amount of time was spent taking pictures of the Colosseum all lit up at night. After also seeing the Trevi fountain we headed back to the hotel to get ready for our early flight back to Ireland the next day. In taking in so much of Rome, like I said before, my favorite part was the Colosseum both at night and during the day.
We were definitely ready to head back to Ireland though. Me and Marlo both were so sick of all the crowds and pushing and shoving people. We were ready to be back home in Ireland where everything was a lot more laid back without all the crazy tourist people! That brings us to city number six, Belfast, Ireland. Me and Marlo both wanted to do Belfast at some point in order to see the Titanic exhibit and this was easier going straight from Dublin right off our flight in from Rome. We made it to Belfast late afternoon, found our hostel, checked in, had a BBQ, made some new friends, and that night Marlo taught half the hostel how to Dougie! It was a really fun night. The next day we did a tour of Belfast, learning the history behind the fight between the Protestants and Catholics along with being able to see all the murals painted around the city in tribute to the fight and the peace that came. We then did the Titanic exhibit, which was very cool to see. We were able to take a step back in time and see just what it was like on the ship and learn about what went into building the ship as well as some of the stories of those who died and survived the great sinking.
Saturday the 28th we were on a bus back to Limerick, it was onward to home sweet home. It felt so good to be back home at UL, no crowds, no annoying tourists, being able to sleep in my own bed!
Overall the trip was fantastic! I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to go to and see all these amazing places. My overall favorite place of the entire trip was definitely ancient Rome, mainly the Colosseum. It was a long week, or so, of traveling and eating mainly pizza, pasta, and gelato; but so well worth everything! I took so many pictures and haven't had the time to edit or upload any yet, but when I do I will put a couple of my favorite on here to see. For now though it is down to my final days here. Finals started this last week and I've got two down with two to go. After finals I will be homeward bound, only 10 more days!
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Birthday Week!!
So last week was my birthday and it was a fantastic birthday week! Tuesday night Marlo took me to stay in what was basically a castle. Her parents stayed there their last two night here and had a third night free that they could not use since they were heading home, so instead of letting it go to waste Marlo decided she would take me there for my birthday :) The place was called Adare Manor, which we were informed is different then a castle cause castles are meant to keep people out whereas manors invite people in. The place was absolutely beautiful. Marlo's parents arranged for a car to take us to and from school to the manor. Tuesday night we checked in and settled, then we went for a swim in the pool. After our swim we did some homework, yes we did homework on our little get away from school. Then we snuggled in bed with some hot chocolate and Bailey's and watched a movie. And of course Marlo made me take a shot at midnight for my birthday lol. The next day we got a free Irish breakfast and then did a little wandering around the grounds and golf course to take pictures of castle and Abbey ruins. Can you imagine golfing on a course that was also home to these beautiful ruins? Well that's what the Irish get everyday. So on my birthday I got to see some gorgeous ruins and then that afternoon I treated myself to a bit of a shopping spree. You see I needed some summer clothes for our trip to Italy, and since it was my birthday I figured it was ok to buy myself some new outfits :) My birthday night the girls all surprised me with a make-shift cake complete with candles and they even had balloons blown up and some party hats for everyone. I love those girls. We had a good night together and they helped me have an excellent birthday even though I wasn't able to celebrate it with those I love back home. I did have a rough morning the next day though ;)
To conclude my birthday week I spent the weekend in Scotland! Me and Marlo had to catch a bus at 1am to get to Dublin for our 6:30am flight to Edinburgh, Scotland. We landed in Scotland around 7:30am and found our way to the hostel. Friday consisted of playing on a playground in Princes St. Garden (yes we were 22 year olds playing on a playground, I think we were a bit overtired at this point, but it was a fun time!), a walking tour around Edinburgh which was really nice we got to see some gorgeous buildings and learned a lot of the history of the city. I loved Edinburgh city, well at least the old town, it was made of all old gothic style architecture, simply gorgeous. After our walking tour we caught a train to Glasgow, we were told by everyone that we had to go to Glasgow. Well after arriving at Glasgow we couldn't really figure out why everyone said we HAD to go there, although it was cold and rainy so it might just have been that we didn't want to spend the time walking outside to see the sights. Anyways we decided to walk down what seemed to be the main road, Style Mile, and while walking we were seeing a lot of shoe stores. Marlo and me looked at each other and instantly decided that the afternoon was going to simply consist of shoe shopping, a decision we were both very satisfied with. By the end of the day we both had a new pair of shoes :) We then had an absolutely amazing meal at a pizza place in Glasgow. It was probably hands down one of the best meals I've had here, a chicken pizza and then a slice of apple pie of dessert, both were to die for! Once we got back to Glasgow we decided to just chill at the hostel, which was a real cool place. They had free internet, games, and even a really nice movie room. Saturday we did a tour of the Highlands, the tour complete with a guide wearing a kilt :) The highland were beautiful, the day consisted of gorgeous snow covered mountains and lochs. Eventually we made it to the famous Loch Ness, where we took a boat tour to go on a search for Nessie. Sadly we were unable to find the girl, but we did get to see the beautiful surroundings of Loch Ness. It was a very long day so once we got back to Edinburgh we were ready for a warm place to eat some traditional Scotish haggis. Me and Marlo decided to share an appetizer portion of the haggis, we both decided we really enjoyed it and would definitely eat it again. For those of you who don't know what haggis is, it's basically every other part of the lambs insides that doesn't go towards the traditional cuts of meat. I know sounds gross but it was surprisingly good. After diner we were going to do a ghost tour of Edinburgh but it was still raining and we had a long day so we decided to just hang out at the hostel again. We ended up watching two movies with a lot of very cool people and actually met and were roommates with two guys from Milwaukee. Sunday we walked the shops a little bit before catching the bus to the airport. By one o'clock we were on our way back to Ireland. The reminder of the day was spent on the bus from Dublin to Limerick. I swear have our days when we travel are spent on buses, so much so that I'm pretty sure we have been conditioned to fall asleep whenever we are on a bus now. So yeah overall it was a great birthday week here in Ireland! Scotland was magnificent, a bit cold but nonetheless a beautiful country. Now this weekend we are starting our big week long trip starting with our flight out to London early tomorrow morning. We are starting with two days in London, then we'll fly to Venice and spend a day there, then on to Florence for a day, and lastly three days in Rome! We'll be flying home next Friday and have actually decided to spend the night in Belfast. Since that is the one place in Ireland we haven't seen yet, and they are the home of the Titanic, we decided to extend our trip for a day and make our way up there right from Dublin. So my next blog won't be for a while but it will be on a lot!
Oh and on a side note, I got some very exciting news last night. I was accepted into the Veterinary School at University of Minnesota!!! I'm still hoping to get into Madison, but at least now I know that I definitely have a spot at my second choice school!!
