On Monday the 20th I was given a rude awakening. I had my first midterm, the midterm was for my European Business School business law class. I have taken business law classes before, but I still made sure to study for the exam. I knew going in that it would be an essay exam and that I would have 90 minutes. I thought there would be no problem and I would have no problem doing well on it because I knew the material. Well I was wrong. I knew all the material and had no problems answering the questions. It was going great until I realized that 12 questions requiring a page length answer is almost impossible to complete in 90 minutes. I was able to get down something for them all, but there were 2-4 that only had one or two sentences. It was not a good way to start off my week. Thankfully all my other classes exams are papers, so I have plenty of time and know what to expect. I guess that's the reason an 'A' in Ireland is a 70% and up. After the mental beating I took, I promptly came home and took a nap. The rest of the day was spent hanging around and planning a trip to Bray with Jake and Derrick on Tuesday. Tuesday came and went without a trip to Bray, we all slept in and were waiting to hear some news that didn't come until later that night. We moved our trip back to Wednesday.
Wednesday Jake, Derrick and I got up and headed to the DART. After getting off the LUAS and walking toward the DART station we passed through a political rally mainly composed of college students. We soon found out they were protesting a raise in college fees from 900 € to 1500 €. This isn't a tuition, but a one time fee to attend college. They need to stop whining and be thankful for what they had. If I could even pay 1500 € a semester I would be thrilled. We made it through the protest and headed to the DART. We got on and headed for Bray, it was a pretty beautiful trip along Dublin Bay. It was awesome to see the water. We were going to Bray because we wanted to play some 10 pin bowling. We got to Bray and started to aimlessly look walk around trying to find the bowling alley. We walked down to the water and looked out into the bay, it looks like it would be a hopping place in the summer months. We found a map and it seemed like the bowling alley was right next to the train station. Before we went bowling, we walked up to a restaurant where I got some amazing roast beef. The beef here is extremely tender and delicious. I guess it is all the luscious grass that the cows graze on. We walked to the bowling alley and started our night of gambling. The funny thing was we were searching for the bowling alley and couldn't find it.
When we finally did find it, it was literally right next door to the DART station. If we had turned our heads right walking out we would have saw it. Entering the bowling alley was entering a world of gambling. First we bet on our two games of bowling...Derrick won both (I think he hustled us). Next Derrick and I gambled on arcade racing, we split the two races. I should have won both, but the computer took me out going into the last turn. After our arcade experience we went upstairs and played a couple games of pool. I lost the first two and then sat out the third one because I was extremely outclassed by Jake and Derrick.
After our time was up on the pool table we headed back downstairs and played on the video gaming machines for a little bit. Playing video black jack isn't as exciting as playing it in real life. After we finished up with that and we collected our money we hopped on the DART and headed back to Dublin. We got back and headed back to Wyckham because we were leaving for Northern Ireland early the next morning. We came back and got packed for the trip, and just hung out the rest of the night before going to bed.
We woke up the next morning and headed for the train station to catch the 9:35 am train for Belfast. The train ride was the same as the last time except we had more room and no annoying people. We got into Belfast where Sarah, one of our IES advisers met us with a bus. We put our stuff on the bus and went to the Crown restaurant. I got an awesome Beef and Guinness pie that once again featured that delicious Irish beef. After our lunch we took a black cab tour of Belfast. This meant going around to some of the old trouble areas along with the peace wall and our drivers talking about what happened. It was interesting to see, but it was extremely depressing, and as the peace wall keeps getting higher. Being up there really made me wonder if there would be true peace up there in my life time and I don't think there will be. After the tour we got on the bus and took a two hour ride along a coastal road. It was one lane going each way precarious close to a slope leading into the ocean. It was freaking sweet. I was going to sleep on the ride, but once I saw what we were driving along my eyes were riveted to the window the entire time.
We got up to this town called Port Rush which is the quintessential beach town that you'd find in America, just tweaked a bit to be uniquely Irish. The reason we were there is because it is right by the Giants Causeway and the Bushmills Distillery. We got to our hotel (we stayed in hotels, not hostels, I roomed with Jake and had my own double bed. It was glorious!). After we checked in, we went down to the restaurant and bar and got dinner. After dinner we hung out, playing pool and listening to a jukebox. It was a fun night.
We woke up on Friday morning and went to the Bushmills distillery. It has been a working distillery for 400 years, which makes it the oldest legal distillery in Ireland. It was cool to see the process of making whiskey and at the end I got to taste this awesome 12 year old whiskey. I am not a whiskey person so it will probably be the most expensive whiskey I will ever drink! After the factory we went for lunch and to the Giants Causeway. The Giants Causeway was incredible it is amazing the beauty in nature. Jake, Adam, Derrick and I walked up along these cliffs that were 100m from the rocks. After walking along there, and seeing some spectacular views we went down to the coastline and walked along a beautiful coast. We got to the spot where the stones seem to make a pathway and it was incredible. I can't describe how gorgeous the area is. The waves crashing into the stones and spraying foam everywhere. It was amazing. After our adventures at the Giants Causeway we headed to a castle which was on the way back to the hotel. It was really cool to see, we went down to a grotto which had water crashing under the castle. We then climbed back up and saw the ruins of this castle. It was really cool to see, it was on a cliff, and part of it had actually collapsed into the ocean. When I think of castles this is what I think of.
