I can see your rolling fields of green and fences made of stone...

Back from Ireland!!

Ohmygosh the trip was...well, it was excrutiating. We went to three different major cities in four days, spent hours in the car, slept in random housing...but basically, despite being freezing, wet, and exhausted, I had the time of my life.

15 March:

We all met at DH at 4pm to get a bus to the airport. Our flight left at 7pm and we arrived around 8:30. Security stopped me for having water and assumed my aerochamber was a bottle of water as well, but let me go when I showed them otherwise. There were tons of problems with renting cars. The car rental place allowed someone 21 to book the cars, but you need to be 23 to drive them, so we could only get 2 instead of 3. 2 cars for 13 people! But we crammed in, with Britt in the back with the baggage. Christina, who had never before driven on the left side of the road, took an experimental drive around the parking lot (did I mention all cars here are manual?).

We got to the hostel (Jamaica Inn) and got our rooms, which was one for ten people and one where three people stayed with strangers. Matt was the only guy in the 10-room. We put our stuff away and went to walk around the town to find food. We ate at a pizza/burger place, and found a sign that read "O gCearnaigh"...which is the last name Matt has always found when looking up his ancestry. When he discovered we were in fact on the West coast and found a "Kearneys Cycles" sign, we were nearly positive we had found his hometown! It was such a great coincidence.


16 March:

We woke up and left the hostel at about 9:00am. We drove to the Cliffs of Moher and Tower O'Brien. We stopped by a tiny store for food on the way and they had a GF section! Go figure. The cliffs were really amazing; the birds sitting on the cliffside looked like tiny specks compared to the massive cliffs. The waves and wind were so strong that we got "rained" on by Atlantic Ocean water. The view was absolutely breathtaking. And the bathrooms were very futuristic, with water-fall type faucets and a picture of the cliffs painted on the stall doors.

We stopped by a random castle on our way to Des's to have lunch. There are so many ruins of old homes and churches in Mayo (the county we were in). We'd see just one wall standing, or a whole building standing with no roof.

We stalled 3 times trying to follow Des's car and got separated at a roundabout (which they have instead of interstates, very dumb). We played hide and seek with the other car for about 2 hours before we randomly ended up at a place where Des used to work, and he came running up to find us, and then chased our car until we passed safely through the roundabout.

Des's mom made us bangers and mash for dinner - basically a shepard's pie without a pie. It was the best meal I've had, probably because it was homecooked. Then we all prepared to go out.

The pub we went to first was where Des works. We played Circle of Death. By the time we got to the third pub of the night (Cosy Joe's), we were having a wonderful time. Some random older lady, who appeared to be drinking alone, started dancing with us when we all fromed a circle to sing Piano Man. They played lots of Johnny Cash as well. Some creepy guy asked Kim, Matt, Aimee, and me if we were American, but when Steph told him she was from Manchester he backed off.

After the bars, we went to Des's sister's house for coffee and some guitar playing. Then we split up and some of us went back to Des's, where we stayed, and others slept at Rachel's.

March 17:

The group who stayed at Des's woke at 7:30am to eat beans, toast, sausage, and tea (very Irish breakfast) and went hiking. We climbed Croagh Patrick, which is 2510 ft high at its highest peak, but we only made it 1/2way because of the terrible rain and wind! It was like a hurricane! All our clothes were soaked through, but I am so glad we got up early to climb it. It was beautiful. However, the rest of the weekend I was cold and wet.

We drove to Galway after a short nap and drying of clothes, where we met up with Des's friends who were allowing us to stay in their house for St. Paddy's Day night. We watched some rugby 6-Nations games, then went out to walk about town. It was drizzling on us the entire time. We stopped in bars, and boy do those Irishmen start drinking early, especially on this holiday! By 7:00pm the pubs were PACKED. We mainly went to four bars, including Des's favorite "Taaffes". In the end we stayed at Spanish Arch to drink and listen to live music.

At the end of the night, we walked home and crawled into random places to sleep in the guys' unheated house. We all cuddled to keep warm. Suffice it to say, not a very comfortable sleep, but an adventure nonetheless.

March 18:

We left past noon for Dublin, just Matt, Des, Chris, and Christina. The others (Britt, Kim, Aimee, Steph) took a bus - Carlos, Augustine, Amandine, and Sheyla had already split from us the previous night. We had time to stop at Dublin's city center, so we did. We arrived to sunny weather...and then got snowed on!