To conclude my birthday week I spent the weekend in Scotland! Me and Marlo had to catch a bus at 1am to get to Dublin for our 6:30am flight to Edinburgh, Scotland. We landed in Scotland around 7:30am and found our way to the hostel. Friday consisted of playing on a playground in Princes St. Garden (yes we were 22 year olds playing on a playground, I think we were a bit overtired at this point, but it was a fun time!), a walking tour around Edinburgh which was really nice we got to see some gorgeous buildings and learned a lot of the history of the city. I loved Edinburgh city, well at least the old town, it was made of all old gothic style architecture, simply gorgeous. After our walking tour we caught a train to Glasgow, we were told by everyone that we had to go to Glasgow. Well after arriving at Glasgow we couldn't really figure out why everyone said we HAD to go there, although it was cold and rainy so it might just have been that we didn't want to spend the time walking outside to see the sights. Anyways we decided to walk down what seemed to be the main road, Style Mile, and while walking we were seeing a lot of shoe stores. Marlo and me looked at each other and instantly decided that the afternoon was going to simply consist of shoe shopping, a decision we were both very satisfied with. By the end of the day we both had a new pair of shoes :) We then had an absolutely amazing meal at a pizza place in Glasgow. It was probably hands down one of the best meals I've had here, a chicken pizza and then a slice of apple pie of dessert, both were to die for! Once we got back to Glasgow we decided to just chill at the hostel, which was a real cool place. They had free internet, games, and even a really nice movie room. Saturday we did a tour of the Highlands, the tour complete with a guide wearing a kilt :) The highland were beautiful, the day consisted of gorgeous snow covered mountains and lochs. Eventually we made it to the famous Loch Ness, where we took a boat tour to go on a search for Nessie. Sadly we were unable to find the girl, but we did get to see the beautiful surroundings of Loch Ness. It was a very long day so once we got back to Edinburgh we were ready for a warm place to eat some traditional Scotish haggis. Me and Marlo decided to share an appetizer portion of the haggis, we both decided we really enjoyed it and would definitely eat it again. For those of you who don't know what haggis is, it's basically every other part of the lambs insides that doesn't go towards the traditional cuts of meat. I know sounds gross but it was surprisingly good. After diner we were going to do a ghost tour of Edinburgh but it was still raining and we had a long day so we decided to just hang out at the hostel again. We ended up watching two movies with a lot of very cool people and actually met and were roommates with two guys from Milwaukee. Sunday we walked the shops a little bit before catching the bus to the airport. By one o'clock we were on our way back to Ireland. The reminder of the day was spent on the bus from Dublin to Limerick. I swear have our days when we travel are spent on buses, so much so that I'm pretty sure we have been conditioned to fall asleep whenever we are on a bus now. So yeah overall it was a great birthday week here in Ireland! Scotland was magnificent, a bit cold but nonetheless a beautiful country. Now this weekend we are starting our big week long trip starting with our flight out to London early tomorrow morning. We are starting with two days in London, then we'll fly to Venice and spend a day there, then on to Florence for a day, and lastly three days in Rome! We'll be flying home next Friday and have actually decided to spend the night in Belfast. Since that is the one place in Ireland we haven't seen yet, and they are the home of the Titanic, we decided to extend our trip for a day and make our way up there right from Dublin. So my next blog won't be for a while but it will be on a lot!
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| Adare Manor |
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| This is what they get to golf next to! |
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| Edinburgh Castle |
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| Scot's Memorial in Edinburgh |
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| The Highlands |
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| It's Nessie!!! |
Monday, April 9, 2012
I Guess It's Been A While
Sorry everyone I was informed by mom that's it's been a while since I've blogged, so now I guess I have to play catch-up.
Let's see after St. Patty's Day things have been pretty mellow here. That weekend after St. Patty's I decided to just stay on campus and Marlo and I began planning our big trip for the week before finals. We already had our Scotland weekend booked, so now it was time to book the big week long trip! We knew we were going to start our trip in London so that was the first flight and hostel we booked. After that we had to decide to go from London to Paris or London to Venice. We found it was going to be cheaper to go to Venice first, so that was the next flight booked. Within Italy we plan on going to Venice, Florence, and Rome. We will be spending one day in each Venice and Florence and 3 days in Rome! After getting that far in our planning we decided to hold off on planning Paris until after spring break, we had had enough of looking for the cheapest flights and places to stay! Jumping ahead to this last weekend when we decided to start looking at booking Paris we found flight prices to have doubled. Our initial plan was to fly from Rome to Paris but now with the prices where they are we didn't think it was going to be worth it. So needless to say we will now be flying from Rome back home to Dublin. Neither of us are heartbroken though cause it saves us some money, gives us a few extra days to study for finals, and it leaves one European city on our bucket list for later in life. So now we are officially done planning and I can't wait for the traveling to begin! I am so excited to get out of Ireland and see other countries, and it all starts this weekend with Scotland!
Besides planning our trip me, Marlo, and Brooke decided to go to a movie one night (all the others where down in Killarney for the weekend). We went to go see 21 Jump Street, very funny movie with the very attractive Channing Tatum. For the most part the movie theater is exactly the same as back home, however the one thing we did notice was different was our senses of humor. There were plenty of parts in the movie that us Americans found hilarious and were laughing only to realize that no one else in the theater was laughing. I guess the Irish just don't have as good of senses of humor as we do haha.
The last week in March was absolutely gorgeous here. We had temps in the upper 60s, all the Irish said it was like their summer weather, none of us were complaining! Everyday that week was spent doing homework outside. Any free time we had we were out on the lawn in our courtyard soaking up the sun on a blanket. I think I even got a bit of a tan that week! Of course we had to get this gorgeous weather right before mom came for spring break and I knew there was no way it would last long enough for her to enjoy it; it was rare enough that we had it the entire week! I think we were a bit spoiled cause now we are back to our 50 degrees, cold and rainy weather :( I would like the summer weather back please!
Alright so now we are to spring break and mom being here! Mom's flight came in at 7am on Saturday morning and I decided that I wanted to meet her at the airport that way she didn't have to worry about trusting the cab driver to get her to the right village on campus to find me. Since Marlo was also going to the airport to fly out to Germany we were going to take a bus that goes to the airport at 4am. Well we figured if we got to the bus stop 10min early that would be plenty considering the Irish are always 10min late. However, this one morning the Irish decided to be early. As we are walking to the bus stop we see the bus pulling up, so we go from walking to running to try and catch it. We just about made it but as we got there the bus was pulling away. So there went our plan of avoiding a costly cab. We called the cab service and a man was there in 10min to take us to Shannon. It actually worked out just fine cause our cab driver was an extremely nice guy and we talked about horses the entire time and then we didn't even charge us the full fee once arriving at the airport, and now I had an idea of how much a cab was going to cost for us to get back to campus with mom and Gloria. Mom was very brave and booked us on a day trip that same day they flew in. So after making our way back to campus we were off to see the Cliffs of Moher. Now most of the things I did with mom while she was here I had previously done with my group of friends, but each time I had already gone it was kinda crappy weather and it happened to work out that with mom although it was cold it was at least sunny and not raining! We had a cold and windy day at the Cliffs but some sun did peek through for some nice pictures. And we got to stop at Monks for their famous seafood chowder, oh my goodness that stuff is so good! It was a long day for all of us, especially mom and Gloria so they were in bed early that night. Sunday we went to Blarney Castle. It ended up being a gorgeous day, enough that we could even go without jackets. I would have to say the best part of that day was watching mom panic going up the Castle and once she was at the top. I never knew my mother was so afraid of heights! She was freaking out on the steps on the way to the top cause they were kinda tight and winding. Then at the top she would hardly even look out over the edge cause she didn't like being up that high and then she wouldn't even kiss the Blarney stone! Gloria at least had the guts to kiss the stone, but mom wasn't going for it she was too busy freaking out haha. I thought it was funny :) Monday we spent the afternoon on the bus down to Killarney where we stayed fr three days. Monday we simply looked around the town a little. Tuesday was the Ring of Kerry, which again was beautiful, it was cold out but at least we didn't have to deal with rain. I still enjoyed seeing all the scenery again and of course I got to play with the lambs at the one spot again. I'll be honest the entire time we were stopped there I didn't even bother taking any pictures of the landscape again I simply played with the lambs the entire time. :) That night we found a pub near the hotel where mom and Gloria shared a Guinness and I had my Bulmer's Pear, while listening to some live Irish Traditional music. Wednesday we did the Dingle Peninsula. Another gorgeous day of scenery, it was a lot of the coast line kinda like the Ring of Kerry, just absolutely beautiful. We had the same tour guide for both days, Micheal, who was very nice and also whom mom had a little crush on :) As soon as she told me she thought he was cute I knew exactly why, he slightly resembled a young Richard Gere and being the excellent daughter I am I know Richard Gere is mom's #1 man so I knew that's why she thought he was cute. Anyways those two days were filled with breathtaking views. Thursday we were up early to catch the bus back to Limerick. The day was spent with me giving them a tour of campus and walking along the Shannon River. That night I left mom and Gloria to fend for themselves cause I wanted to stay at my place and didn't want to walk to the hotel and back again. I found out the next day that they found themselves the off-license near the hotel where they bought some souvenirs for people along with a Kopperberg (strawberry-lime cider that I had been raving about all week but all the pubs we went to were out) for themselves, that made me happy. Friday, William (Sam Klug's fiance Brittany's cousin, did you get that? lol) took us to Bunratty Castle which is just outside of Limerick. We got to tour the Castle and walk around the folk park which is a little village made up of houses from all different areas and time periods of Ireland. This is also where I fell in love with some little lambs! They were so cute, they looked like baby calves and were just simply adorable! I've decided I need to get some when I get home. After walking the Castle grounds we headed back into Limerick where I showed them around the city a little and then with nothing else to do for the night we caught a movie at the cinema. Then Saturday morning mom and Gloria flew out. It was a great week having them here, I'm so glad mom got to come and experience Ireland with me and I'm very thankful Gloria came with her so she didn't have to travel alone. It was nice having a little bit of home here for a week, although it would have been better if mom would have smuggled my baby, Candy, here in her suitcase or something :)
The day after mom left was Easter and I was able to go to St. Mary's Cathedral, the oldest church in the area, with Marlo and her parents for Easter service. The Church was absolutely beautiful on the inside. Big stone columns and archways, simply gorgeous. The church was protestant and the service was very similar to something I would be use to at home. The choir did a bit more of the responsive singing then the congregation but I was familiar with the hymns we sang so it was easy to sing along. After church all us girls went out to lunch on campus with Marlo's parents and we watched the first half of the rugby match between Limerick's team, Munster, and the northern team, Ulster, which was actually being played at the arena in Limerick. So that was my Easter. I did miss spending it with my family, I got to skype some with Michelle for a little while and she was talking about how they should go to VanAbles and that made me wish I was home so bad!
