October 8th
We left for our weekend in Dublin on Thursday morning and made a few stops along the way. The first stop was at Clonmacnoise, a monastery on the Shannon river that was visited by the pope in 1979. It has 4 high crosses that are still in good condition that were built in 800 AD. It was also attacked frequently by vikings way back when. I also had my first sausage roll here, it was a pastry filling with spicy sausage that was pureed or something. It reminded me of pigs in a blanket and was really good. Our next stop that day was at Phoenix park in Dublin where Pope John Paul II said mass in 1979 and over 1 million people attended. The rest of that day we settled into our new homey hostel for the weekend and saw a little of Dublin by wandering the streets. That night we went to popular location called Temple Bar to check out some of the pubs and found out the hard way that a pint or any drink was outrageous in Dublin.
Friday we hopped back on the bus for about an hour outside of Dublin to Newgrange:(Irish: Sí an Bhrú) is a passage tomb of the Brú na Bóinne complex in County Meath. It is one of the most famous prehistoric sites in the world, and indeed the most famous of all Irish prehistoric sites. Newgrange was built in such a way that at dawn on the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice, a narrow beam of sunlight for a very short time illuminates the floor of the chamber at the end of the long passageway. Here we got to see a reenactment of the light coming through the tomb to produce light. The architecture and symbolic carvings were amazing considering the time period and how long it has stayed in such good condition. When got back into Dublin most of us went to Guinness Brewery to learn about the revolution that Arthur Guinness began in 1759. Here we learned everything from the ingredients, brewing, production and everything that there is to know about Guinness! There are 7 floors of information and it is shaped like a 14 million pint glass and on the very top there is a Gravity Bar that you can see a 360 degrees of the city and receive a free pint of Guinness!
Saturday October 10th was a free day in Dublin where we or course tried to fit everything that was possible into one day! In the morning we visited St. Patrick's Cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral, the Book of Kells at Trinity College and attempted at the Dublin Castle but could found out that the tours were full for the day. We also spent a little time on Grafton street which was filled with stores, many of these were very high class stores, a famous one being Brown Thomas which is a huge department store with 7 floors. I thought it would be fun to walk around in here and I found scarves that were 200 euro and models that were walking around displaying clothing! As ridiculous and over the top that this store was it was kind of fun to see! This street is also known for its street performers, there were sand sculptors, people posing as statues that were covered in a brass like material and did not move a muscle. The big news this day was that Ireland was playing Italy in football in Dublin that night! We already had plans to go to a play that night as a group and tickets were very expensive and scarce so only two of the guys ended up going, the two teams ended up tying but heard it was an amazing experience. That night we were going to see a play at the Abbey theater called the Electric Ballroom! It ended up being a little different then what we had expected with little plot and very artistic. However, it was still fun to get dressed up and go to the theater. That night we went out again, spending most of the time in Temple Bar area again!
Sunday morning we had a tour of the former prison in Dublin, Kilmainham Gaol has played an important part in Irish history, as many leaders of Irish rebellions were imprisoned and some executed in the jail by the British. At the time, this prison was full of all kinds of people including children for crimes as small as petty theft. This prison was shut down in 1924 and was opened as a museum in the 1980's. There have been movies filmed here and the U2 music video for The Celebration.
The next week we were blessed with a gorgeous day and we decided to take full advantage of it by walking to the beach in Spiddal and going for a swim! To our surprise the water and beach was filled with hundreds of jellyfish. Luckily only a few people were stung.