The snow was heavy and wet, like pouring rain, and came on suddenly. It ended just as quickly. I bought a couple necklaces (one for Stephie) and golf paraphenalia for mom and dad. I plan on sending those sometime this week before I leave for Barcelona. Des pointed out the spire in the city center which...well, we don't know why it's there, but it's famous. He also pointed out the post office, where the Easter Uprising occurred in 1916.

By the end I was exhausted and grumpy, but really glad I had the experience of Ireland. It was one of those "fly by the seat of your pants" trips, and every minute was exciting. Ireland is absolutely beautiful, and in the summer I'd love to try climbing Croagh Patrick to the top. I did wish some KH people could be there, because I knew they'd appreciate it a lot.

Now, I have to prepare to finish editing my NH paper, shop for traveling gear in Glasgow with Kim, and plan our Haiku pub crawl. Possibly I will get to Paris and London between finals but for now...Well, Barcelona awaits me in 8 days! I can't wait to get back to Euros...the exchange rate is fantastic compared to the pound.

One more note: On the way home, I ditched my water. The security guy stopped me for my contact solution. It cost me five pounds so I was NOT pleased. Then, the guy used common sense and told me if I could use some he'd let me keep it. Thank goodness some people out there actually think before following stupid laws.

-A-

American Night

This weekend, the Americans all decided it was important to teach the Scots something about American drinking. Here, drinking is a national passtime. Everyone is expected to drink. It's an emblem of Scotland (and Ireland). Drinking is basically a national tradition. Well, we do it a bit differently in the States. Instead of being satisfied with sitting around and drinking, we need some sort of entertainment to keep us energized, or else we just get tired. Hence the use of drinking games, which are basically non-existent here.

Tara, Becca, Matt and I agreed to get plastic cups, ping pong balls, and cards for games of Kings/Circle of Death, Drunk Driver, Trapped, and of course...beer pong. We bought beer (cider for me) and started the festivities after 10pm.

First we played Circle of Death, which was quite hilarious. It was a good warm up. Ross, providing ping pong balls by way of the hollow plastic "widgets" found in Guiness cans, watched us and laughed at us and played with the music. Then we set up for pong. Matt and I beat Tara and Becca, but Callum and Daniel were somehow able to beat me and Matt, even though they had never played before (being Scottish and Spanish, after all).

After that, we were content to just finish slowly the drinks we had racked up in pong, playing trapped and drunk driver with Tara as dealer. We all went to bed around 2am.

Everyone took it easy Saturday, and tonight we saw Outlaw. The movie trailer was better than the movie, and the jumpy screen and closeup shots made the girls kind of sick. A waste of four pounds. :(

Anyway, this weekend was fun, but I NEED to get work done (or at least started) before I leave for Ireland on Thursday. I bought a tiny notebook to keep as a journal while traveling without my laptop, so I'll be able to update at the end of the trip. But my NH essay is due 23 March by 5pm, and I have an oral presention on DH Lawrence to give at 3:00 the Tuesday after Ireland (the 20th), so I need to prepare that BEFORE I leave. Blast.

My new favorite word: Scaffy (a word one would use to describe gypsies, according to Ross).

In a sentence: Stop cheating you scaffy bastard!

-A-

Boredom is better in Scotland

I haven't updated much, mostly because no wants to read about my multiple papers/reports I've been working on. Things haven't been very adventurous lately, but in 8 days I'll be in Ireland and then in two more weeks, I'll be in Barcelona. So there will be excitement to come.

This weekend Daniel, John, Matt and I saw "The Number 23" which I really enjoyed. Kim and I baked cakes, and I did homework. Yesterday, I saw a couple split ends in class so Kristin cut my hair and I gave myself new bangs. I really enjoy them. Glad I didn't accidentally butcher my head, though.

I miss watching House but it hasn't been uploaded to my TV sites yet.

I have one more paper and one more oral report to go before my semester is over.

My finals are April 26, 27, and May 18. Between the 27th and 18th I will probably try to get to London and Paris. After the 18th I will do what little traveling I can before I return on the 27th of May.

It's SO odd how quickly this trip is going by. I feel like I haven't even really been here, like I'm not really absorbing it yet! All I want to do for the rest of my life is travel haha.

Expect a fun update sometime after March 18, when I return from Ireland. Till then, nothing too new is happening.

-A-