Well I think that is a long enough post and I think I've got you all caught up now. I'm off to Scotland this weekend so you can expect my next post to be about that!
Let's see after St. Patty's Day things have been pretty mellow here. That weekend after St. Patty's I decided to just stay on campus and Marlo and I began planning our big trip for the week before finals. We already had our Scotland weekend booked, so now it was time to book the big week long trip! We knew we were going to start our trip in London so that was the first flight and hostel we booked. After that we had to decide to go from London to Paris or London to Venice. We found it was going to be cheaper to go to Venice first, so that was the next flight booked. Within Italy we plan on going to Venice, Florence, and Rome. We will be spending one day in each Venice and Florence and 3 days in Rome! After getting that far in our planning we decided to hold off on planning Paris until after spring break, we had had enough of looking for the cheapest flights and places to stay! Jumping ahead to this last weekend when we decided to start looking at booking Paris we found flight prices to have doubled. Our initial plan was to fly from Rome to Paris but now with the prices where they are we didn't think it was going to be worth it. So needless to say we will now be flying from Rome back home to Dublin. Neither of us are heartbroken though cause it saves us some money, gives us a few extra days to study for finals, and it leaves one European city on our bucket list for later in life. So now we are officially done planning and I can't wait for the traveling to begin! I am so excited to get out of Ireland and see other countries, and it all starts this weekend with Scotland!
Besides planning our trip me, Marlo, and Brooke decided to go to a movie one night (all the others where down in Killarney for the weekend). We went to go see 21 Jump Street, very funny movie with the very attractive Channing Tatum. For the most part the movie theater is exactly the same as back home, however the one thing we did notice was different was our senses of humor. There were plenty of parts in the movie that us Americans found hilarious and were laughing only to realize that no one else in the theater was laughing. I guess the Irish just don't have as good of senses of humor as we do haha.
The last week in March was absolutely gorgeous here. We had temps in the upper 60s, all the Irish said it was like their summer weather, none of us were complaining! Everyday that week was spent doing homework outside. Any free time we had we were out on the lawn in our courtyard soaking up the sun on a blanket. I think I even got a bit of a tan that week! Of course we had to get this gorgeous weather right before mom came for spring break and I knew there was no way it would last long enough for her to enjoy it; it was rare enough that we had it the entire week! I think we were a bit spoiled cause now we are back to our 50 degrees, cold and rainy weather :( I would like the summer weather back please!
Alright so now we are to spring break and mom being here! Mom's flight came in at 7am on Saturday morning and I decided that I wanted to meet her at the airport that way she didn't have to worry about trusting the cab driver to get her to the right village on campus to find me. Since Marlo was also going to the airport to fly out to Germany we were going to take a bus that goes to the airport at 4am. Well we figured if we got to the bus stop 10min early that would be plenty considering the Irish are always 10min late. However, this one morning the Irish decided to be early. As we are walking to the bus stop we see the bus pulling up, so we go from walking to running to try and catch it. We just about made it but as we got there the bus was pulling away. So there went our plan of avoiding a costly cab. We called the cab service and a man was there in 10min to take us to Shannon. It actually worked out just fine cause our cab driver was an extremely nice guy and we talked about horses the entire time and then we didn't even charge us the full fee once arriving at the airport, and now I had an idea of how much a cab was going to cost for us to get back to campus with mom and Gloria. Mom was very brave and booked us on a day trip that same day they flew in. So after making our way back to campus we were off to see the Cliffs of Moher. Now most of the things I did with mom while she was here I had previously done with my group of friends, but each time I had already gone it was kinda crappy weather and it happened to work out that with mom although it was cold it was at least sunny and not raining! We had a cold and windy day at the Cliffs but some sun did peek through for some nice pictures. And we got to stop at Monks for their famous seafood chowder, oh my goodness that stuff is so good! It was a long day for all of us, especially mom and Gloria so they were in bed early that night. Sunday we went to Blarney Castle. It ended up being a gorgeous day, enough that we could even go without jackets. I would have to say the best part of that day was watching mom panic going up the Castle and once she was at the top. I never knew my mother was so afraid of heights! She was freaking out on the steps on the way to the top cause they were kinda tight and winding. Then at the top she would hardly even look out over the edge cause she didn't like being up that high and then she wouldn't even kiss the Blarney stone! Gloria at least had the guts to kiss the stone, but mom wasn't going for it she was too busy freaking out haha. I thought it was funny :) Monday we spent the afternoon on the bus down to Killarney where we stayed fr three days. Monday we simply looked around the town a little. Tuesday was the Ring of Kerry, which again was beautiful, it was cold out but at least we didn't have to deal with rain. I still enjoyed seeing all the scenery again and of course I got to play with the lambs at the one spot again. I'll be honest the entire time we were stopped there I didn't even bother taking any pictures of the landscape again I simply played with the lambs the entire time. :) That night we found a pub near the hotel where mom and Gloria shared a Guinness and I had my Bulmer's Pear, while listening to some live Irish Traditional music. Wednesday we did the Dingle Peninsula. Another gorgeous day of scenery, it was a lot of the coast line kinda like the Ring of Kerry, just absolutely beautiful. We had the same tour guide for both days, Micheal, who was very nice and also whom mom had a little crush on :) As soon as she told me she thought he was cute I knew exactly why, he slightly resembled a young Richard Gere and being the excellent daughter I am I know Richard Gere is mom's #1 man so I knew that's why she thought he was cute. Anyways those two days were filled with breathtaking views. Thursday we were up early to catch the bus back to Limerick. The day was spent with me giving them a tour of campus and walking along the Shannon River. That night I left mom and Gloria to fend for themselves cause I wanted to stay at my place and didn't want to walk to the hotel and back again. I found out the next day that they found themselves the off-license near the hotel where they bought some souvenirs for people along with a Kopperberg (strawberry-lime cider that I had been raving about all week but all the pubs we went to were out) for themselves, that made me happy. Friday, William (Sam Klug's fiance Brittany's cousin, did you get that? lol) took us to Bunratty Castle which is just outside of Limerick. We got to tour the Castle and walk around the folk park which is a little village made up of houses from all different areas and time periods of Ireland. This is also where I fell in love with some little lambs! They were so cute, they looked like baby calves and were just simply adorable! I've decided I need to get some when I get home. After walking the Castle grounds we headed back into Limerick where I showed them around the city a little and then with nothing else to do for the night we caught a movie at the cinema. Then Saturday morning mom and Gloria flew out. It was a great week having them here, I'm so glad mom got to come and experience Ireland with me and I'm very thankful Gloria came with her so she didn't have to travel alone. It was nice having a little bit of home here for a week, although it would have been better if mom would have smuggled my baby, Candy, here in her suitcase or something :)
The day after mom left was Easter and I was able to go to St. Mary's Cathedral, the oldest church in the area, with Marlo and her parents for Easter service. The Church was absolutely beautiful on the inside. Big stone columns and archways, simply gorgeous. The church was protestant and the service was very similar to something I would be use to at home. The choir did a bit more of the responsive singing then the congregation but I was familiar with the hymns we sang so it was easy to sing along. After church all us girls went out to lunch on campus with Marlo's parents and we watched the first half of the rugby match between Limerick's team, Munster, and the northern team, Ulster, which was actually being played at the arena in Limerick. So that was my Easter. I did miss spending it with my family, I got to skype some with Michelle for a little while and she was talking about how they should go to VanAbles and that made me wish I was home so bad!