We got back to the hotel and got out and went to dinner on the tab of IES. It was a 30 minute walk to get there, but it was worth it. It was absolutely delicious. I had a burger pizza, which when I ordered I thought it was a pizza with ground beef spread around it. When I got it, it was a pizza with a burger plopped in the center. I thought it was hilarious because only in Ireland would that be a burger pizza. After dinner, I was extremely full, we walked around the town and ended up at this bar, where we found our first drink special in Ireland! The night was a lot of fun and next day we got up and headed to a rope bridge. The walk was in the driving wind and rain, but when we got there it was awesome. The bridge went from the land to a small island right off the coast. Going over the bridge was really cool, but scary. Standing in the center when the wind blew, it was oddly disconcerting. After that little excursion we headed back to the bus and were on our way back to Belfast. We got into Belfast and took the train back to Dublin. After we got back we hung out and watched the Penn State game on game cast and the Phillies win on mlb.tv. The week was filled with going to class and watching the Phillies win the world series. The Phillies are world champions...world fucking champions. I went onto my balcony and had a champagne shower to celebrate on Wednesday. Friday was cool, we went to Newgrange which was interesting. It is these burial mounds that are over 5000 years old. When we got back, Derrick, Adam and I went to Bennigans for dinner. After dinner we headed back to the apartment and got ready for the night. We went out to a party and then to a bar where Derrick did some awesome karaoke. There were pockets of people dressed up, but it was not the majority, which was kind of interesting. Halloween is definately not as big of a deal here as it is in America. Today has just been spent hanging out and getting ready for a week filled with work.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
10/14/08 - 10/19/08
As I prophesied last post, this week was pretty uneventful. I had classes, took back a DVD player that broke and did some reading. I read this awesome book, "The Tender Bar" for my own self-enlightenment, I couldn't put it down. We had a cool walking tour for Irish Communal Identity on Thursday which took us by the Old Jameison Distillery, I thought we were going to lose Derrick as we walked past. On the tour we discussed plans for Gentleman's Night, which should prove to be an entertaining evening involving poker and being manly. One of the more exciting things from Thursday was the package that Adam received from his parents. It was exciting because inside were meatloaf bread crumbs along with various other goodies and some of the most delicious chocolate chip cookies I have ever eaten (and I am a cookie connoisseur!) my compliments to Mrs. Kepa.
Thursday night we has the girls over for dinner and Brian made chicken bake, which was delicious. I put on my pastry hat and set about to make cookies that would be better than the ones that Elizabeth made the week before (no small task). I tried a trial run the night before and the results, while delicious, were less than impressive on presentation (These were M & M cookies, because in Ireland they don't believe in chocolate chips and only sell them in small bags, and I thought this was a civilized country!). I decided to "Go Big or Go Home" with my cookies so I set about making a cookie cake flower. It was ambitious, but if I succeeded it would be glorious. I made the center of the flower a big a thick cookie cake, and I was instantly worried about cooking it just right. I had never morphed cookie batter into a cake pan before and knew the cooking times would be different. It was touch and go for the entire time it was in the oven, I would check the center every so often with raw spaghetti to see if it was cooked through. It came out of the oven and it looked and smelled delicious. I then make the petals on a try and put them in the oven to cook. Once that was out of the oven, looking awesome, I took the cookie cake out of the pan and flipped in on top of the petals, completing my flower. Making it even better was the fact that the M & M's showed through the bottom making the cookie cake flower extremely colorful. Dinner was good and I was really proud of the cookie cake flower, especially with the reception it got, for look and taste. Needless to say there were no leftovers. After dinner we hung out for a little bit, we walked the girls to the LUAS and went to the Rockfield Lounge. It is right next to the LUAS and I have been wanting to go there for quite some time, but never have. It was pretty cool, the inside was modern and it was very relaxing, we ended up heading back here after it closed at 12:30 to hang out some more. Friday came and went and Derrick and I ended up at the Rockfield Lounge again for a couple hours. Saturday was uneventful as well, I did some studying and then around dinner time got ready for the Penn State game against Michigan. Jake came over and along with Derrick we watched it on the laptop. It was nerve racking at first, but I knew going into half time we were going to trounce on them in the second half and I was right. After Alabama struggled I wonder if we might even move up to number 2! All I have done today is study for my law midterm tomorrow. I seem to understand the concepts, I just need to memorize some of the cases. I am not that worried. The Northern Ireland trip is this week because we have a break in classes, so I am amped up for that. I also found out I am going to Sweden to see my Aunt the weekend before Thanksgiving and I can't wait!
