Kinsale

On Tuesday we had the opportunity to visit Kinsale as a group because of an extremely generous donor from OU.  It was definitely worth the trip and I know that we all appreciated it so much.  We had the pleasure of going on a fantastic walking tour with a man named Barry.  He was really great! Some tours can feel like they have lasted for forever but Barry kept everyone engaged and kept the information interesting.  I couldn't have been happier with that part of the day.

The first place we stopped at was the dock.  I think it's obvious that the view was amazing.  I can only imagine what it would be like to see the sail boats all out.  We missed the big race weekend but just a few days! That would have been fantastic to see!

 

One of the things that makes Kinsale so beautiful and fun to visit are the colorful streets! This is just a small taste of the bright colors there were to see.  I've already decided that if I lived in Kinsale I would paint my house hot pink with some bright blue trim, or perhaps the other way around. I've got some time to think about it.

 



 

See the guy next to me?! That's Barry! See the guy in the blue shirt on the end?! That's Liam! I don't know if I've mentioned Liam before and if I haven't shame on me.  Liam was our bus driver for all of our trips.  The man is seriously one of the sweetest people you'll ever meet and probably one of the brightest too. I don't know how he packs so much information in his head but he can talk about Ireland's history, the people of Ireland, the places of Ireland, etc. for entire 3 hour bus ride!  It's quite impressive.  Basically Liam has been one of the highlights of the this trip.

 

Now, you may notice the lobster on the trip behind us (squint and you should see it).  That lobster is there welcoming you as you enter Fishy Fishy, probably the most famous restaurant in Kinsale thanks to some great food provided by Chef Martin.  We were lucky enough to score dinner at Martin's lovely restaurant also because of the donation that was provided for the trip. 

Meet Martin: a very friendly man and incredibly knowledgeable about all things fish.  He gave a little fish 101 lesson before dinner.

 

 

 

One of the choices for dinner was a chicken salad but I figured I couldn't go to one of the top restaurants in Ireland and not try the fish, which is what they are all about, so I went for the fish and chips.  It was really good! Props to the chef!

 

After dinner and after some free time we headed over to Charles Fort for a tour.  There's so much information that goes into that fort I'm just going to suggest you Wikipedia it if for some reason my mentioning it lights a fire in you to do some research. After our venture around the fort we packed up and headed back to Cork (our last bus trip with Liam (tear!) ).

 

I think I speak for everyone in our group when I say Kinsale was a fantastic day trip! It was so great to get out of the classroom and get to see yet another gorgeous place in Ireland.  I'm so happy that the donor for this trip fell in love with Ireland and Kinsale, specifically, enough to be so generous as to send a group of kids to experience it for themselves. 

Weekend Get Away

Last weekend I had the pleasure of going to see some wonderful sites near Galway: The Cliffs of Moher (see the background of this blog? Yeah, I've been there now!), Poulnabrone Tomb, Galway, Kylemore Abbey, and the Rock of Cashel.  I realize none of that probably means anything to you but never fear because, like always, I've got pictures!

 These are the Cliffs of Moher! I don't think the pictures do them justice at all but it's the best I can do.  The cliffs have been my number one favorite thing.  I mean who doesn't love beautiful things?!  It would be hard for me to imagine someone walking along the cliffs and not being blown away by their stunning beauty.  The only disappointing thing about my time at the cliffs was that I only had 2 hours to see as much of them as possible (I could have spent all day there) and I felt like I hardly put a dent in what I could have seen. 

After the Cliffs of Moher we packed back onto the bus and headed to the Poulnabrone Tomb.

Here it is folks. It may not look like much, but when you think about how each of those stones standing weigh hundreds of pounds a piece and then you realize that this tomb was constructed during a time when the only way to complete this structure was with man power you may be a little more impressed.  Another really interesting feature of this site is what the ground is made up of.

Instead of the typical green grass you see driving through the country side this area is dominated by rocks.  Basically it's a giant game of hopscotch.

And this is what happens when you lose at that game.

Finally after a long day of being on a bus and seeing some great sites we made it to our hotel in Galway.  We didn't really see much there other than our hotel room but that was probably best considering we needed our rest for the full day we had on Saturday.  More bus riding and stops at Kylemore Abbey and the Rock of Cashel.

 To be honest I don't know a whole lot about the abbey other than it's kind of a sad story.  There was a man who built this beautiful home for his wife because she loved the area so much (I think we can all agree that it's stunning).  Shortly after the house/castle was built the man's wife died while they were in Egypt.  Later the house was bought and turned into an abbey and it was ran by nuns for quite some time. All I know is this is my future home and if anyone would like to buy it for mean present it to me as a gift I will love you forever.