Well I think that is a long enough post and I think I've got you all caught up now. I'm off to Scotland this weekend so you can expect my next post to be about that!
Monday, March 19, 2012
St. Patty' Day!!!
Well this last weekend I got to have the ultimate St. Patty's Day experience! It is still surreal that I spent St. Patty's in Dublin, Ireland! Our adventure really started on Friday night when we headed up to Dublin for the weekend. We left Limerick after I was finished with my afternoon class, half the group went earlier in the day to spend some extra time in the city but you know me I couldn't skip class :). We got to Dublin city around 6:00 and decided we would get some diner before trying to find our way to the hotel. We ended up eating at this nice little bistro, where I had a delicious ham and cheese sandwich with chips. After diner it was time to find our way to the hotel where the rest of the group was already waiting for us, and this is where our adventure really began. All us girls wanted to just catch a cab cause we knew that would be the easiest and quickest way, and the other girls did the same thing and said the price wasn't that bad. Well Colin and his friend Conor refused to take a cab and said that we should figure out the Luas (it's a tram that goes throughout the city and outskirts) so that way we could use it on Saturday. So we finally gave in and decided to try out the Luas. We asked some security guards nearby if they knew if there was a stop for Bewley's Hotel and they said there was and gave us the name. One of the girls that we met up with in Dublin said she had taken it earlier in the day and no one had checked any tickets the entire time she was on there, so since we were in a hurry we could get away with just quick catching the tram and not having to wait for the next one to come. So we all got on and were off, well about half way through our ride some gentlemen got on and began checking tickets. Oh no! Naturally we played the stupid Americans, cause really we were dumb for not getting tickets. At first the guy was really mean and was going to make us all pay a pretty heafty fine but then Michelle asked him if he could just give us a break, that we had just gotten into the city and were still figuring out how things worked and that we were getting off at the stop the tram was at right then. So he graciously let us get off and pointed out where to get tickets for the next time. We got lucky! Well then once we finally reached the stop the security guards had told us would take us to Bewley's we walked up to the Hotel only to find out that there are 5 Bewley's in and around the city and this one was not ours! Finally a cab was called and we arrived at the correct hotel! Needless to say we blamed this entire little adventure on Colin because he is the one who refused to take a cab in the first place and if we would have just gotten a cab right away we would have avoided the almost fine, arriving at the wrong hotel, and then ending up having to take an even further cab ride to the right hotel. By the time we got to the hotel it was late and everyone decided to just chill in the hotel bar and talk, then we all headed to bed relatively early since we knew Saturday would be a big day.
St. Patty's Day we were all up and ready to start the festivities by 8 in the morning. We started the morning off the Irish way with a drink and some good Irish breakfast. After breakfast we headed into town early so that we could get a good spot for the parade. We stood waiting for 3 hours but in the end it was totally worth it to say that we watched the St. Patty's Parade in Dublin. The parade is a whole different story. It was the strangest thing I have even seen. They had the traditional marching bands and army and those sorts but then they had these incredibly random groups of people dressed in all sorts of weird costumes. The theme this year was science which sort of explained some of the exhibit but it was more like science on acid. We could not figure out the point to any of the groups, what they were advertising or suppose to be for, we had no clue. I'll post pictures so you can see for yourself. Anyways, after standing in the cold for a couple hours watching this trippy parade we decided to go warm ourselves up with buying some sweatshirts and drinks :) The first pub we went to was a lower nightclub type that was dark with black lights and had life music playing. We had good craic dancing there for a couple hours. We even broke out into our Irish reel that we learned in our dance class! Once we decided it was time to find a new pub we walked outside only to realize that it was still mid-day out! It was so weird having spent the last couple hours in the dark drinking to walk outside and realize it was only 3:30 in the afternoon! But alas it was onto the next pub! They had life music there as well, just about every pub in town had life music. We spent a little while there and then it was on to pub number 3. We walked in and the place was so packed that we decided we weren't going to stay long. Some of us went out onto the street to wait for the others to finish there drinks and that's when we met an Irish Packer fan! An Irish guy came up to us and asked where we were all from and when me and Marlo told him we were from Wisconsin he got so excited and asked if we were Packers fans and when we told him we were he gave us this big hug and started talking about how he had been a Packers fan since he was a wee boy. What are the chances of finding such a big Irish Packers fan lol. It was now around 6:00 and time to get some food in our stomachs. We found this little pizza place and all got down for some noms. After eating about half of us decided that we didn't want to spend anymore money in town and would rather head back to the hotel and just drink our own alcohol. The other half still wanted to stay so we split up, with 6 of us girls going back. We got back to the hotel probably around 7:30 and decided that we wanted desert! So we went to the hotel restaurant where they told us we could only get the desert of the day and they proceeded to bring it out to us without even asking. It was the horrible cheesecake like desert, it tasted so bad. Somehow we got off without having to pay for it though so it was ok. Since that desert was a disappointment we went to the hotel lounge and ordered some good desert. I had an apple pie that was amazing, or maybe it just tasted so good cause I was feeling pretty good :). After desert our initial intentions were to drink some more up in one of our rooms but the lounge had a guy playing live music and instead we just sat and talked and listened to him for like an hour while we all sobered up. At the end of the night we were all in our rooms getting ready for bed at 9:30 on St. Patty's day, but to be fair we were going since 8 that morning. I was perfectly happy with how the day went. We had a good morning, a good time watching the really weird parade, and an awesome time in the pubs. Oh, I almost forgot besides drinking all day we also spent the day doing Ellen Degeneres' Dance dare by doing Irish jigs behind unsuspecting people. We took lots of videos of it and intend to send it in to Ellen telling her that we were thinking of her in Dublin, Ireland on St. Patty's Day and that we even seen her assistant Andy in a very short green skirt in the parade and cheered for her. So who knows maybe if we actually get it sent in she will put us on her show!
Sunday was spent shopping on Grafton St. in Dublin, which is the main shopping center of the city. The streets was filled with people! There were a couple different entertainers either dancing, singing, or do some sort of tricks. I also got to love up on a beagle! She was so cute and reminded me of Candy so of course I was giving her lots of loving. She was a shelter dog that they had there along with two others. Adorable I tell you, I wanted to take her home to Limerick with me! After walking Grafton St. we decided to go check out the Book of Kells and the Old Library at Trinity College. The Book of Kells is a book of the four gospels that includes very intricate design and portrait pages. The book was believed to be written by monks in Scotland in the 9th century. Along with this book there were also multiple other books that came from around that century. It was very cool to be able to see such old pieces and parts of history. We also seen the long room of the Old Library. This room is 65 meters long with bookcases from one end to the other floor to ceiling. All the wood is this gorgeous dark wood, it was built between 1712 and 1732. Not only was every bookcase filled with old books from that time period, at the end of each case was a sculpture of some famous man of history, including figures like Socrates. The collections of sculptures began in 1743. Not only was this room just simply gorgeous it was also used in the Harry Potter films. In the films this room is was used for the filming of the restricted section. We couldn't take any pictures in there but I did buy a postcard with a photo of it so I could have proof of how beautiful the room was. After a day filled with walking around Dublin we were ready to head back home to Limerick.