Thursday night we has the girls over for dinner and Brian made chicken bake, which was delicious. I put on my pastry hat and set about to make cookies that would be better than the ones that Elizabeth made the week before (no small task). I tried a trial run the night before and the results, while delicious, were less than impressive on presentation (These were M & M cookies, because in Ireland they don't believe in chocolate chips and only sell them in small bags, and I thought this was a civilized country!). I decided to "Go Big or Go Home" with my cookies so I set about making a cookie cake flower. It was ambitious, but if I succeeded it would be glorious. I made the center of the flower a big a thick cookie cake, and I was instantly worried about cooking it just right. I had never morphed cookie batter into a cake pan before and knew the cooking times would be different. It was touch and go for the entire time it was in the oven, I would check the center every so often with raw spaghetti to see if it was cooked through. It came out of the oven and it looked and smelled delicious. I then make the petals on a try and put them in the oven to cook. Once that was out of the oven, looking awesome, I took the cookie cake out of the pan and flipped in on top of the petals, completing my flower. Making it even better was the fact that the M & M's showed through the bottom making the cookie cake flower extremely colorful. Dinner was good and I was really proud of the cookie cake flower, especially with the reception it got, for look and taste. Needless to say there were no leftovers. After dinner we hung out for a little bit, we walked the girls to the LUAS and went to the Rockfield Lounge. It is right next to the LUAS and I have been wanting to go there for quite some time, but never have. It was pretty cool, the inside was modern and it was very relaxing, we ended up heading back here after it closed at 12:30 to hang out some more. Friday came and went and Derrick and I ended up at the Rockfield Lounge again for a couple hours. Saturday was uneventful as well, I did some studying and then around dinner time got ready for the Penn State game against Michigan. Jake came over and along with Derrick we watched it on the laptop. It was nerve racking at first, but I knew going into half time we were going to trounce on them in the second half and I was right. After Alabama struggled I wonder if we might even move up to number 2! All I have done today is study for my law midterm tomorrow. I seem to understand the concepts, I just need to memorize some of the cases. I am not that worried. The Northern Ireland trip is this week because we have a break in classes, so I am amped up for that. I also found out I am going to Sweden to see my Aunt the weekend before Thanksgiving and I can't wait!
Monday, October 13, 2008
10/07/08 - 10/13/08
This week was tough, I had three days straight of 10 am classes. The reason for this was our Celtic Myth and Legend class met twice this week as opposed to once. This means I don't have that class for two straight weeks. Tuesday was rough because I had three classes in a day, which doesn't seem to bad, but it came out to be 7 hours of classes in one day. It was pretty rough. I got through the day and made it to Wednesday. Celtic Myth and Legend was pretty cool because the first half of the class was watching two women perform traditional Irish music. It was really entertaining and I just wanted to drink a Guinness and dance a jig! Wednesday night Brian and I went to the pubs with Monica and Jeanine, it was awesome we hit a bunch of places (some had live music) before dancing the night away at the Porterhouse. Thursday came and I had two classes, the first one was awesome because we had a guest lecturer who talked about his life growing up about 20 miles south of Northern Ireland. It was interesting to hear someones perspective from the Republic of Ireland, close, but at the same time removed from the conflict. After which we had another class where I got to play on Google maps and then take a walking tour of the streets near the IES center. It was pretty cool, when we were walking by a group of flats (public housing). The lecturer stopped and was talking to us as two little kids starting throwing rocks and acorns at us from a distance. I thought it was hilarious, but Adam was kind of pissed off and threw a rock back as our lecturer said, "No Adam, no." Thankfully Adam has a very low accuracy throw and missed the kids, by a large distance, and we weren't embroiled in a neighborhood wide brawl. We made it back to our apartment after class where I found a grisly discovery, my laptop wasn't working. It still isn't working and I am bummed because I have to use the apartment's less than stellar Toshiba laptop.
That night we had dinner at the girl's apartment, they made homemade pizza, garlic knots and then some delicious m&m cookies. It was absolutely delicious, we were all so full that it was painful. Needless to say we came home and all pretty much went right to bed because the digestion was tiring. We woke up Friday and Jake, Adam and I packed and headed to the train station to go to Galway. The ride was pretty awesome, except for the group of middle aged women on a "No, Husband!" trip, who were loud, obnoxious, getting tanked and probably in bed by 2 pm (we arrived in Galway at 1). The ride was beautiful and I got a lot of reading done for my one class. We arrived and walked through the main square of Galway, it was weird for a city it definately felt like a small town. We walked to our hostel and put our bags in a locker room and then headed to this place called the Couch Potato for lunch. They specialized in all things potato and I had an awesome sour cream and bacon filled potato. We headed back to the Hostel and got into our room, the place was so much nicer then the one in Amsterdam. The Hostel was awesome, it even had a pool table. We then walked around some stores (I got an awesome pair of Batman boxers, Jake got an interesting pair of underwear) and hit up an art gallery. At this point we got a call from Derrick, he and his friend Erica had arrived (they had to take a later bus) and were sitting in a pub right on the sqaure. We left the gallery and met them. The Guinness was under 4 Euro so I was pretty pumped about that. We sat by a fire and talked to the one bartender who doesn't consider Dublin to be part of Ireland (I think someone is jealous). We headed back to the hostel so Derrick could drop his stuff off and then we all headed towards the bar area so Derrick and Erica could get some lunch. We tried to go into a pub with traditional Irish music playing, but it was full, so we headed a couple of pubs down and ended up in this pretty cool place called the King's Head.