The following day we went on a day trip to the Burren and the Cliffs Of Moher! The Burren has amazing landscape which included over 90 megalithic tombs including Poulnabrone Dolmen, a tomb that dates back to 4200 BC. We then went to the Cliffs of Moher, unfortunately it was very foggy that day and we did not get to see a very good view of the amazing cliffs! As you may know these cliffs are used in many movies, one being my favorite The Princess Bride, where they refer to them as the cliffs of insanity! That night, my roommate Maggie had a friend visiting so a few of us went into Galway to show him the nightlife in Galway!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Co. Kerry
October 1st
We left Thursday morning bright and early and headed for our first long excursion to Co. Kerry:Dingle/Tralee/Portmagee/Kilarney. Thursday was filled mostly with trying to sleep on the bus as we were on there for about 6 hours, which was very difficult for me as most of you know I CANNOT sit still that long. We did take a ferry over the Shannon river. We got out for a stretch break and lunch at Tralee where a group of us went to get some coffee in a pub. We walked in to be greeted by the cutest old couple that loved to have us! After we got our coffee, my friend's Sam and Shannon stuck around to chat with them, while they gave us cookies and chocolate as most grandparent would! We went back to the bus for some more driving around Slea Head, which was along the coast! We stopped for a photo op and little exploring along the way! Our last stop of the day was at Gallarus Oratory, the best preserved clochan, which is this rock hut thing that has been there for over thousands of years and is still waterproof. It was pretty amazing to see a structure that has been there for so long and still in amazing condition. After that we made our final destination in Portmagee to our hostel. Our hostel was very nice but was also one of the only things in the town. Portmagee is a VERY small fishing town consisting of 2 pubs and a grocery-type store, about the size of Dassel. Since there wasn't a lot to do here on a Thursday night, we watched a movie and got to bed early considering we were all beginning to get sick.
Friday:
The next morning we had to be at the community center for our photo workshop at 9 am. The workshop was lead by our director's Norwegian cousin and her husband. Overall I learned a few tricks on my camera but nothing too exciting, and we were all a little distracted by the hacking and wheezing that was going on around the room. We took a break for lunch, where we had catered fish and chips in a local restaurant! It was amazing! After lunch we had some free time to explore Portmagee and use our new skills to capture some photos. Meanwhile, the night before Thomas had struck up a conversation with some Italians that told him that they were specifically in Portmagee to take a trip to the Skellig Micheal, during our photo taking he and John had been approach by and Italian couple that needed more people in order to take this trip to Skellig Micheal, is a steep rocky island about 15 kilometres west off the coast of County Kerry, Ireland. It is the larger of the two Skellig Islands. After probably being founded in the 7th century, for 600 years the island was a centre of monastic life for Irish Christian monks. The Celtic monastery, which is situated almost at the summit of the 230-metre-high rock. After getting permission from our director the few that were around got on a small fishing type boat with our captain Micheal and headed for the Islands. The ride out there was a bit rough and wet but definitely worth it! We passed another island on the way, that was literally white because it was covered with so many birds. We were also told that 2 people had died on this Island so to be very careful when climbing up, this made me nervous because I was wearing moccasins and did not have time before we left to change my shoes. When we reached the island it reminded me of Jurassic Park and Lord of the Rings. I also felt like I was at the cliffs of insanity in the Princess Bride! The captain dropped us off and went back out in the bay to do a little fishing. The island was covered in steep rock stairs that we had to climb in order to reach the top where the monastery was. The structures that were built so long ago were amazing perfect little beehive huts that overlooked the beautiful blue-green water. After a little while we made the hike back down to the bottom, where I stood on a rock and let the ocean splash up around me.
On the ride back to Portmagee, I told my friend John that the only thing that could make this day better would be if I saw a rainbow. And sure enough about 10 minutes later there was a rainbow overhead for the rest of the way home! Micheal also offered us some of his Sol fish that he had caught as he beheaded them, sliced them and told us just to throw a little butter in a pan and they would be ready to go. When we got back to shore John fell to his knees in praise shouting "Hooray, Hooray", although it was a little dramatic it was quite hilarious and a memorable way to end the trip! Although Micheal told us all we needed was butter, we thought we better get some sort of breading for some more flavor, as I had learned from the many years of watching Grandma cook fish up north. As the boys de-spined the fish, Kyle and myself cooked up the fish! It was very good and a perfect way to end the day. That night there was some tradition dancing going on in one of the local pubs, so the group headed there for the night. Overall, fantastic day!
Saturday
We left Thursday morning bright and early and headed for our first long excursion to Co. Kerry:Dingle/Tralee/Portmagee/Kilarney. Thursday was filled mostly with trying to sleep on the bus as we were on there for about 6 hours, which was very difficult for me as most of you know I CANNOT sit still that long. We did take a ferry over the Shannon river. We got out for a stretch break and lunch at Tralee where a group of us went to get some coffee in a pub. We walked in to be greeted by the cutest old couple that loved to have us! After we got our coffee, my friend's Sam and Shannon stuck around to chat with them, while they gave us cookies and chocolate as most grandparent would! We went back to the bus for some more driving around Slea Head, which was along the coast! We stopped for a photo op and little exploring along the way! Our last stop of the day was at Gallarus Oratory, the best preserved clochan, which is this rock hut thing that has been there for over thousands of years and is still waterproof. It was pretty amazing to see a structure that has been there for so long and still in amazing condition. After that we made our final destination in Portmagee to our hostel. Our hostel was very nice but was also one of the only things in the town. Portmagee is a VERY small fishing town consisting of 2 pubs and a grocery-type store, about the size of Dassel. Since there wasn't a lot to do here on a Thursday night, we watched a movie and got to bed early considering we were all beginning to get sick.