It was an awesome weekend and it's still amazing to think that I spent it in Ireland! I wouldn't have changed any part of the weekend, except for maybe the part where we all were freezing waiting for the parade to start. But it was all some great craic and I don't think this St. Patty's Day will ever be topped!!
St. Patty's Day we were all up and ready to start the festivities by 8 in the morning. We started the morning off the Irish way with a drink and some good Irish breakfast. After breakfast we headed into town early so that we could get a good spot for the parade. We stood waiting for 3 hours but in the end it was totally worth it to say that we watched the St. Patty's Parade in Dublin. The parade is a whole different story. It was the strangest thing I have even seen. They had the traditional marching bands and army and those sorts but then they had these incredibly random groups of people dressed in all sorts of weird costumes. The theme this year was science which sort of explained some of the exhibit but it was more like science on acid. We could not figure out the point to any of the groups, what they were advertising or suppose to be for, we had no clue. I'll post pictures so you can see for yourself. Anyways, after standing in the cold for a couple hours watching this trippy parade we decided to go warm ourselves up with buying some sweatshirts and drinks :) The first pub we went to was a lower nightclub type that was dark with black lights and had life music playing. We had good craic dancing there for a couple hours. We even broke out into our Irish reel that we learned in our dance class! Once we decided it was time to find a new pub we walked outside only to realize that it was still mid-day out! It was so weird having spent the last couple hours in the dark drinking to walk outside and realize it was only 3:30 in the afternoon! But alas it was onto the next pub! They had life music there as well, just about every pub in town had life music. We spent a little while there and then it was on to pub number 3. We walked in and the place was so packed that we decided we weren't going to stay long. Some of us went out onto the street to wait for the others to finish there drinks and that's when we met an Irish Packer fan! An Irish guy came up to us and asked where we were all from and when me and Marlo told him we were from Wisconsin he got so excited and asked if we were Packers fans and when we told him we were he gave us this big hug and started talking about how he had been a Packers fan since he was a wee boy. What are the chances of finding such a big Irish Packers fan lol. It was now around 6:00 and time to get some food in our stomachs. We found this little pizza place and all got down for some noms. After eating about half of us decided that we didn't want to spend anymore money in town and would rather head back to the hotel and just drink our own alcohol. The other half still wanted to stay so we split up, with 6 of us girls going back. We got back to the hotel probably around 7:30 and decided that we wanted desert! So we went to the hotel restaurant where they told us we could only get the desert of the day and they proceeded to bring it out to us without even asking. It was the horrible cheesecake like desert, it tasted so bad. Somehow we got off without having to pay for it though so it was ok. Since that desert was a disappointment we went to the hotel lounge and ordered some good desert. I had an apple pie that was amazing, or maybe it just tasted so good cause I was feeling pretty good :). After desert our initial intentions were to drink some more up in one of our rooms but the lounge had a guy playing live music and instead we just sat and talked and listened to him for like an hour while we all sobered up. At the end of the night we were all in our rooms getting ready for bed at 9:30 on St. Patty's day, but to be fair we were going since 8 that morning. I was perfectly happy with how the day went. We had a good morning, a good time watching the really weird parade, and an awesome time in the pubs. Oh, I almost forgot besides drinking all day we also spent the day doing Ellen Degeneres' Dance dare by doing Irish jigs behind unsuspecting people. We took lots of videos of it and intend to send it in to Ellen telling her that we were thinking of her in Dublin, Ireland on St. Patty's Day and that we even seen her assistant Andy in a very short green skirt in the parade and cheered for her. So who knows maybe if we actually get it sent in she will put us on her show!
Sunday was spent shopping on Grafton St. in Dublin, which is the main shopping center of the city. The streets was filled with people! There were a couple different entertainers either dancing, singing, or do some sort of tricks. I also got to love up on a beagle! She was so cute and reminded me of Candy so of course I was giving her lots of loving. She was a shelter dog that they had there along with two others. Adorable I tell you, I wanted to take her home to Limerick with me! After walking Grafton St. we decided to go check out the Book of Kells and the Old Library at Trinity College. The Book of Kells is a book of the four gospels that includes very intricate design and portrait pages. The book was believed to be written by monks in Scotland in the 9th century. Along with this book there were also multiple other books that came from around that century. It was very cool to be able to see such old pieces and parts of history. We also seen the long room of the Old Library. This room is 65 meters long with bookcases from one end to the other floor to ceiling. All the wood is this gorgeous dark wood, it was built between 1712 and 1732. Not only was every bookcase filled with old books from that time period, at the end of each case was a sculpture of some famous man of history, including figures like Socrates. The collections of sculptures began in 1743. Not only was this room just simply gorgeous it was also used in the Harry Potter films. In the films this room is was used for the filming of the restricted section. We couldn't take any pictures in there but I did buy a postcard with a photo of it so I could have proof of how beautiful the room was. After a day filled with walking around Dublin we were ready to head back home to Limerick.
It was an awesome weekend and it's still amazing to think that I spent it in Ireland! I wouldn't have changed any part of the weekend, except for maybe the part where we all were freezing waiting for the parade to start. But it was all some great craic and I don't think this St. Patty's Day will ever be topped!!
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| Me with Nina waiting for the parade to start <3 |
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| normal parade participants |
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| these horses were ginormous! |
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| and here begins the weird parade participants. |
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| we really didn't get the point of any of the following groups. |
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| can anyone tell me what those white things are suppose to be? |
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| i'm pretty sure these were oompa loompas |
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Ring of Kerry
So this weekend me and Marlo both were dying to get out of Limerick. We have stayed in on campus for the last two weekends because of Charity week, so this weekend we needed to go somewhere. Mostly everyone else was busy doing papers for a class they are all in so it was just me, Marlo, and Marlo's roommate Colin with his girlfriend and friend that were here visiting. At first we weren't sure if we were going to be able to find something for a day trip planning it all so last minute (Friday night, going Saturday morning!). We were able to find a tour of the Ring of Kerry that left right from Limerick and still had spots open, so we booked it! We ended up seeing some of the most beautiful scenery, the trip was well worth it. We made a couple stops along the coast overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, including a stop at Dingle Bay and the town of Waterville. At one of the stops overlooking the ocean there was a man who sat there all day with his pet lambs, a baby goat, and a little dog. This guy just sat there with all his animals playing around him, none of them ever wandering too far. So as if the gorgeous scenery wasn't enough to make the day amazing, on top of that we got to hold some baby lambs and a baby goat! They were all sooooo cute! I could have stayed up at that lookout sight all day just staring out over the beautiful landscape and playing with the baby animals! After stopping along the coast we made our way back down into Killarney National Park. One stop was at a point called "Ladies View". This is the spot that it is said that when Queen Elizabeth visited the island her ladies in waiting would go up there and sit. It was a pretty view overlooking the lakes leading down into the city of Killarney. Our last stop was at Torc Waterfall in the park. We got off the bus and began walking into the woods, along a path leading to the falls. This walk seriously felt like we had entered some magical world. The trees in that woods were covered in the greenest moss I have ever seen, and they were covered from roots to their very tips. Walking through that canopy of trees I felt like I was in a fairytale. The falls themselves were breathtaking, especially with all the green surrounding them. I'll post some pictures so you all can see for yourselves, but honestly pictures do not do this country justice. If you want to see the true beauty of Ireland do yourself a favor and book a trip here at some point in your life, trust me it is well worth it!
Other then being able to get out of the city and enjoy some gorgeous scenery, my week was rather standard. Classes are going well, I'm keeping busy with doing lab reports and readings, and coming up I'll have some papers to write. Not gonna lie I do have a case of senioritis though, and being in this gorgeous country known as Ireland I think only makes it worse!
Other then being able to get out of the city and enjoy some gorgeous scenery, my week was rather standard. Classes are going well, I'm keeping busy with doing lab reports and readings, and coming up I'll have some papers to write. Not gonna lie I do have a case of senioritis though, and being in this gorgeous country known as Ireland I think only makes it worse!