After hanging out there for a little bit we headed back to the hostel to get ready for the night, on the way there we passed Kayleen, Elizabeth, Jeanine and Monica, who had just gotten into Galway on an even later bus. We went back to the hostel and hung out and got ready for the night. We talked to some weird guy from London who was in our room with us. He was in Galway to work and was sitting on his bed watching Charmed when we walked in. I think he may have been gay, because he knew about the gay clubs in Galway. He may have been a little off, but he was cool to talk to and we all enjoyed our convo. We pregamed a little in the room and then hit the town. We went to a couple pubs that night and had a really good time dancing at the King's Head. Even though we seemed to be the only ones dancing to the dj (we stuck out like a sore thumb) it was an awesome time.
Islands are off the coast of Ireland about a hour and forty minutes away from We woke up the next morning and got everything packed and checked out. We left our bags in the locker room and headed out to explore Galway some more. Exploring it meant going to the shopping area with the girls and looking in stores for a while. At one point, Jake, Adam and I walked along the river to the Galway Cathedral and looked in there for a little bit. The place was massive and awesome. We got some sandwiches (since I have been here I have discovered the joy of having stuffing on my sandwiches, it is awesome and I highly recommend it. There is nothing like chicken, corn and stuffing on a roll, it is delicious) and then hung out until we caught a bus at 5. We were taking the bus to a ferry which was taking us to the Aran islands. The AranGalway. It was Jeanine's birthday on Saturday and she wanted to stay there. So we arrived on this island which reminded me of a sea town you see in old movies. Not a lot of people or buildings. We got there at around 7:30-8 and the island was dead. The place had two restaurants and two bars open, the other couple buildings were closed. It was quite the experience walking there. The roads weren't well lit and had bushes and trees along the side, so it seemed like at any moment something was going to jump out and attack you. It was interesting, especially since it was so rural. At one point we passed a rundown building with three roosters sleeping on the walls. Needless to say the girls were a bit jumpy and when Jake imitated a chainsaw they were not to happy. Derrick and Erica had headed back to Dublin so it was Adam, Jake, Monica, Kayleen, Jeanine, Elizabeth and I making this walk. Not really sure where we were going we turned down a road and had to go down an unlit, moss covered road to a building we thought was our hostel. It ended up being our hostel which was hilarious because it is this old house with a bunch of beds in it. The owner was called a "druggie" by the captain of the ferry and she was interesting. She was an older woman, I would say 50s or 60s and she had this far away look in her eyes. Making us feel like we were in a bad horror movie even more so than before. Looking back it was pretty neat, at the time we were cursing Jeanine's name! So we got settled and put our bags in our rooms. Jake and I ended up sharing a room with Barbara from Texas and her friend Helen from Alaska (I talked to Barb right away and found out she had an Obama Mama pin and enjoyed her time in Dublin). Both of these lovely ladies were 80 years old, so needless to say Jake and I both had top bunk. I don't think Helen or Barb had seen the top bunk in about 40 years. After leaving the hostel we went back towards the bay to get dinner at one of the two restaurants open. We went to the first place, then the second place and then back to the first place for dinner. It was a really nice restaurant and our waitress was from Canada (what are the odds). Dinner was a lot of fun, we all laughed, a lot, had some really good food (who thought chicken fajitas would be so delicious on an isolated Irish island that probably has never had a resident of Spanish descent) and had the entire place sing Happy Birthday to Jeanine.
and I ended up talking to Helen about her life in Alaska (she lived there since 1952, before it was a state!) and how much she loves it. It seems like it would be a very interesting and rewarding place to live as long as you were tough. I After dinner we walked back to the hostel enjoying the walk more this time and laughing about our situation (laughter is the best medicine to any situation). We made it back to the hostel alive and headed for the living room to watch some tv (Road to Perdition was on). Instead Kayleendefinately want to visit Alaska some day. Helen also told us this was her second trip to Ireland this year because she enjoyed the last one so much. She also informed us of the awesome cliffs on the island (better than the Cliffs of Moher was the way she put it). Hearing that was awesome, because we didn't make it to the Cliffs of Moher and Jake and I were a little bummed. We found out that the Cliffs of Moher are touristy and you can't get up to the edge of the cliffs (where is the fun in that!). Helen went to bed and we all watched the latest episode of the Office, it was great I laughed a lot. Sleeping was an experience because Barb and Helen were in bed when we went in, so Jake and I tried to be quiet and climb to our bunks without disturbing them (it would have been easier if our bunk beds had ladders. Instead they were two beds on top of each other). The beds were really small and creaky and I spent the night fearing I was going to fall off. The reason I had so much time to think was due to the fact that I couldn't fall asleep thanks to the orchestra in my room. Barb snored worse than my Poppy (which I thought was impossible) and Helen breathed heavy and would go into random snoring that was even louder then Barb. So I had to contend with the loud snoring, creaky beds and fear that Barb was going to die underneath me from sleep apnea (which would have added to the lists of firsts for that night: 1st time sharing a room with two 80 year old women and 1st time having someone die in there sleep under me). Needless to say I didn't get a good nights sleep.
