Galway

At the beginning of the week, Becky and I went into town for a traditional Irish breakfast! I was a little skeptical at what we would be getting and how it would taste, but it turned out to be a good experience. We were not sure which restaurant to choose so we just picked one and it worked out quite nicely. I'm not sure of the name of it, but it was a quiet bistro type of place. At first we were worried it would be too fancy and expensive, but it was actually cheaper than we expected. Only 5.95 euros for the whole breakfast. This included toast, rashers (basically bacon) and sausages, a fried egg, black and white pudding (odd textured and looking pork patties), a half tomato, and coffee. Needless to say it was a very meaty meal. The tomato was a cooked tomato with seasonings on top of it, and for someone that usually doesn't care for tomatoes it was delicious! After we finished our meals we walked around and did some shopping :)

When Friday rolled around, we got a bus to Galway. It took about two and a half hours or so and once we got off the bus, Craig, Becky and I found our hostel. Once we got settled there it was still fairly early to check out the pubs, so we walked around the city for a while. After a little, we walked into a pub that was playing music and wouldn't you know it, we walked into (probably) the only pub in Ireland with a Fenway Park sign. Craig was wearing a Cardinals baseball hat and the Irish bartender commented, "Oh, are you wearing that here thinking no one will notice cause you're too ashamed to wear it at home." My first thought was, "Them is fightin' words!" He must not have thought we were that bad though cause he still served us our drinks. We later found out that for whatever reason he is a Yankees fan. As more and more people started to come out, we made our way to Shop Street which is one of the main streets with lots of night life, and went into a pub called The Kings Head. There was a great band playing there that was fun to listen too. They played a variety of songs. Nothing Irish, more pop style and a few oldies here and there. The three of us headed back to the hostel around 1, as we knew we had a full day ahead of us.

Saturday we did an all day bus tour of the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren. The cliffs over look the Atlantic Ocean and are truly a spectacular sight. Yet again, the weather was amazing and cooperated beautifully for us. The tour started at 10 am and we returned to Galway around 5:30pm. Quite the long day but well worth it. We got to see Dunguaire Castle, Doolin (a village along the coast that is known for its traditional Irish Music), Poulnabrone Dolmen ( a 5000 year old rock 'alter'), the cliffs, and lastly Aillwee Caves, which coincidentally I will be going back to this weekend with a school trip. We were able to see all of this while driving through the Burren which is a rock filled landscape. Our tour guide was great and a lot of fun. The kind you want at your dinner parties. He was an older gentlemen, and the type that was just a wealth of knowledge off all sorts. When we got back to Limerick later that night the three of us were completely wiped and looking forward to doing nothing the rest of the night.

Sunday I made an attempt at baking. I figured this would be interesting and I was right. I planned on making gooey butter cookies and possibly something else. Turns out the store I went to did not have yellow cake mix or powdered sugar. So I settled for what looked like a yellow cake mix and figured I'd just use granulated sugar. The next problem I was faced with, was the lack of measuring equipment. Becky and I tried to get creative and found out how much a pint glass was and go from there because there were plenty of those around. However, I was so not good at guesstimating and my chocolate chip cookies were edible but nothing Betty Crocker would be proud of and my gooey butter cookies ended up tasting similar to powdered donuts minus the powder. Well, better luck next time. Yes, there will be a next time. I am confident that I have learned from my mistakes.

