Kilkenny and Mom & Dad's (Surprise) Visit!

Hi everyone!

Sorry it's been a while since I blogged, I know you've all been devastated. I'll start this blog with my trip to Kilkenny. About two weeks ago now my best friend and roommate from Elon, Chiara, came to the lovely Ireland. That Friday night we took her out on the town and went to the Porterhouse. A really great band was playing so the place was packed, as usual. The next day, we were up bright and early to catch the train to Kilkenny. After checking into the Kilkenny Tourist Hostel, we headed up to Kilkenny Castle. The castle was great, and the impressive castle grounds stretched for miles. Lucky for us (especially Chiara), the weather that day was beautiful. We were able to explore the castle and the grounds in the bright sunshine.

Once we left the castle, we headed down to the Black Abbey, one of the oldest landmarks in Co. Kilkenny. The church was covered with beautiful stained glass windows and was a very peaceful place. From there, we went to St. Canice's Cathedral and round tower. We had seen our fair share of churches so instead, we decided to climb the tower. "Climb" is an understatement for our 90 degree, terrifying, trek up the narrow ladders to the top of the tower. At  the top, there were about six tiny steps that led to a tiny hole in the roof that led to a lookout area at the top of the tower. Going through this small passage, we all suffered a great sense of claustrophobia. Luckily, the view at the top was worth the terror. At the top you could look out and see for miles. Once we safely (and slowly) made it to solid ground again, we walked around the town a bit more before heading to dinner and the Kyteler's Inn for dessert and drinks. The inn has a very fascinating story along with it. Apparently in the 13th century there was a woman, Alice Kyteler, who ran the inn. Alice had four husbands and three mysteriously died. When the townspeople accused Alice of witchcraft and off poisoning her husbands, she was incarcerated by the priest. Alice knew people at the jail and was able to escape and get the priest thrown in prison. The inn was recreated to model the days when Alice ran the inn and kept it full of food, music, and life. We had a great time listening to traditional music and catching up at the pub. Kilkenny was a great short trip!

Chiara and I on the grounds of Kilkenny Castle

The Castle!

The View from the Round Tower

The next Thursday, my Mom was to arrive in Dublin. When I went to meet her on Grafton Street, I couldn't find her anywhere. After a few minutes I turned around and saw my Dad running at me! My dad was not supposed to come so of course I was SO SHOCKED! My dad came to surprise me for the weekend and surprised I certainly was. Great job, you guys!!! That night we headed to O'Donoghues for a few pints (my first legal drink with my parents) and then headed to Pasta Fresca for dinner. According to Mom and Dad, they took Mike and I to Pasta Fresca all the time when we were younger. It was delicious!

Me and Dad!

Me and da Momma

Early Friday we got up, found my friend Brette, and set out on our journey to County Cork and a journey it was- a manual car, small roads, and a map was a recipe for disaster. Eventually, we safely made it to the Garnish B&B in Cork City. The Garnish was a quaint place across from University College Cork with the most amazing breakfast! Each day we got up and were so excited to go down and eat something new! Each day we had an enormous amount of food but our favorite was the Bailey's porridge. Anyways, we spent Friday exploring Cork City a bit.

Saturday morning we set forth to Blarney Castle. The Castle was absolutely beautiful and the gardens were spectacular. After hiking the 100 steps to the top, Brette and I both decided to kiss the Blarney Stone for good luck (despite the rumors). I am afraid of heights so I gripped the metal bars for dear life. The action shot of me kissing the stone is hilarious but unfortunately, I can't upload it. Once we descended the 100 stairs again, we headed across the road to the Blarney Woolen Mills where I got my first Irish sweater!

Next, we hopped back into the car and drove to Kinsale where my Aunt Liz and Uncle Matt had their wedding, and now I know why - Kinsale is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE spot in Ireland thus far. The quaint seaside town was absolutely GORGEOUS. The harbor was filled with ships and was surrounded by rolling green hills. Lucky for us, it was a bright, sunny day in Kinsale so we headed out to Old Head Lighthouse. The golf course was closed, but instead we hung out on the cliffs looking out on the ocean. The views from there were incredible. Reluctantly, we eventually got back in the car to go to dinner at the Fishy Fishy Cafe. The cafe had gotten great reviews, and now we know why: the food was delicious! For dinner I ate spicy crab in basmati rice, and everyone else's meals looked wonderful too. Sadly, after dinner we had to leave Kinsale and head back to Cork City for the night.