We all woke up early the next morning to a complimentary breakfast of Oatmeal and toast (thank you creepy hostel owner lady) and headed for the cliffs on the other side of the island (it is a 9x2 mile island, so it wasn't that far). The island was gorgeous, something we had missed in the dark and because we felt like we were in a bad horror movie. It was pretty empty while we were walking which was nice, and we headed up this stone and grass road past a lake and up a hill. Once we made it up the hill we could hear the roar of the ocean. We walked another 100 yards to the edge and looked out upon the ocean from the cliff we were on. It was magnificent, I was in awe. It blew the cliffs around Howth out of the water. The cliffs of Howth and the Aran Islands are two of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. It was amazing, wind and water vapor blowing into your face. You could get as close as u wanted and look down to the rock beach below. I wish we had more time to explore there, but before I knew it Jake and I had to jump back across the gap of one of the cliffs we were on and we all headed back to the hostel to pick up our bags and catch the Ferry(sadly I couldn't say bye to Barb and Helen because they were gone when I woke up). We made it back to the ferry, but not before I stopped and picked up this awesome wool scarf at the Aran Sweater Market. It is awesome and even though I am not a scarf wearer, my new awesome scarf might turn me into one.
We took a double decker bus back to Galway (of course I sat on the top) which was a pretty ride along the water. Everything in this country is gorgeous every bus ride, train ride, walk it is incredible how much beauty there is. We got back into Galway and then waited in the train station for our train to come. We made it back to Dublin and home pretty quickly. It was an awesome weekend, but it sure felt good to be home. We got back and I tried to see if I could fix my computer, I couldn't, and hung out. Jake and I had to do a project for our Irish Communal Identity class (it was due on Monday) so we sat in the living room and produced a screen play based on the reading we did (Emmy worthy). After Jake left, I sat in my living room and watched the Phillies game on the laptop (extremely disappointing). I woke up today and called Lenovo to see if I could get my laptop fixed and found out that my warranty doesn't extend to Ireland (It extends to pretty much the rest of the god dam world though). So if I want to get my laptop fixed under warranty I am going to have to wait until December, so it looks like the Toshiba and I are going to get to know each other a lot better. This week doesn't look like its going to be anything spectacular, mid terms are next week so I am going to start getting ready for those. The weekend after next were going to Northern Ireland for a couple days with IES so I am pumped for that.
That night we had dinner at the girl's apartment, they made homemade pizza, garlic knots and then some delicious m&m cookies. It was absolutely delicious, we were all so full that it was painful. Needless to say we came home and all pretty much went right to bed because the digestion was tiring. We woke up Friday and Jake, Adam and I packed and headed to the train station to go to Galway. The ride was pretty awesome, except for the group of middle aged women on a "No, Husband!" trip, who were loud, obnoxious, getting tanked and probably in bed by 2 pm (we arrived in Galway at 1). The ride was beautiful and I got a lot of reading done for my one class. We arrived and walked through the main square of Galway, it was weird for a city it definately felt like a small town. We walked to our hostel and put our bags in a locker room and then headed to this place called the Couch Potato for lunch. They specialized in all things potato and I had an awesome sour cream and bacon filled potato. We headed back to the Hostel and got into our room, the place was so much nicer then the one in Amsterdam. The Hostel was awesome, it even had a pool table. We then walked around some stores (I got an awesome pair of Batman boxers, Jake got an interesting pair of underwear) and hit up an art gallery. At this point we got a call from Derrick, he and his friend Erica had arrived (they had to take a later bus) and were sitting in a pub right on the sqaure. We left the gallery and met them. The Guinness was under 4 Euro so I was pretty pumped about that. We sat by a fire and talked to the one bartender who doesn't consider Dublin to be part of Ireland (I think someone is jealous). We headed back to the hostel so Derrick could drop his stuff off and then we all headed towards the bar area so Derrick and Erica could get some lunch. We tried to go into a pub with traditional Irish music playing, but it was full, so we headed a couple of pubs down and ended up in this pretty cool place called the King's Head.
After hanging out there for a little bit we headed back to the hostel to get ready for the night, on the way there we passed Kayleen, Elizabeth, Jeanine and Monica, who had just gotten into Galway on an even later bus. We went back to the hostel and hung out and got ready for the night. We talked to some weird guy from London who was in our room with us. He was in Galway to work and was sitting on his bed watching Charmed when we walked in. I think he may have been gay, because he knew about the gay clubs in Galway. He may have been a little off, but he was cool to talk to and we all enjoyed our convo. We pregamed a little in the room and then hit the town. We went to a couple pubs that night and had a really good time dancing at the King's Head. Even though we seemed to be the only ones dancing to the dj (we stuck out like a sore thumb) it was an awesome time.