-Peace Out-

Blarney & Killarney

I apologize for not updating for this past week. I could say I've been too busy and that school is grueling, but then I would just be another person that lies on the internet. So, for that I am sorry. I have had two amazing weekends! Last weekend Anne Marie and her visiting boyfriend Jason, Becky, Craig and I took the bus to Cork on Saturday morning. It took about an hour and a half and was a beautiful scenic drive. Upon arrival in Cork we planned on getting another bus to Blarney. Doing just that, within the hour we were at the Blarney Castle. We have had fantastic weather lately and has made these trips that much more enjoyable. Exploring the castle grounds, we stumbled upon many charming sites. There were many gardens and buildings to explore, generally just a lot to see. Once we toured the grounds we made our way to the top of the castle and the Blarney Stone! Going to the top required climbing a very narrow and winding staircase. There were numerous rooms off of the stairway to break up the journey full of historic information about the castle and the individual rooms themselves. One made mention to the fact the Winston Churchill is one of the many people to have kissed the stone and I figured if he was a rather large man and made it up, then surely I would have no problem. Well, either he was just lifted to the top or he squeezed his way through, it was nonetheless a tight fit. The story of the stone is that anyone that kisses it will be blessed with the "gift of eloquence" or gab, and days after Churchill kissed it, he was named on the best speakers. Coincidence? I think not. Anyway, we made it to the top and all got a change to kiss the stone. It much different then I thought it would be. I had heard that you bend back to kiss it, but did not know that you were laying on the ground over a hole 100ft in the air. So I laid down, held the bars behind me, while a castle employee helped lower me down to the stone and planted a big one right on it. Consider me eloquent. After walking around the castle a bit more we headed back into the town where I discovered Christys Pub. It's always exciting to see your name somewhere and even more so in Ireland. Following the discovery of what I'm sure is the best pub in Ireland, we caught the bus back to Cork where we watched the first of the Six Nations Rugby game. The match was Ireland v France and the poeple of Ireland were very anxious as it was sure to be an exciting game. Going into it, I knew absolutely nothing about rugby, but after watching a little and people around me explaining what he knew about it to me, it got more interesting. It was cool being in the pub with the locals and them getting excited and all rialed up. Luckly Ireland won otherwise mayhem would have ensued I'm sure.

Our Sunday plans got cancelled because the weather said it was supposed to snow, which it did not, so Craig and I went to the Hunt Measume. It's basically a collection of old things. Interesting but not too much to explain. However, my favorite part was a black and white photography exhibit by Hugh Doran in the basement. Just beautiful inspiring pictures. I really enjoyed them.

(Insert an uneventful week of school)

This past weekend, my roommate Erin and I went back to Killarney. Our Irish dance teacher told us about an Irish dance competition taking place over the weekend, and we thought we would check it out . We left on Saturday morning and stayed till Sunday afternoon. When we arrived, after checking into our hostel (dorm type hotel) we went to explore the town, and made our way to the hotel the competiton was taking place. Our teacher told us that it would be comparable to American beauty pagents with the hair and costumes and she certainly was right. The make-up was caked on, the curls were tight, and the costumes elaborate. Teams were from all over the world, and the competitiors that won here, got to go to the world competition. The boy that took 1st for solo under 19 was actually from the states. We stayed about three hours and then went to a pub for a lovely Valentines dinner. Afterwards we went to see Role Models the movie and ate our weight in bulk candy. All in all, a perfect Valentines Day. Who needs boys? The next morning we rented bikes from our hostel and went to the Killarney National Park (the park I went hill walking at). We rode about a half hour to get to the park where we saw the Muckross Abby, House, and Gardens, and then the Torc Waterfalls. It was full of by far the prettiest sites I have seen so far. Then entire day, Erin and I just kept saying to each other how in awe of what we were seeing we were and wondering how somewhere can be so green in the midst of winter?
Again, we were fortunate enough to have a perfect day! It hasn't rained nearly as often as it had at the beginning of the trip which is nice. A sprinkle here and there but not much more than that. After this trip as well as my first time in Killarney, I have started to associate the town with a workout. This time we spent about a little over an hour on the bikes walked the other 3 hours we were at the park. I'm telling ya though, it was well worth it! Once back in town we were exhausted and headed back to little ol' Limerick. Who knows what this weekend holds instore, but I look forward to finding out. Peace out dudes.