Friday:
The next morning we had to be at the community center for our photo workshop at 9 am. The workshop was lead by our director's Norwegian cousin and her husband. Overall I learned a few tricks on my camera but nothing too exciting, and we were all a little distracted by the hacking and wheezing that was going on around the room. We took a break for lunch, where we had catered fish and chips in a local restaurant! It was amazing! After lunch we had some free time to explore Portmagee and use our new skills to capture some photos. Meanwhile, the night before Thomas had struck up a conversation with some Italians that told him that they were specifically in Portmagee to take a trip to the Skellig Micheal, during our photo taking he and John had been approach by and Italian couple that needed more people in order to take this trip to Skellig Micheal, is a steep rocky island about 15 kilometres west off the coast of County Kerry, Ireland. It is the larger of the two Skellig Islands. After probably being founded in the 7th century, for 600 years the island was a centre of monastic life for Irish Christian monks. The Celtic monastery, which is situated almost at the summit of the 230-metre-high rock. After getting permission from our director the few that were around got on a small fishing type boat with our captain Micheal and headed for the Islands. The ride out there was a bit rough and wet but definitely worth it! We passed another island on the way, that was literally white because it was covered with so many birds. We were also told that 2 people had died on this Island so to be very careful when climbing up, this made me nervous because I was wearing moccasins and did not have time before we left to change my shoes. When we reached the island it reminded me of Jurassic Park and Lord of the Rings. I also felt like I was at the cliffs of insanity in the Princess Bride! The captain dropped us off and went back out in the bay to do a little fishing. The island was covered in steep rock stairs that we had to climb in order to reach the top where the monastery was. The structures that were built so long ago were amazing perfect little beehive huts that overlooked the beautiful blue-green water. After a little while we made the hike back down to the bottom, where I stood on a rock and let the ocean splash up around me.
On the ride back to Portmagee, I told my friend John that the only thing that could make this day better would be if I saw a rainbow. And sure enough about 10 minutes later there was a rainbow overhead for the rest of the way home! Micheal also offered us some of his Sol fish that he had caught as he beheaded them, sliced them and told us just to throw a little butter in a pan and they would be ready to go. When we got back to shore John fell to his knees in praise shouting "Hooray, Hooray", although it was a little dramatic it was quite hilarious and a memorable way to end the trip! Although Micheal told us all we needed was butter, we thought we better get some sort of breading for some more flavor, as I had learned from the many years of watching Grandma cook fish up north. As the boys de-spined the fish, Kyle and myself cooked up the fish! It was very good and a perfect way to end the day. That night there was some tradition dancing going on in one of the local pubs, so the group headed there for the night. Overall, fantastic day!
Saturday
We took of in the morning for Killarney making a few stops on the way to stretch and check out the Killarney Nation Park. While in the park we also went to the Muckross House which is a mansion designed by the Scottish architect, William Burn, that was built in 1843 for Henry Arthur Herbert and his wife, the watercolourist Mary Balfour Herbert. With sixty-five rooms, it was built in the Tudor style. Extensive improvements were undertaken in the 1850s in preparation for the visit of Queen Victoria in 1861. It is said that these improvements for the Queen's visit were a contributory factor in the financial difficulties suffered by the Herbert family which consequenced in the sale of the estate. After our tour we went exploring and I felt like Alice in Wonderland! We saw that there was signs for a waterfall but we only had about an hour to explore and by this time we were not going to be able to make it. But my friend John and I decided that we wanted to see it so we ran to the bottom of it and back to the bus. It would have been better if we would have got to see the whole thing, but was cool anyways. After that we went to our hostel in Killarney. This hostel was in an actually city which was different than what we were used to. It was still fairly nice but felt much more hostel-like than the others. There was also another large group of college kids there that were having a costume party. After dinner we got ready and headed to a pub/club called Grand where we spent the night listening to live music and dancing!