Islands are off the coast of Ireland about a hour and forty minutes away from We woke up the next morning and got everything packed and checked out. We left our bags in the locker room and headed out to explore Galway some more. Exploring it meant going to the shopping area with the girls and looking in stores for a while. At one point, Jake, Adam and I walked along the river to the Galway Cathedral and looked in there for a little bit. The place was massive and awesome. We got some sandwiches (since I have been here I have discovered the joy of having stuffing on my sandwiches, it is awesome and I highly recommend it. There is nothing like chicken, corn and stuffing on a roll, it is delicious) and then hung out until we caught a bus at 5. We were taking the bus to a ferry which was taking us to the Aran islands. The AranGalway. It was Jeanine's birthday on Saturday and she wanted to stay there. So we arrived on this island which reminded me of a sea town you see in old movies. Not a lot of people or buildings. We got there at around 7:30-8 and the island was dead. The place had two restaurants and two bars open, the other couple buildings were closed. It was quite the experience walking there. The roads weren't well lit and had bushes and trees along the side, so it seemed like at any moment something was going to jump out and attack you. It was interesting, especially since it was so rural. At one point we passed a rundown building with three roosters sleeping on the walls. Needless to say the girls were a bit jumpy and when Jake imitated a chainsaw they were not to happy. Derrick and Erica had headed back to Dublin so it was Adam, Jake, Monica, Kayleen, Jeanine, Elizabeth and I making this walk. Not really sure where we were going we turned down a road and had to go down an unlit, moss covered road to a building we thought was our hostel. It ended up being our hostel which was hilarious because it is this old house with a bunch of beds in it. The owner was called a "druggie" by the captain of the ferry and she was interesting. She was an older woman, I would say 50s or 60s and she had this far away look in her eyes. Making us feel like we were in a bad horror movie even more so than before. Looking back it was pretty neat, at the time we were cursing Jeanine's name! So we got settled and put our bags in our rooms. Jake and I ended up sharing a room with Barbara from Texas and her friend Helen from Alaska (I talked to Barb right away and found out she had an Obama Mama pin and enjoyed her time in Dublin). Both of these lovely ladies were 80 years old, so needless to say Jake and I both had top bunk. I don't think Helen or Barb had seen the top bunk in about 40 years. After leaving the hostel we went back towards the bay to get dinner at one of the two restaurants open. We went to the first place, then the second place and then back to the first place for dinner. It was a really nice restaurant and our waitress was from Canada (what are the odds). Dinner was a lot of fun, we all laughed, a lot, had some really good food (who thought chicken fajitas would be so delicious on an isolated Irish island that probably has never had a resident of Spanish descent) and had the entire place sing Happy Birthday to Jeanine.
and I ended up talking to Helen about her life in Alaska (she lived there since 1952, before it was a state!) and how much she loves it. It seems like it would be a very interesting and rewarding place to live as long as you were tough. I After dinner we walked back to the hostel enjoying the walk more this time and laughing about our situation (laughter is the best medicine to any situation). We made it back to the hostel alive and headed for the living room to watch some tv (Road to Perdition was on). Instead Kayleendefinately want to visit Alaska some day. Helen also told us this was her second trip to Ireland this year because she enjoyed the last one so much. She also informed us of the awesome cliffs on the island (better than the Cliffs of Moher was the way she put it). Hearing that was awesome, because we didn't make it to the Cliffs of Moher and Jake and I were a little bummed. We found out that the Cliffs of Moher are touristy and you can't get up to the edge of the cliffs (where is the fun in that!). Helen went to bed and we all watched the latest episode of the Office, it was great I laughed a lot. Sleeping was an experience because Barb and Helen were in bed when we went in, so Jake and I tried to be quiet and climb to our bunks without disturbing them (it would have been easier if our bunk beds had ladders. Instead they were two beds on top of each other). The beds were really small and creaky and I spent the night fearing I was going to fall off. The reason I had so much time to think was due to the fact that I couldn't fall asleep thanks to the orchestra in my room. Barb snored worse than my Poppy (which I thought was impossible) and Helen breathed heavy and would go into random snoring that was even louder then Barb. So I had to contend with the loud snoring, creaky beds and fear that Barb was going to die underneath me from sleep apnea (which would have added to the lists of firsts for that night: 1st time sharing a room with two 80 year old women and 1st time having someone die in there sleep under me). Needless to say I didn't get a good nights sleep.
We all woke up early the next morning to a complimentary breakfast of Oatmeal and toast (thank you creepy hostel owner lady) and headed for the cliffs on the other side of the island (it is a 9x2 mile island, so it wasn't that far). The island was gorgeous, something we had missed in the dark and because we felt like we were in a bad horror movie. It was pretty empty while we were walking which was nice, and we headed up this stone and grass road past a lake and up a hill. Once we made it up the hill we could hear the roar of the ocean. We walked another 100 yards to the edge and looked out upon the ocean from the cliff we were on. It was magnificent, I was in awe. It blew the cliffs around Howth out of the water. The cliffs of Howth and the Aran Islands are two of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. It was amazing, wind and water vapor blowing into your face. You could get as close as u wanted and look down to the rock beach below. I wish we had more time to explore there, but before I knew it Jake and I had to jump back across the gap of one of the cliffs we were on and we all headed back to the hostel to pick up our bags and catch the Ferry(sadly I couldn't say bye to Barb and Helen because they were gone when I woke up). We made it back to the ferry, but not before I stopped and picked up this awesome wool scarf at the Aran Sweater Market. It is awesome and even though I am not a scarf wearer, my new awesome scarf might turn me into one.
We took a double decker bus back to Galway (of course I sat on the top) which was a pretty ride along the water. Everything in this country is gorgeous every bus ride, train ride, walk it is incredible how much beauty there is. We got back into Galway and then waited in the train station for our train to come. We made it back to Dublin and home pretty quickly. It was an awesome weekend, but it sure felt good to be home. We got back and I tried to see if I could fix my computer, I couldn't, and hung out. Jake and I had to do a project for our Irish Communal Identity class (it was due on Monday) so we sat in the living room and produced a screen play based on the reading we did (Emmy worthy). After Jake left, I sat in my living room and watched the Phillies game on the laptop (extremely disappointing). I woke up today and called Lenovo to see if I could get my laptop fixed and found out that my warranty doesn't extend to Ireland (It extends to pretty much the rest of the god dam world though). So if I want to get my laptop fixed under warranty I am going to have to wait until December, so it looks like the Toshiba and I are going to get to know each other a lot better. This week doesn't look like its going to be anything spectacular, mid terms are next week so I am going to start getting ready for those. The weekend after next were going to Northern Ireland for a couple days with IES so I am pumped for that.