Blarney Castle

The View from the top of the Castle

Blarney Woolen Mills

Kinsale Harbor

The Cliffs at Old Head

Brette and I hanging out on the cliffs

On Sunday we woke up and walked around the UCC campus. It was stunning. I felt like I was on Duke's campus. It makes my school look so lame. After exploring a bit, we left Cork City and drove to Cobh (pronounced "Cove"). This town, originally called Queenstown, was the last port of the Titanic. This is quite obvious from one's first step into the town because it is covered with commemorative Titanic banners. In Cobh, we saw the original White Star Line building, the Lusitania memorial, and the Titanic memorial plaque. It is fascinating that this little town has so much history but is rarely heard of. Nonetheless, it was definitely a cool place to see!

UCC

Brette and I at UCC - We loved the ivy

Cobh

The White Star Line building

Back in Dublin, Mom, Dad, and I went out for a last dinner together and ended the night by watching the Patriots game in a local pub. It was nothing compared to this weekend when I watched the Pats game at Wembley Stadium in London but it was great to watch with my parents :) Unfortunately, they left early the next day, but after a truly wonderful weekend. I miss them already and am so grateful they came and that my dad surprised me! Thank you both, I love you!
 

Since I'm behind on my blogging, I'll be blogging about London and the Pats game soon! Thanks for reading!

The Beauty of Western Ireland

Hi all!

This past weekend was a whirlwind of traditional, contemporary, and primitive Ireland that proved to be a drastic change to life in Dublin. Friday morning, we left the city early and headed West to County Clare and arrived at the Cliffs of Moher in early afternoon. Luckily for us, it was a beautiful sunny day in Clare and we were able to look out over the cliffs for miles! Oddly enough, the cliffs were very different from what I remember from my youth. As a child, I remember walking right up to the edge of the cliffs, but nowadays there is a wall built up along the ledge. Unfortunately the walkway was closed for renovations, but the views from where we stood were incredible. We got plenty of pictures there, explored the museum, and then hopped on the bus to Galway city. It was a perfect afternoon in Western Ireland.

Friday night, we headed out in Galway city to explore. We started off by heading into a pub called The Quays. The pub had a great atmosphere as it was covered with old archways and staircases on each level. It was extremely crowded and it wasn't hard to understand why. Such a cool place. After a bit, we headed down the road to The King's Head pub. We had heard that this was a great pub and that it was quite popular so we were excited to check it out. It most certainly did not disappoint. Captain Morgan was sponsoring the pub that night so the staff gave out a bunch of Captain Morgan paraphernalia. I walked around in a Captain Morgan pirate hat all night (which proved very difficult while dancing). At about 10:30 a band came on called Lunar Playground. It was three men, two playing guitar and one on the drums, and a woman singing lead. They were AWESOME! They sang a lot of angsty rock but and some throwback 90's and the whole place went wild. We were right in front of the stage dancing and singing all night long. It was by far the greatest night I've had so far in Ireland.

The Cliffs of Moher

Saturday morning, we all dragged ourselves out of bed for another busy day. We hopped on a ferry and arrived in Inishmore of the Aran Islands. The Aran Islands are considered to be authentic Ireland because they still live in a rather primitive nature in some ways. They primarily speak Irish on the island, with only limited English knowledge and they only got electricity in the past fifty years. Inishmore, meaning "the big island," is the largest of the three Aran Islands. The other two are Inisheer, "the east island," and Inishmaan, "the middle island." When we arrived at Inishmore, we took a tour bus across the island to the Kilmurvey craft village. There in the village were two small sweater shops, a stone craft shop, and a little restaurant. The place was swarmed with photographers looking for a rare bird that had apparently been seen in Ireland for the first time ever. We headed past the village and up the hill to Dún Aonghasa, a 2,500 year old stone fort at the top of the cliffs. We hiked up the hill to find this gorgeous stone fort with cows grazing in the midst of it. From the top of the cliffs you could look out across the ocean and see mainland Ireland and beyond. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the views were phenomenal. In my opinion, Dún Aonghasa was the most beautiful sight in Ireland thus far.

After exploring the fort, we headed down to the craft village for lunch. I ate beef and Guinness stew and warmed up a bit before heading back to the bus. Next, we stopped at Na Seacht dTeampaill, meaning "the seven churches." The grounds contained church ruins and many old grave sites. After some more picture taking, we headed back down to the harbor and left for the mainland. Saturday night we went over to The Crane pub for some live Irish music. About 15 musicians sat around a large table playing together and occasionally, the entire room would go quiet and one man would have a singing solo. It was absolutely beautiful. I never wanted to leave. Unfortunately, we eventually did leave, and we headed over to the Roisin Dubh, which was a three level bar with different music on each floor. It was a very hip atmosphere, much different from The Crane. After some time, we headed back to the hotel to get minimal sleep yet again. 