Sunday
On the way back to Spiddal that day we stopped in Tralee again to visit a museum. To my surprise I really enjoyed it, there were lots of activities to keep me entertained, such as finding out how much of a criminal mind I have and solving codes! There was also a walk through of what life was life, with life size figurines and I felt like I was actually there. It reminded me of Disneyland or like a was walking through the Log shoot ride at camp snoopy! The rest of the ride home was spent trying to sleep as I could feel myself getting sicker. We made a brief stop in Galway for supplies and then went back to the cottages.
Tuesday night was a great night of staying up until 3 am to watch the Twins dominate and we are planning on doing that again tonight while JP opens up the Pub for us! Tomorrow morning we leave at 8 am for our weekend trip to Dublin!
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Week Two and Three
The rest of last week was pretty relaxed, involving mostly class, a trip to Galway and homework.
Thursday we had our first night in the pub at the hotel as a group! Which was really fun because it gave us a chance to hang out as group and not have 28 of us walk into a pub and be looked at like the Americans.
Friday morning we left for our first excursion to Clifden. On our way we stopped at a few places, first we stopped at a Mamaen, which was a smaller mountain with a chapel on it. We hiked around there for awhile and headed back on the bus for a few other stops and ended in Clifden, where we spent the night. There we went to a poetry reading by Seamus Heaney, which was a once in a lifetime experience to see such a well-known poet first hand. The rest of the night we went to a few pubs that had live music. The next morning some of us went to the Connemara National Park, which was gorgeous and a beautiful way to start the day. On our way home, stopped at our first castle. Aughnanure Castle was not what I was expecting because it was mostly detoyed and rather small.It was still interesting to learn who lived in these places and also how they functioned and were built.
Sunday morning most of our group went to Galway for mass and shopping. After mass at the cathedral, I ran a few errands and got some groceries.
Monday September 21-Saturday September 26
The beginning of the week was as usually with class for 6 hours on Monday. On Tuesday, a small group of us had heard of this amazing house that was in Spiddal and went to check it out. We had to jump the fence in order to see the property but it was definitely worth it. Inside was what seemed like a magical forest and path leading up to the house.
Wednesday, we went into Galway for a few hours after class and spent the night in the pub at the Hotel again!
Thursday was the 250th year celebration of Arthur Guinness! So class was cancelled for the day! We headed in to Galway in the afternoon to begin our celebration at 5:30 there was a giant toast to Arthur and it felt almost like new years here! Galway was a lot of fun that night as we ventured to a variety of pubs and a club!
Friday morning we left for the weekend in Co. Mayo. Our first stop was at the Ballintubber Abbey, this abbey is the only church in Ireland that was founded by a king that is still in use. We heard a variety of stories and this is also where the pilgrimage for Croagh Patrick started. Pierce Brosnan was also married here. That day we also went to Foxford Wollen Mills where we saw the production of scarves, blankets, etc....after that we made one last stop at the Hennigan's Heritage Center where we saw how life was like living in Ireland during the time of the famine and living a small cottage. We also had some wonderful tea and scones here! After that we went our hostel, which was super nice. It was a house that we had all to ourselves. It was a beautiful old house with stained glass windows! That night it was culture night in Westport, so we went to an art gallery that was having a workshop. Here we looked at art, and got to make our own, all while enjoying a nice glass of red wine. We checked out a pub next door for a little while and listened to live music but called it an early night to prepare ourselves for the climb the next morning.
Saturday September 26
We woke up early this morning and enjoyed a lovely breakfast of homemade brown bread and coffee, provided to us by our hostel and headed for Croagh Patrick! It was supposed to take a few hours to get up the mountain and most of us were up for the challenge. A few of the guys climbed it barefoot, because of the spiritual tradition. I kept my shoes on stayed with my friend Sam. We took our time up the mountain and took many pictures. It was beautiful and seemed surreal at times. It was really cool to think about the fact that I was climbing the same mountain that St. Patrick did so many years ago. As we got higher the fog got much thicker and it became much much colder. The last half hour of the hike, was extremely steep, wet and cold. We reached the top in about an hour and twenty minutes and sadly couldn't see much and it felt like we were on another planet. Looking over the side you would see rocks and then it would disappear into a grey fog after about one hundred yards. On the top there was a white chapel that you could not get into and a marked off place for St. Patrick's bed. On top we waited for the rest of the group to finish and said a prayer. Since we couldn't see a whole lot and it was freezing we headed back down. The way down was very slippery and difficult because it had gotten damper and made the rocks slippery and difficult to climb down. When we reached the point where the sun was shining again, I took my time on the rest of the mountain and enjoying the peace and beauty that it held. There was also a stream that rushed down the mountain, which a few of us drank out of. Once we reached the bottom, we went back to Westport for a few hours and headed back to the Lodge. Saturday night we took it easy, and were very tired from the hike. We did figure out what we are doing for our ten day break in October. A group of 8 of us are going on a cruise to Barcelona, the south of France and Italy! So we booked that, and I am super excited!