Monday, October 6, 2008
10/01/08-10/06/08
A lot has happened since my last post. I had Celtic Myth and Legend at a museum on Wednesday, our teacher gave us a walking tour, which was more informative than going there by myself. After class, I did a project for my Irish Communal Identity (Thursday) class. We had to do a photo essay depicting a topic without using any words. Being the smart cookie that I am, I decided to do my photo essay on the LUAS Green Line (what we take to class everyday). There are 13 stops on the green line, so I decided originally to get off at each one, snap a quick picture and then get right back on the LUAS. I figured it would be quick and easy, what I didn't realize is the LUAS doors are timed so that this is dam near impossible. So after narrowly getting back onto the LUAS after one stop I decided to put some effort in and walk around each stop I got off at in order to explore Dublin. This turned out to be a great idea, I ended up staying out doing my photo essay for several hours, taking in all the sites and sounds. It was really interesting because it was mostly all off the beaten track. The only problem I ran into was unknowingly walking from one stop back to another, it was a fun problem. By the time I got back I was a little tired from my excursion, but I quickly perked up because the girls were coming over for dinner and we still hadn't gone to the store. Adam, Brian and I decided on doing a Mexican themed night which included tacos (made by yours truly), guacamole (made by Adam), nachos (made by Jake and quickly eaten) and then cookies for desert (you guessed it, made by Brian). The meal went great and everything was delicious. I was feeling in a particularly cooking mood, so after I made the taco meat I even sauteed peppers and onions to go with it! Dinner was a success and the rest of the night was spent playing games while I watched the Phillies triumphant game 1 victory on my computer.
Thursday was a whirlwind of a day, it started off with Writing on the Wall at 10, followed by lunch at the Portobello and then a 1:30 Irish Communal Identity class. After which I went back to my apartment to take a nap. The reason being Jake and I had a train to Belfast at 8:45 pm and I wanted to get some sleep beforehand. You may be asking yourself why Jake and I were taking a train to Belfast? The answer is simple, we were flying out of Belfast International the next morning at 6:55 am to go to Amsterdam. After taking the train up to Belfast we took a cab to the airport (it was a cool, old school automobile). We got to the airport around 11:30 pm, which meant we were pretty much alone. We walked into the area with the ticket counters and it was empty. I couldn't control my laughing, it was hilarious to see. After sitting for about 10 minutes we decided to explore and walked towards the departure areas. We went up a moving sidewalk (making sure to stay on the right in case anyone wanted to pass us, ha there was no one there!). We were greeted by a dark hall, which was creepy and awesome, we also were greeted by a pretty big arcade along with electronic casino machines! Needless to say, I played some video poker and then played a cool game where I was a WWII era fighter pilot, it was awesome. After I got the video games out of my system, Jake and I headed down some steps and found some groups of padded seats. We each took a set of four and ended up reading/laying/sleeping off and on for a couple hours. It was rough because the lights were on and there were announcements being made by a computerized voice. We got up around 5 and headed to the ticket desk at around 5:30. We got our tickets and headed to the gate, where we sat and waited to board. Boarding was an experience because we actually walked onto the runway and climbed steps to get on the plane. It added to the feel of the pitiful Belfast International Airport.
We got into Amsterdam around 10 am, on very little sleep. We actually met Amy and Maha at the baggage claim, it was wild to see familiar faces in Europe! We took the train and then metro to our Hostel which was pretty nice (I wouldn't really know, it was my first time). After which we went out and walked around Amsterdam (their are a lot of canals). After I took a nap, I found Leslie had joined our group and we headed toward the Van Gogh museum. As we headed down toward the museum we decided to instead go on a canal cruise of Amsterdam. It was cool to see parts of Amsterdam that I wouldn't have seen otherwise. After the cruise we headed back towards our hostel and had dinner at this Italian Restaurant (it was ok). I called it a night and woke up refreshed the next morning ready to tackle the Van Gogh museum.
We all got up and got ready and headed towards the Van Gogh museum. It took a little bit to walk there but it was worth it. The Van Gogh museum was great, there were beautiful paintings on every floor. We all got the audio tour which was awesome because it shed light on things I would never have picked up. After the Van Gogh museum we headed to this outdoor market area where there was a restaurant that Maha wanted to go to. It was called Bazaar and it was delicious. After which we unsuccessfully tried to go to the Heineken Brewery (it was closed for renovations...grrr). After which we walked back towards the hostel and hit the shopping district, Jake and I separated from the girls and looked in some stores. After we went back to the hostel and take a nap. We woke up and headed out to this Cafe Cuba place which was a pretty cool interior. We walked around the Red Light district after, which was a surreal experience. I cannot believe some people live their life that way. The girls just stand behind doors and try and lure guys in. After which we hit some bars, got some food, went the wrong way, found the right way and then called it a night.