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| Dingle Bay |
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| Beautiful view |
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| this view was seriously breathtaking |
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| thought I'd include a picture of me in case you were all forgetting what I look like :) |
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| Sooooooooo CUTE!!! |
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| Ladies View |
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| So GREEN!! |
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| Torc Falls |
Monday, March 5, 2012
Charity Week
Alright so it's been a little while since I've updated you all on what I've been up to. The past two weeks have mainly consisted of doing things right on-campus. With our St. Patty's Day trip to Dublin coming up we all decided to just stay on-campus for the last couple weekends, which worked out nicely since this last week was what is known as Rag or Charity Week. But before I get to Charity Week I would like to tell you about Pancake Tuesday. Let's see I guess it would be two weeks ago now that we were able to experience Pancake Tuesday. This holiday takes place on Fat Tuesday or the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. Prior to that day we had been receiving emails about these dinners on campus serving pancakes and we just thought it was something fun the campus did, however then in one of our classes that day our lecturer commented on how he was going out for Pancake Tuesday with his niece. It was then that we realized this was not just some fun campus activity but a nation wide celebration that everyone looks forward to. When I asked my Irish roommate about it he couldn't believe that we didn't do this sort of thing in America. I told him no we do not dedicate a day solely to eating tons of pancakes. I asked where this all started and from what I have been told it goes back to when people stopped eating eggs, flour, and milk for lent. So before those things went bad they had to use them all up and they decided to do that by making lots of pancakes; and since then the Tuesday before lent starts is known as Pancake Tuesday where everyone eats pancakes for at least one of their meals if not more. We did partake in this celebration by going out and getting some pancakes for dinner and they were delicious. I believe Pancake Tuesday was really the only excitement of that week.
This past week we have been partaking in Charity Week. Every college campus in Ireland has a week where they put on lots of different events and all money raised during this week goes to a chosen charity. We started the week off by going to a UV Paint party at a night club in town. The club was lit up with all black lights and they had people going around splattering UV paint on you that glowed under the lights. By the end of the night our faces and upper bodies were covered in paint! It was a good way to start off our Rag week. Each day during the day they had all sorts of things going on in the campus courtyard, like trampolines, a bull riding machine, beer pong tournaments, and lots more. Most Irish students just don't go to lectures during this week and attend all the different activities and spend the day drinking. You all know me though, I couldn't skip class if my life depended on it so I did not attend any of the daytime events and just stuck to the night ones. Tuesday night was the Farmer's Ball at the campus pub, Stables. We all dressed in whatever we had that was closest to farming attire, I wore my rain-boots or as they would call them here, wellies. Wednesday night was UL Fest. They had something going on at both pubs on campus as well as a life band set up in the campus courtyard between the two pubs. Most of the night was spent dancing and having some good craic. Thursday night we decided to take a break from all the festivities and stay in for the night. Then we ended off Rag week with international night at Stables. All us girls got dressed up in skirts and they even straightened my hair because they all wanted to see what it would look like and how long it was straight, lol. They were all pretty surprised at how long it got once it was straight. We had a fun night of dancing and then had to walk home in the pouring rain, but it was still a night for the books. There is rarely a time when I go out with all my friends here that we don't end up having tons of good craic. Yes, Charity week does sound like just one big excuse for all the students to basically be drunk every day of the week but all money they raise does go to a good cause. Each night event has a cover charge and all other donations and funds raised go to the chosen charities.
But yeah Charity week is definitely not something that would happen back at home. I mean here they cancel lectures so students can attend events, they move due dates of papers and assignments, they pretty much expect the students to be out drinking instead of in class.
That has pretty much been the only excitement for me in the last two weeks. In the coming weeks I'm looking forward to doing some more traveling around Ireland, we are hoping to get to Belfast at some point and we will be going to Dublin for St. Patty's Day. We are also trying to find weekends to plan trips to London and Scotland, I'm really excited for those two trips. Till then that's all I have for now.
This past week we have been partaking in Charity Week. Every college campus in Ireland has a week where they put on lots of different events and all money raised during this week goes to a chosen charity. We started the week off by going to a UV Paint party at a night club in town. The club was lit up with all black lights and they had people going around splattering UV paint on you that glowed under the lights. By the end of the night our faces and upper bodies were covered in paint! It was a good way to start off our Rag week. Each day during the day they had all sorts of things going on in the campus courtyard, like trampolines, a bull riding machine, beer pong tournaments, and lots more. Most Irish students just don't go to lectures during this week and attend all the different activities and spend the day drinking. You all know me though, I couldn't skip class if my life depended on it so I did not attend any of the daytime events and just stuck to the night ones. Tuesday night was the Farmer's Ball at the campus pub, Stables. We all dressed in whatever we had that was closest to farming attire, I wore my rain-boots or as they would call them here, wellies. Wednesday night was UL Fest. They had something going on at both pubs on campus as well as a life band set up in the campus courtyard between the two pubs. Most of the night was spent dancing and having some good craic. Thursday night we decided to take a break from all the festivities and stay in for the night. Then we ended off Rag week with international night at Stables. All us girls got dressed up in skirts and they even straightened my hair because they all wanted to see what it would look like and how long it was straight, lol. They were all pretty surprised at how long it got once it was straight. We had a fun night of dancing and then had to walk home in the pouring rain, but it was still a night for the books. There is rarely a time when I go out with all my friends here that we don't end up having tons of good craic. Yes, Charity week does sound like just one big excuse for all the students to basically be drunk every day of the week but all money they raise does go to a good cause. Each night event has a cover charge and all other donations and funds raised go to the chosen charities.
But yeah Charity week is definitely not something that would happen back at home. I mean here they cancel lectures so students can attend events, they move due dates of papers and assignments, they pretty much expect the students to be out drinking instead of in class.
That has pretty much been the only excitement for me in the last two weeks. In the coming weeks I'm looking forward to doing some more traveling around Ireland, we are hoping to get to Belfast at some point and we will be going to Dublin for St. Patty's Day. We are also trying to find weekends to plan trips to London and Scotland, I'm really excited for those two trips. Till then that's all I have for now.