Sunday was the Gaelic Football Nationals and Spiddal was in it, I know I've mentioned it before but this is town that we live in. It was an interesting experiencing and fun to see a new game, it is a combination of soccer, rugby, and basketball. It was also a good filler for Johnnie Football! It was close game near the end, but Spiddal ended up winning! After that we went to Galway for groceries and on our way home there were fires and people cheering on the side of the road in celebration to the win! We decided that it would be a fun night to go into Spiddal and catch some of the excitement. About 7 of us went in and hung out with a few of the players from the winning team.
This week has been pretty usual so far just having class and hanging out, but we leave for Co. Kerry tomorrow until Sunday where we are doing a Photography workshop which I am really excited about!
Thursday we had our first night in the pub at the hotel as a group! Which was really fun because it gave us a chance to hang out as group and not have 28 of us walk into a pub and be looked at like the Americans.
Friday morning we left for our first excursion to Clifden. On our way we stopped at a few places, first we stopped at a Mamaen, which was a smaller mountain with a chapel on it. We hiked around there for awhile and headed back on the bus for a few other stops and ended in Clifden, where we spent the night. There we went to a poetry reading by Seamus Heaney, which was a once in a lifetime experience to see such a well-known poet first hand. The rest of the night we went to a few pubs that had live music. The next morning some of us went to the Connemara National Park, which was gorgeous and a beautiful way to start the day. On our way home, stopped at our first castle. Aughnanure Castle was not what I was expecting because it was mostly detoyed and rather small.It was still interesting to learn who lived in these places and also how they functioned and were built.
Sunday morning most of our group went to Galway for mass and shopping. After mass at the cathedral, I ran a few errands and got some groceries.
Monday September 21-Saturday September 26
The beginning of the week was as usually with class for 6 hours on Monday. On Tuesday, a small group of us had heard of this amazing house that was in Spiddal and went to check it out. We had to jump the fence in order to see the property but it was definitely worth it. Inside was what seemed like a magical forest and path leading up to the house.
Wednesday, we went into Galway for a few hours after class and spent the night in the pub at the Hotel again!
Thursday was the 250th year celebration of Arthur Guinness! So class was cancelled for the day! We headed in to Galway in the afternoon to begin our celebration at 5:30 there was a giant toast to Arthur and it felt almost like new years here! Galway was a lot of fun that night as we ventured to a variety of pubs and a club!
Friday morning we left for the weekend in Co. Mayo. Our first stop was at the Ballintubber Abbey, this abbey is the only church in Ireland that was founded by a king that is still in use. We heard a variety of stories and this is also where the pilgrimage for Croagh Patrick started. Pierce Brosnan was also married here. That day we also went to Foxford Wollen Mills where we saw the production of scarves, blankets, etc....after that we made one last stop at the Hennigan's Heritage Center where we saw how life was like living in Ireland during the time of the famine and living a small cottage. We also had some wonderful tea and scones here! After that we went our hostel, which was super nice. It was a house that we had all to ourselves. It was a beautiful old house with stained glass windows! That night it was culture night in Westport, so we went to an art gallery that was having a workshop. Here we looked at art, and got to make our own, all while enjoying a nice glass of red wine. We checked out a pub next door for a little while and listened to live music but called it an early night to prepare ourselves for the climb the next morning.
