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!
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