A weeks end

Just as we were warned, the weekends in Limerick, believe it or not, are pretty dead. The Irish students all go home to work on Friday and return Sunday, so campus is a ghost town on Friday and Saturday nights. However, come Sunday, the students return to reek havoc on the town and go out in full force! Having been told this, Anne Marie, Becky, Craig, Robert and I decided that we should spend our Saturday exploring the town we would be living the next four months in. Though the third largest city in Ireland, Limerick does not have a whole lot to see, so we were able to hit the major cites in one afternoon. We took the bus to King's Island were we explored King John's Castle. Not to sound like a snob, though it was lovely and the history interesting, I've seen better castles in my day. That is only because I was spoiled on my first European trip with tours of some of the most beautiful castles in the world! However, I did thoroughly the view of Limerick City atop the castle towers. After the castle we walked around the island to see St. Mary's Church and St. Mary's Cathedral. The church was beautiful inside and out and the cathedral was just as beautiful from the outside, but it was not open for us to go inside so we will have to go back. The five of us then proceeded into town and did some walking around there and then went to a pub called Dolan's for dinner where I had fish and chips :) It was a great but exhausting we were all ready for an early night to bed especially because we were going hill walking the next day!

My group of friends and I all decided to join the Outdoor Pursuits Club and were excited for our first outing! We would be hill walking in Kerry County at Killarney National Park (the second highest peak in Ireland). Now, there must have been a translation problem or something because what they called beginners hill climbing, we in the states call advance mountaineering. Now, it wasn't that bad at all, but much more intense then we expected. We had a perfect day for it. There wasn't much sun, but there was no rain which made for an enjoyable hike. Along the way we ran into a variety of elements... two are three mud pits, streams, and about 60mph winds to name a few oh, and numerous "hills". One of the coolest things to do was hike for a while and then turn around and see what was behind you. the land just went on for miles and miles and all you could see was varying shaded of green. As we got higher we could see lakes and sun just past the hills behind them. It really was beautiful. (The video is probalbly only about 1/4 of the way up or so). We stopped for lunch about halfway up and that is where it got really windy and cold. The area was referred to as "The Devils Punchbowl." There was a very large body of water running though the mountain that was said to have been created by the devil after he threw a boulder at someone that had punched him? Perhaps there is a more creative story than the one I was told, but that's all I know. After we ate we continued up and were met by thick fog and even faster winds. At one point I was literally blown over and caught myself on a rock. Seeing the winds were not going to die down, after getting 3/4 up the mountain, about half of us decided to head back. I was happy with what I had seen and proud of myself for getting as far as I did and after talking to people that did venture all the way to the top, the fog 3/4 of the way up, was the same as the fog at the top. I must mention that as we were making our trek back down the mountain, my friends and I were talking and someone mentioned the slips they had been making. Anne Marie commented she was surprised that she had not fallen down yet. JUST as I had finished repeating the Howie Day lyric "Even the best fall down sometimes," I found myself loosing my footing and sliding a good five feet on my butt in mud. I was then considered myself "one of the best" that fall. By the end of the day, I was knee deep in mud from the front, and well, completely covered on the back, I was definitely better off then the girl that wore Uggs! All together we did 4 hours of walking. It seemed as though it was colder at the bottom at the end of the day than when we had started so when we were in town and stopped at a pub for food, I warmed up just as I imagine any good Irishwoman would... with a little Bailey's Coffee :) The ride home was quite entertaining to say the least. We sang almost the entire time. Everything from Donna Summer to Simon and Garfunkle and then the leaders singing traditional Irish bar songs. It is definitely something I am glad I did. Next week they are going rock climbing and caving. Though I enjoy a challenge I don't think I'm ready for that. To top off the day, it was Superbowl Sunday. Though here, kick off was not until 11:30 pm. I was not sure I was going to be able to watch any of it, but I wanted to attempt it. I made it though the first half but then headed to bed and ended up watching the highlights this morning on the internet. Just as I expected, the broadcast was not like home. It was NBC's coverage, but broadcasted by the BBC and there were no commercials and one of the commentators was British. I sure did miss fun commercials, loud cheers and overeating that I'm used to.

One last note. I have found that just as entertaining as the Irish accent, is the Irish text. I thought I would share some. This is one I received when we were going to see Slumdog Millionaire. "We will giv a spin down 2 d cinema in a while 2 see wots on and ill let u know den. Wot time-ish wud suit u?" And then when I told someone I went hill walking they replied, "Savage! I went on dat trip a few years ago. Its a good 1. So u got 2 c d devils punchbowl? Wot did u make of d countryside!?" I just found them humorous and wanted to share. Ta ta!