Monday, February 20, 2012
P.S. I Love Ireland
So this last weekend I went with our group of friend to Dublin and was able to get some free Guinness, stand in the same spot Gerard Butler stood in, and take in some beautiful scenery in Wicklow National Park. We headed out for Dublin early Saturday morning so that we would have the afternoon to take in some of Dublin. Dublin is a large city the consists of various districts from the ghetto like, to the rich, and then of course Temple Bar. They even have horse drawn carriages that will take you anywhere in the city. I stole an opportunity to pet one of the horses while the driver was away :) I have been missing my Casey boy and it was nice to have the familiar scent of horse on me. After getting checked into the hostel we decided to hit up the Guinness Factory tour, a must see while in Dublin. The tour takes you through all the ingredients needed to make Guinness and the entire process of making the treasured Irish beer. At the end of the tour you are able to go up to 360 bar where you get a free pint of Guinness and can take in the views overlooking Dublin. Now I'm not a huge fan of the honored drink of Ireland but hey it's a free pint and you can't waste that. So I drank up my Guinness and took in the views around me. Once we had all finished our pints we decided to get ourselves a Irish dinner. I decided to get some traditional fish and chips as this is one of the only traditional Irish meals I hadn't had yet. The meal was really good and then to top it off we all got some dessert to share. I shared an apple crumble with Nina and it was delicious! That night we took part in a pub crawl, we figured it was the best and cheapest way to find all the best pubs in Dublin. We just had to pay 12 euro and we got into each pub without having to pay the cover charge, which can sometimes be over 10 euro in a single pub, we also got a free Guinness at the first pub and free shots at every pub after that. A couple of the pubs we went to had live music which was really cool. I could sit in those types of pubs all night and listen to the Irish musicians. The last pub we went to though was by far the highlight of the crawl, not because of the music or the drinks but because of simple the place itself. It was Whelan's, the pub that was featured in P.S. I Love You! The pub where Gerry is singing Galway Girl and Holly walks in wearing his leather jacket and he follows her around singing. This is one of two spots that I was at this weekend where Gerard Butler also stood, I was one happy girl! :)
Sunday morning we were up bright and early for our tour through Wicklow National Park. We went on the Wild Wicklow tour, which was a excellent choice, our guide was a younger fella who was extremely nice and very funny. The tour started with a stop at Dublin Bay, where we watched some people swim in the freezing water. It is though that the water there is somehow healing and will give you strength. The bus then stopped just outside of Dublin in a cute little oasis for some tea and coffee. To give you an idea of how fun the tour was when we got back on the bus if you had some coffee or tea you were asked if you wanted to make it a irish drink by adding a shot of Jameson whiskey to it. Part of this tour included a fifth of Jameson that had to be finished before the end of the day. We made our way up into the mountains of Wicklow and our next stop was the monastery at Glendalough. The monastery itself was interesting but the real beauty was past it at the lakes of Glendalough and the waterfalls found there. It was a short hike to the two lakes, the really pretty one was the second of the two. This lake was also the lake that was filmed in the movie Leap Year, the scene after the wedding where she is drunk sitting looking out at the lake. Part of our group then decided to take a little more difficult of a hike to some waterfalls in the distance. The hike was well worth it. The falls were so pretty especially with the sun shining on them. Yes I said the sun! We ended up with a gorgeous day where we actually got to see the sun! After Glendalough we moved onto Wicklow National Park. Our first stop in the park was Guinness Lake. This lake was named because of the owner of the land at the time who was part of the Guinness family but it also is believed to be in the shape of a pint glass and is dark in color like the beer. At this lake is where it was our job to finish off that Jameson whiskey. The entire tour group stood overlooking the lake while our guide gave an Irish toast after which we all took a shot of the whiskey. I have to say it did help warm ya up a little bit cause it was pretty cold up there. Our next and final stop was in the middle of the park where yet again I got to stand where the sexy Gerard Butler stood. We stopped at the bridge where Gerry and Holly first meet in the movie. At this time of the year the purple flowers haven't bloomed yet, they don't until July and August, so it didn't look exactly like the movie. A lot of the scenes from Braveheart were also filmed in this park. On the way down out of the park our guide taught us all a little song about the bog, which is the type of habit the park is considered. It went a little something like this.
"O-ro the rattlin' bog, the bog down in the valley-o
O-ro the rattlin' bog, the bog down in the valley-o
And in that bog there was a tree, a rare tree, a rattlin' tree
With the tree in the bog
And the bog down in the valley-o
O-ro the rattlin' bog, the bog down in the valley-o
O-ro the rattlin' bog, the bog down in the valley-o....(it continued for a couple verses ending with this)..
Now the flea on the feather, the feather on the bird, the bird in the egg, the egg in the nest, the nest on the leaf, the leaf on a twig, the twig on a branch, the branch on a limb, the limb on a tree, the tree in the bog, the bog down in the valley-o."
Now imagine a whole tour bus group singing and clapping along to it. It was great craic!
Overall it was a great weekend filled with lots of fun and beautiful scenery. Here are some pictures for ya.
Sunday morning we were up bright and early for our tour through Wicklow National Park. We went on the Wild Wicklow tour, which was a excellent choice, our guide was a younger fella who was extremely nice and very funny. The tour started with a stop at Dublin Bay, where we watched some people swim in the freezing water. It is though that the water there is somehow healing and will give you strength. The bus then stopped just outside of Dublin in a cute little oasis for some tea and coffee. To give you an idea of how fun the tour was when we got back on the bus if you had some coffee or tea you were asked if you wanted to make it a irish drink by adding a shot of Jameson whiskey to it. Part of this tour included a fifth of Jameson that had to be finished before the end of the day. We made our way up into the mountains of Wicklow and our next stop was the monastery at Glendalough. The monastery itself was interesting but the real beauty was past it at the lakes of Glendalough and the waterfalls found there. It was a short hike to the two lakes, the really pretty one was the second of the two. This lake was also the lake that was filmed in the movie Leap Year, the scene after the wedding where she is drunk sitting looking out at the lake. Part of our group then decided to take a little more difficult of a hike to some waterfalls in the distance. The hike was well worth it. The falls were so pretty especially with the sun shining on them. Yes I said the sun! We ended up with a gorgeous day where we actually got to see the sun! After Glendalough we moved onto Wicklow National Park. Our first stop in the park was Guinness Lake. This lake was named because of the owner of the land at the time who was part of the Guinness family but it also is believed to be in the shape of a pint glass and is dark in color like the beer. At this lake is where it was our job to finish off that Jameson whiskey. The entire tour group stood overlooking the lake while our guide gave an Irish toast after which we all took a shot of the whiskey. I have to say it did help warm ya up a little bit cause it was pretty cold up there. Our next and final stop was in the middle of the park where yet again I got to stand where the sexy Gerard Butler stood. We stopped at the bridge where Gerry and Holly first meet in the movie. At this time of the year the purple flowers haven't bloomed yet, they don't until July and August, so it didn't look exactly like the movie. A lot of the scenes from Braveheart were also filmed in this park. On the way down out of the park our guide taught us all a little song about the bog, which is the type of habit the park is considered. It went a little something like this.
"O-ro the rattlin' bog, the bog down in the valley-o
O-ro the rattlin' bog, the bog down in the valley-o
And in that bog there was a tree, a rare tree, a rattlin' tree
With the tree in the bog
And the bog down in the valley-o
O-ro the rattlin' bog, the bog down in the valley-o
O-ro the rattlin' bog, the bog down in the valley-o....(it continued for a couple verses ending with this)..
Now the flea on the feather, the feather on the bird, the bird in the egg, the egg in the nest, the nest on the leaf, the leaf on a twig, the twig on a branch, the branch on a limb, the limb on a tree, the tree in the bog, the bog down in the valley-o."
Now imagine a whole tour bus group singing and clapping along to it. It was great craic!
Overall it was a great weekend filled with lots of fun and beautiful scenery. Here are some pictures for ya.
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| Me with my Guinness overlooking Dublin. |
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| Dublin Bay |
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| Upper Lake at Glendalough. |
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| Waterfall in Glendalough. |
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| Guinness Lake. |
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| The group at Dublin Bay. |
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| The girls on the P.S. I Love You bridge. <3 |
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Farm Girl's Weekend
You know you're a true farm girl when your best weekend in Ireland yet was spent out in the country visiting dairy farms! This weekend I took a 6 hour trip north to stay with the Thompson family. We know the Thompson's from back in Wisconsin where they run Gold Dust dairy. Uncle Paul had told them I would be studying here and they gave him all their info so that I could go visit them some weekend and since I had nothing on the agenda this weekend I decided to go for it. I headed out Friday afternoon and caught a bus into Dublin city, that was a 4 hour bus drive. Then I had to catch a bus from Dublin to Banbridge, which is where the Thompsons live, that was another 2 hours. When I got to Banbridge I realized my phone no longer worker because Northern Ireland is technically part of the United Kingdom. Thus with no phone I was not sure how I was going to let the Thompsons know I had arrived. First I asked another person who got off with me if they had a phone I could borrow, no such luck. Then I asked for a payphone and they pointed me in the right direction, however the phone only took pounds and I only had euros. I then headed back to the bus stop knowing that the Thompsons knew the approximate time I was suppose to be there so I hoped they would just show up eventually lol. But then I decided to take a chance across the street at a church that seemed to be having some get together, so I wander into the entryway where some younger kids were and asked if any of them happened to have a phone I could borrow. A young gentleman kindly offered me his so I was able to finally call the Thompsons to let them know I was in town. Within a couple minutes, well after 10oclock, their youngest daughter was picking me up from the bus stop. I was rather proud of myself for getting myself all the way there by myself. The Thompsons were very welcoming and I spent my first night there getting to know each other and I got to do some snuggling with their dog Josie :)
Saturday I got up and had the option to go to Belfast for some shopping with their oldest daughter or I could go and see some farms in the area. Guess which I chose? Haha of course I chose the farms! First we went to go see the farm the Thompsons use to farm on which is just up the road from the house they are in now. It's a decent size farm for Ireland, they probably were milking around 250 cows. I was just so glad to be on a farm, taking in the sight and smell of the cows! I have really missed the farm and it felt so good to be back on one even though I wasn't getting my hands dirty or anything. Maybe I'll have to go again and see if I could help out some. The farms seem to be pretty similar to ours. The cows are in a freestall barn and their parlors are similar as well. They mily 2-3 times a day all year long. Although I know on some of the smaller farms they only milk part of the year, drying up and freshening in all their cows at the same time so that they don't have to milk in the winter months.