We woke up on Sunday at around 7 and packed and headed towards the airport, it took a little longer then I would have liked, but Jake and I made our flight on time and headed back to Belfast. The airport was a lot more lively this time around, and we quickly got on a bus headed for the center of Belfast to make it to the train station. We made great time and actually were able to get the 1 pm train to Dublin as opposed to the 3 pm train to Dublin (I did not want to stay any longer in Belfast). The train ride back was awesome. It was two hours of looking out at green fields and hills and blue skies. It was breathtaking, the Van Gogh museum was awesome, but it paled in comparison to the beauty I saw in nature. It really is amazing how much beauty is around us if we just take the time to look. I made it back to my apartment where I was lovingly embraced by the roommates I missed so much. It was great to get back and shower and change. I skyped my parents at my Uncle Tom and Aunt Christie's. It was nice to see everybody and chat. The Phillies beat the Brewers and are going to the NLCS!!!! I am pretty pumped about that. The rest of the night was spent hanging out around the apartment talking to someone special.
Thursday was a whirlwind of a day, it started off with Writing on the Wall at 10, followed by lunch at the Portobello and then a 1:30 Irish Communal Identity class. After which I went back to my apartment to take a nap. The reason being Jake and I had a train to Belfast at 8:45 pm and I wanted to get some sleep beforehand. You may be asking yourself why Jake and I were taking a train to Belfast? The answer is simple, we were flying out of Belfast International the next morning at 6:55 am to go to Amsterdam. After taking the train up to Belfast we took a cab to the airport (it was a cool, old school automobile). We got to the airport around 11:30 pm, which meant we were pretty much alone. We walked into the area with the ticket counters and it was empty. I couldn't control my laughing, it was hilarious to see. After sitting for about 10 minutes we decided to explore and walked towards the departure areas. We went up a moving sidewalk (making sure to stay on the right in case anyone wanted to pass us, ha there was no one there!). We were greeted by a dark hall, which was creepy and awesome, we also were greeted by a pretty big arcade along with electronic casino machines! Needless to say, I played some video poker and then played a cool game where I was a WWII era fighter pilot, it was awesome. After I got the video games out of my system, Jake and I headed down some steps and found some groups of padded seats. We each took a set of four and ended up reading/laying/sleeping off and on for a couple hours. It was rough because the lights were on and there were announcements being made by a computerized voice. We got up around 5 and headed to the ticket desk at around 5:30. We got our tickets and headed to the gate, where we sat and waited to board. Boarding was an experience because we actually walked onto the runway and climbed steps to get on the plane. It added to the feel of the pitiful Belfast International Airport.
We got into Amsterdam around 10 am, on very little sleep. We actually met Amy and Maha at the baggage claim, it was wild to see familiar faces in Europe! We took the train and then metro to our Hostel which was pretty nice (I wouldn't really know, it was my first time). After which we went out and walked around Amsterdam (their are a lot of canals). After I took a nap, I found Leslie had joined our group and we headed toward the Van Gogh museum. As we headed down toward the museum we decided to instead go on a canal cruise of Amsterdam. It was cool to see parts of Amsterdam that I wouldn't have seen otherwise. After the cruise we headed back towards our hostel and had dinner at this Italian Restaurant (it was ok). I called it a night and woke up refreshed the next morning ready to tackle the Van Gogh museum.
We all got up and got ready and headed towards the Van Gogh museum. It took a little bit to walk there but it was worth it. The Van Gogh museum was great, there were beautiful paintings on every floor. We all got the audio tour which was awesome because it shed light on things I would never have picked up. After the Van Gogh museum we headed to this outdoor market area where there was a restaurant that Maha wanted to go to. It was called Bazaar and it was delicious. After which we unsuccessfully tried to go to the Heineken Brewery (it was closed for renovations...grrr). After which we walked back towards the hostel and hit the shopping district, Jake and I separated from the girls and looked in some stores. After we went back to the hostel and take a nap. We woke up and headed out to this Cafe Cuba place which was a pretty cool interior. We walked around the Red Light district after, which was a surreal experience. I cannot believe some people live their life that way. The girls just stand behind doors and try and lure guys in. After which we hit some bars, got some food, went the wrong way, found the right way and then called it a night.
We woke up on Sunday at around 7 and packed and headed towards the airport, it took a little longer then I would have liked, but Jake and I made our flight on time and headed back to Belfast. The airport was a lot more lively this time around, and we quickly got on a bus headed for the center of Belfast to make it to the train station. We made great time and actually were able to get the 1 pm train to Dublin as opposed to the 3 pm train to Dublin (I did not want to stay any longer in Belfast). The train ride back was awesome. It was two hours of looking out at green fields and hills and blue skies. It was breathtaking, the Van Gogh museum was awesome, but it paled in comparison to the beauty I saw in nature. It really is amazing how much beauty is around us if we just take the time to look. I made it back to my apartment where I was lovingly embraced by the roommates I missed so much. It was great to get back and shower and change. I skyped my parents at my Uncle Tom and Aunt Christie's. It was nice to see everybody and chat. The Phillies beat the Brewers and are going to the NLCS!!!! I am pretty pumped about that. The rest of the night was spent hanging out around the apartment talking to someone special.
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