Saturday September 26
We woke up early this morning and enjoyed a lovely breakfast of homemade brown bread and coffee, provided to us by our hostel and headed for Croagh Patrick! It was supposed to take a few hours to get up the mountain and most of us were up for the challenge. A few of the guys climbed it barefoot, because of the spiritual tradition. I kept my shoes on stayed with my friend Sam. We took our time up the mountain and took many pictures. It was beautiful and seemed surreal at times. It was really cool to think about the fact that I was climbing the same mountain that St. Patrick did so many years ago. As we got higher the fog got much thicker and it became much much colder. The last half hour of the hike, was extremely steep, wet and cold. We reached the top in about an hour and twenty minutes and sadly couldn't see much and it felt like we were on another planet. Looking over the side you would see rocks and then it would disappear into a grey fog after about one hundred yards. On the top there was a white chapel that you could not get into and a marked off place for St. Patrick's bed. On top we waited for the rest of the group to finish and said a prayer. Since we couldn't see a whole lot and it was freezing we headed back down. The way down was very slippery and difficult because it had gotten damper and made the rocks slippery and difficult to climb down. When we reached the point where the sun was shining again, I took my time on the rest of the mountain and enjoying the peace and beauty that it held. There was also a stream that rushed down the mountain, which a few of us drank out of. Once we reached the bottom, we went back to Westport for a few hours and headed back to the Lodge. Saturday night we took it easy, and were very tired from the hike. We did figure out what we are doing for our ten day break in October. A group of 8 of us are going on a cruise to Barcelona, the south of France and Italy! So we booked that, and I am super excited!
Sunday was the Gaelic Football Nationals and Spiddal was in it, I know I've mentioned it before but this is town that we live in. It was an interesting experiencing and fun to see a new game, it is a combination of soccer, rugby, and basketball. It was also a good filler for Johnnie Football! It was close game near the end, but Spiddal ended up winning! After that we went to Galway for groceries and on our way home there were fires and people cheering on the side of the road in celebration to the win! We decided that it would be a fun night to go into Spiddal and catch some of the excitement. About 7 of us went in and hung out with a few of the players from the winning team.
This week has been pretty usual so far just having class and hanging out, but we leave for Co. Kerry tomorrow until Sunday where we are doing a Photography workshop which I am really excited about!
Monday, September 14, 2009
Week One
So where do I even begin. I left on Wednesday September 9, 2009. The flight over went well until I got to Boston, where they had lost my flight information and then had to wait there for a good hour before they could reissue me another ticket. We reached the Shannon airport at 5:30 am on Thursday Spetember 10th Irish time and waited until 12:30 for everyone to get to the airport and finally get on our bus to The Park Lodge Hotel. Once we got there, we had a little time to unpack before dinner! By this time we were all exhausted from the days of traveling but decided to head into Spiddal and check out the pubs! We went to two pubs and my first drink in Ireland was of course Guinness. A few of us went to another pub and met some Irish guys who informed about some of the lingo we need to know! Since we were tired and had to be up in the morning we headed home around 11:30.
September 11, 2009
The next day we went to a town called Salthill for a bit and got to go in the ocean! Then we headed to Galway to explore. While there we just checked out a few shops and had some lunch at a place called Mr. Waffle and had a club crepe. We stopped by the gas station on our way home for some food to last us over the next couple of days and then had to walk a half hour home with our stuff in our backpacks. That night after our spaghetti dinner we walked to the ocean across the street as a group and had a toast and Megan(a girl on my trip) read us an Irish poem. After that we mostly just hung out at the Lodge and a few us went to the pub in the Hotel.
September 12, 2009
Saturday morning we got on the bus and headed for the Aran Islands! We took a ferry there and from there we had the day to ourselves. A group of us decided to rent bikes and head up to Dun Aengus! We had a little trouble finding it at first and went a couple of miles in the wrong direction, but the island was beautiful and the weather was amazing so we didn't really mind. We also found Gaelic football tournament going on so we watched that for a bit and before they started the game, the had a guy lead the team onto the field playing bagpipes. Once we found the right way, we reached the top which had the most incredible view of cliffs over the Atlantic! Once we reached the Lodge we relaxed, made dinner, and it was some one's 21st birthday, so most of us went into Spiddal for a bit but decided that we just wanted to go back kinda early. There was also a wedding going on at the Lodge that some of the group had gone to earlier, so a few more of us decided to join! The wedding was really fun and the Irish definitely know how to have a wedding!