After visiting this first farm we went into town where the local high school's rugby team was playing. It was my first time watching a rugby match and I have to say it was pretty interesting. I can see why it can be such a dangerous game. We watched the match for a little while then went to a relatives farm where they had both dairy and sheep. Got to see some newborn lambs, which were adorable!! Once we got back home I decided to take a walk with Josie so that I could take some pictures of the countryside. We took a good 45 minute walk around the back roads, it was simply beautiful. For dinner we had Irish Stew another first of mine in Ireland, although I have to say it's just like beef stew if you ask me. I ended my day snuggling in bed with Josie, who kindly snuggled with me all night. (Don't worry Candy she hasn't taken your place she was simply a fill in since I can't have you here with me.)
Today I spent most of the day on the bus back from Banbridge to Limerick. It was a long bus drive, but it was so worth it. I had the best weekend yet just relaxing with the Thompson family and getting to see some farms. Lord knows this farm girl was definitely missing the country life. A big thank you goes out to the Thompson family for allowing me to stay with them and being so welcoming. I hope that I can maybe get out there again sometime.
Saturday I got up and had the option to go to Belfast for some shopping with their oldest daughter or I could go and see some farms in the area. Guess which I chose? Haha of course I chose the farms! First we went to go see the farm the Thompsons use to farm on which is just up the road from the house they are in now. It's a decent size farm for Ireland, they probably were milking around 250 cows. I was just so glad to be on a farm, taking in the sight and smell of the cows! I have really missed the farm and it felt so good to be back on one even though I wasn't getting my hands dirty or anything. Maybe I'll have to go again and see if I could help out some. The farms seem to be pretty similar to ours. The cows are in a freestall barn and their parlors are similar as well. They mily 2-3 times a day all year long. Although I know on some of the smaller farms they only milk part of the year, drying up and freshening in all their cows at the same time so that they don't have to milk in the winter months.
After visiting this first farm we went into town where the local high school's rugby team was playing. It was my first time watching a rugby match and I have to say it was pretty interesting. I can see why it can be such a dangerous game. We watched the match for a little while then went to a relatives farm where they had both dairy and sheep. Got to see some newborn lambs, which were adorable!! Once we got back home I decided to take a walk with Josie so that I could take some pictures of the countryside. We took a good 45 minute walk around the back roads, it was simply beautiful. For dinner we had Irish Stew another first of mine in Ireland, although I have to say it's just like beef stew if you ask me. I ended my day snuggling in bed with Josie, who kindly snuggled with me all night. (Don't worry Candy she hasn't taken your place she was simply a fill in since I can't have you here with me.)
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| Miss Josie |
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| Finally some Dairy Cows!!! |
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| Rugby Match |
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| Little Lamb=pure adorableness |
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| The countryside surrounding the Thompson's home. |
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Kissing the Blarney Stone
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| Blarney Castle |
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| view from one of the Castle windows |
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| view from the top of the castle |
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| me kissing the Blarney stone |
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| another view from the top, you can see Cork in the background |
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Missing Dad's Cooking
Well I have been in Ireland for a little over two weeks now and one of the things I am missing the most from back home is Dad's cooking. My first two weeks here I was living off pasta, ham sandwiches, apples, lettuce, and peanut butter. I was so sick of having sandwiches and pasta for dinner! So when I went grocery shopping this last Sunday the majority of my basket was filled with meat! At home I am so use to having some sort of meat every single day; either beef, chicken, pork, or venison (which I think I miss the most cause I know I can't get any of that here). Needless to say I think I was suffering withdrawals from not having enough meat in my diet. So I bought myself some chicken breasts, pork chops, hamburger meat, and beef tips. I was so excited that I would finally get to make some meals with my favorite food group in them-meat. So Monday night I made myself some mashed potatoes with beef tips and gravy. It looked just like something dad would make. Then Tuesday I made rice and chicken, which was delicious. Last night was tacos and tonight I'm making mashed potatoes and a pork chop. None of it so far as been anywhere near as good as Dad's cooking but I'm trying and I'm thinking I may need to have a skype date with Dad soon so that he can give me some tips on how to make some things.
Other then being excited about finally getting some good meals, I am also now into my second week of classes. My Irish folklore class seems interesting, we learned about a festival that just took place yesterday called the Festival of Brigid. It signifies the beginning of spring and planting season for the farmers. I'm kinda excited about my Irish music class cause I'm going to get to learn how to Irish dance, which is cool. My Global Economy class however is not exciting. I have a feeling I'll struggle in that one just cause I don't really care all too much for economics, but it's a class I have to take for one of my general education requirements back at St. Norbert. I'm still loving my equine and Ag classes. In equine we are learning about some diseases that horses are affected by. And in Ag we are learning about animal welfare and will be moving onto nutrition soon.
Besides classes I haven't been up to much. I did find out that we get free membership to the gym here so me and Marlo went and worked out in the fitness center on Tuesday. It felt good to get a workout in, although I had to use the eliptical machine which I don't care for too much but I can't run due to my shins so I'm stuck using that. I hope I'll get over there at least once a week if not more to get some sort of workout. Although the smell isn't too pleasant in there. I don't know if I've mentioned this yet or not but I don't think the Irish are users of deodorant, it can be found in the stores but apparently they don't know how to use it.
We've made really good friends with the group that I'm neighbors with. We go and hang out at their apartment a lot. We all get along really well and have lots of fun together. The other night we sorta had a girl's night. We played some cards and Marlo tried teaching us all how to dance. Oh and on Tuesday night we all went to a pub on campus where an Irish band was playing. I think they were just some students that had a band, but they were really good. It was the first time I really felt like I was in a Irish pub.
Ok I think that's all I've got for now. We might be taking a trip down to Cork this weekend so if we do I'll be sure to post an update after that with some pictures.
Other then being excited about finally getting some good meals, I am also now into my second week of classes. My Irish folklore class seems interesting, we learned about a festival that just took place yesterday called the Festival of Brigid. It signifies the beginning of spring and planting season for the farmers. I'm kinda excited about my Irish music class cause I'm going to get to learn how to Irish dance, which is cool. My Global Economy class however is not exciting. I have a feeling I'll struggle in that one just cause I don't really care all too much for economics, but it's a class I have to take for one of my general education requirements back at St. Norbert. I'm still loving my equine and Ag classes. In equine we are learning about some diseases that horses are affected by. And in Ag we are learning about animal welfare and will be moving onto nutrition soon.
Besides classes I haven't been up to much. I did find out that we get free membership to the gym here so me and Marlo went and worked out in the fitness center on Tuesday. It felt good to get a workout in, although I had to use the eliptical machine which I don't care for too much but I can't run due to my shins so I'm stuck using that. I hope I'll get over there at least once a week if not more to get some sort of workout. Although the smell isn't too pleasant in there. I don't know if I've mentioned this yet or not but I don't think the Irish are users of deodorant, it can be found in the stores but apparently they don't know how to use it.
We've made really good friends with the group that I'm neighbors with. We go and hang out at their apartment a lot. We all get along really well and have lots of fun together. The other night we sorta had a girl's night. We played some cards and Marlo tried teaching us all how to dance. Oh and on Tuesday night we all went to a pub on campus where an Irish band was playing. I think they were just some students that had a band, but they were really good. It was the first time I really felt like I was in a Irish pub.
Ok I think that's all I've got for now. We might be taking a trip down to Cork this weekend so if we do I'll be sure to post an update after that with some pictures.
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