Dún Aonghasa

Madeline, Megan, Maggie, and I on the cliffs at Dún Aonghasa

The most incredible view

Me with the cows

The Seven Churches

Sunday morning, we boarded the bus to Connemara. After driving through towering, deep green mountain ranges we came upon a large lake at the foot of an enormous castle called Kylemore Abbey. Kylemore was originally built as a castle by Mitchell Henry as a gift for his wife. After the couple died, the building was overtaken by nuns and became an Abbey, and eventually became a boarding school for girls. The school closed down in 2010 and became a museum open to the public. On the site, we explored the main castle, the Gothic church, the mausoleum, and the majestic gardens. The gardens were spectacular, and most definitely my favorite part of the grounds. After an hour and a half, we reluctantly boarded the bus to come home for the weekend. Pulling into Dublin I felt the relief of being home and being able to sleep again yet I was definitely sad to leave such a beautiful part of the country. 

Kylemore Abbey

The view from the front of the castle - mountains of Connemara

The Gothic church Mitchell Henry built in his wife's memory.

This weekend we're headed to Kilkenny with my roommate, Chiara, who is visiting for the weekend and then I'll be headed to Cork the weekend after with my Momma :) 

Until next time!!

Beautiful Wicklow, the Best of Friends, and Good Craic

Dia dhuit!

Sorry that it has taken me so long to blog again as my life here in Dublin has gotten even crazier (if possible)! These past three weeks have flown by incredibly fast and I love it here more each and every day.

Last Monday I started classes at Dublin Business School. Although signing up for classes was a long and tedious process, I eventually figured it all out! I'm taking Marketing, Finance, Abnormal Psychology and Business Math. So far all my professors seem to be helpful and the students are young, but friendly.

This past Thursday Amanda came to visit! On Friday morning, we headed out early for a tour with Wild Wicklow Tours. Our tour guide, Stephen, greeted us in the morning by pouring Jameson into our coffee cups. When he said "There's 7 more of these," we all laughed and thought he was kidding. No, he wasn't kidding. We started the tour by driving around Dublin and hearing the history of the North and the South side of the city before heading out to Kiliney Beach in search of Bono. We stopped by the water at the Forty Foot and took our first shot of Jameson of the day. The Jameson was all that warmed us because the air was cold, and the water even colder! A bunch of swimmers had just gotten out of the ice cold water and were offering up their bathing suits for us to swim!  If it was this cold now, I can only imagine how frigid it will be when we go swimming there in a few weeks.

After boarding the bus again, we were off to the Wicklow mountains. As we winded through the narrow streets we encountered many vehicles, to all of which my tour guide would gesture to back up. If they didn't budge, Stephen would start waving a bottle of whiskey back and forth as if he were on an airport runway. As Stephen said, he never lost a battle and everyone backed up. Typically, Stephen would offer them a shot of Jameson once they backed up their car. The drivers happily took the shot behind the wheel and continued on their way. One man backed up the side of a steep cliff so impressively that Stephen gave him an entire bottle of whiskey. It was absolutely hysterical. When we weren't crippled with laughter at our tour guide, we were looking out over the magical hills and fields of Wicklow. We drove through Enniskerry, took photos on a cliff overlooking an enormous lake, sat on the bridge shown in P.S. I Love You, and coasted past the wedding scene from Brave Heart. Later that afternoon, we stopped for lunch in a small village in the hills, called Tara. For lunch we headed to the local pub and I tried my first beef and Guinness stew. I was in heaven.

After much excitement and many, many pictures, we headed back to Dublin (seven bottles of whiskey later, he wasn't kidding). After a full day of exploring the lush country side I was very reluctant to go back to the city. But ironically enough, as we pulled into town, Stephen gave us his top three pub recommendations and (Dad, you'll appreciate this) he said O'Donoghues is his favorite pub in Dublin. We'll be headed there next week for some live music.

Saturday morning we all got up bright and early to head towards Malahide to see the beautiful castle and quaint seaside town located there. Unfortunately, the castle was closed for renovations but we had a great time walking around the gardens in the sunshine and eating lunch in a local pub. Saturday night, Sara arrived. It was absolutely surreal having two of my oldest friends with me in Ireland! We had such a great night together and I am so lucky that I got to see them both. Sara left today, and as sad as it was to say goodbye, I get to see both my friends again in less than a month when I head to London for the Patriots game!

On our tour the other day, our tour guide said, "Happy days, better nights." I loved it so much that it stuck with me. Both the days and nights here have been incredible thus far and I am so lucky I got to share a few great ones with my oldest friends! This weekend my program is headed west to Galway so stay tuned!

Wicklow

The bridge in P.S. I Love You

All of us at the bridge!

Amanda and I

The group with Stephen and the Jameson

Sara, Amanda, and I on our night out!