September 13, 2009
Sunday morning we had the morning off, which was very nice and had to be back on the bus by 1:30 to head to Coole park. We met our Lit Prof there and saw William Yeat's house and also the park where he would write his poetry. It was beautiful, like the rest of Ireland. After that we headed to the grocery store finally, which was very chaotic because it was small and they did not accept cards of any kind, but we made it out of there and headed back to the Lodge to make dinner. We then headed to the pubs in Spiddal for some live music, unfortunately we were too late, so we just decided to have a pint before we headed back. In the mean time the Spiddal Gaelic football team came into the pub called Hughes and had just won Regionals. To celebrate they filled their large trophy with whiskey and cider and insisted that the "Americans" passed it around and took a drink. On our way home from the pub we ran ended up walking next to an older guy with an accordian, and he sat on the bench and played us some Irish tunes! Two of the girls know how to Irish step dance so they danced along with the music. After that we went to the beach in Spiddal and 3 of us decided to jump in the ocean, it was freezing but refreshing! Then we walked home singing Mason Jennings!
September 14, 2009
Today we had class most of the day starting with History at 10 am until 1 pm. The had Irish Catholicism at 2 until 5. It was a very long day of classes, but went well! I really think I'm going to like the Catholicism prof, she is very motherly and seems like she will be helpful and fun! After class me and my cottage mates went for a run and made dinner. A few people came over for some cards tonight but just took it easy!
So far I love Ireland! The weather has been amazing and it has yet to rain! It is in about 65-70 during the day and about 50 at night. Our cottages are very old fashioned and we have to heat them with euros! I have had one warm shower which was tonight! My group seems like we are all going to get along very well!
September 11, 2009
The next day we went to a town called Salthill for a bit and got to go in the ocean! Then we headed to Galway to explore. While there we just checked out a few shops and had some lunch at a place called Mr. Waffle and had a club crepe. We stopped by the gas station on our way home for some food to last us over the next couple of days and then had to walk a half hour home with our stuff in our backpacks. That night after our spaghetti dinner we walked to the ocean across the street as a group and had a toast and Megan(a girl on my trip) read us an Irish poem. After that we mostly just hung out at the Lodge and a few us went to the pub in the Hotel.
September 12, 2009
Saturday morning we got on the bus and headed for the Aran Islands! We took a ferry there and from there we had the day to ourselves. A group of us decided to rent bikes and head up to Dun Aengus! We had a little trouble finding it at first and went a couple of miles in the wrong direction, but the island was beautiful and the weather was amazing so we didn't really mind. We also found Gaelic football tournament going on so we watched that for a bit and before they started the game, the had a guy lead the team onto the field playing bagpipes. Once we found the right way, we reached the top which had the most incredible view of cliffs over the Atlantic! Once we reached the Lodge we relaxed, made dinner, and it was some one's 21st birthday, so most of us went into Spiddal for a bit but decided that we just wanted to go back kinda early. There was also a wedding going on at the Lodge that some of the group had gone to earlier, so a few more of us decided to join! The wedding was really fun and the Irish definitely know how to have a wedding!
September 13, 2009
Sunday morning we had the morning off, which was very nice and had to be back on the bus by 1:30 to head to Coole park. We met our Lit Prof there and saw William Yeat's house and also the park where he would write his poetry. It was beautiful, like the rest of Ireland. After that we headed to the grocery store finally, which was very chaotic because it was small and they did not accept cards of any kind, but we made it out of there and headed back to the Lodge to make dinner. We then headed to the pubs in Spiddal for some live music, unfortunately we were too late, so we just decided to have a pint before we headed back. In the mean time the Spiddal Gaelic football team came into the pub called Hughes and had just won Regionals. To celebrate they filled their large trophy with whiskey and cider and insisted that the "Americans" passed it around and took a drink. On our way home from the pub we ran ended up walking next to an older guy with an accordian, and he sat on the bench and played us some Irish tunes! Two of the girls know how to Irish step dance so they danced along with the music. After that we went to the beach in Spiddal and 3 of us decided to jump in the ocean, it was freezing but refreshing! Then we walked home singing Mason Jennings!
September 14, 2009
Today we had class most of the day starting with History at 10 am until 1 pm. The had Irish Catholicism at 2 until 5. It was a very long day of classes, but went well! I really think I'm going to like the Catholicism prof, she is very motherly and seems like she will be helpful and fun! After class me and my cottage mates went for a run and made dinner. A few people came over for some cards tonight but just took it easy!
So far I love Ireland! The weather has been amazing and it has yet to rain! It is in about 65-70 during the day and about 50 at night. Our cottages are very old fashioned and we have to heat them with euros! I have had one warm shower which was tonight! My group seems like we are all going to get along very well!
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