Also on the property is a 'mini cathedral' that was built by the original owner in memory of his wife.  It was gorgeous and I probably could have just sat inside for awhile and because it was just so peaceful. 

 

After our time at Kylemore Abbey we packed up yet again and headed to the Rock of Cashel before finally making it to Cork.  The Rock of Cashel looks like a relatively uninteresting place from the outside but our tour guide was exceptional and did such a great job at sharing its rich history with us.  It's definitely a place I would suggest to visit if you were passing by.

 

I will give you this tidbit of information about the Rock of Cashel...the Rock of Cashel isn't referring to the buildings on the site it refers to the ground you walk on when you're there.  I thought that was really interesting and worth sharing, hopefully you'll be more curious and check it out yourself!

Finally, after all of our adventures we made it back to Cork all worn out but it was worth it!

 

 

 



I Kissed the Blarney Stone

About a week or so ago I went to Blarney Castle and kissed the Blarney Stone!  Watch out world I have now been blessed with the gift of eloquence, aka the gift of gab.  Yes, it's true, I can now talk even more than I already could!

 

Now let me share with you the story of how I received the gift of gab....

 

 

This (the above) is Blarney Castle, not exactly the Disney castle you may imagine but still really beautiful, and the grounds it is surrounded by are even more stunning.  To reach the Blarney Stone you have to work for it; you have to climb to the very top!  Now, that may not sound so bad but let me just tell you that the narrow doorways and tiny spiral staircase you have to work your way up while being packed in like sardines with the hundreds of other people who also want the gift of gab is not the most ideal situation.  There comes a point during your assent that the stairs are so tiny that even my size 7 feet could barely fit on them!

 

Just to give you an idea of how small the inside of the castle was I have provided you with a picture of my friend Tree.  Perhaps it's an unfair commentary on the castles construction considering his (nick)name IS Tree but really, it was abnormally small the whole way up.

 



But the trek to the top was worth it (once you squeezed through the miniature doorway) not only because you have just about reached your destination and only minutes away from getting the gift of eloquence but also because once you emerge from the tower and into the light you have a breath-taking view.  If I wasn't scared of being swept off the top by the wind I probably could have spent awhile just looking at the surrounding landscape. 

 

 

 

Here it is guys, just moments before I received the gift of eloquence.  I'm sure it looks like a totally safe thing to do with the bars underneath me and the old man (that I had to pay to basically make sure I didn't fall to my death) holding on to me but in the moment it definitely felt like the most unsafe thing I could I have decided to do.  I was keeping my nerves under control right up until there were only two people separating me from the Blarney Stone.  The procedure for kissing the Blarney Stone is to get on the ground with your back to the wall and bend back to grab the bars (example provided by the photo).  The old man is there to not only hold you up but he also shoves you down, to what feels like your death, so that you can actually reach the stone.  As I was leaning back he just kept saying "Keep going! Further down!" as he pushed me further to the stone.  All was well though and I successfully kissed the stone!

 

 

So there you have it! The short and sweet story of how I kissed the Blarney Stone and now have the gift of eloquence.

Killarney Kicked My A**

I spent my weekend in lovely Killarney! We went biking around the National Park and Ross Castle the first day and then we went for a relaxing carriage ride around the park the second day.  For anyone who knows me you may have had to read that last sentence twice because surely I didn't say I went biking (for those of you that don't know I'm really scared of bikes) but believe it or not it happened. 

Proof!

 

 We biked about 12.5 miles which definitely kicked my tuckus but we got to see some of the prettiest scenery I've seen since I've been here.  It was exactly what I had pictured Ireland to look like before I got here.  We got to bike through some hills, or what they call mountains (the tallest mountain in Ireland is in Killarney), around a lake, to a castle and even trekked our way to see the Torc Waterfall.

It was a little rainy and somewhat chilly but overall a really great day for a bike ride! On the trail around the lake we passed fields with grazing cattle, people out for an afternoon stroll, and horse drawn carriages. It was so picturesque!

Personally, the 'mountains' in this picture, and if it were a clearer picture you would probably agree with me, reminded me of what the islands in Jurassic Park looked like and I was just a little disappointed that I didn't run into any dinosaurs, but maybe that was just me.

 

After we biked for awhile we ditched our bikes and took about a mile walk to see the Torc Waterfall.  It looked bigger in person but I think you get the picture - it was b-e-a-U-tiful and definitely worth the time it took to get there.



 

After our adventure to the waterfall we decided to bike our way to Ross Castle, because who doesn't want to see a castle?! We didn't get to go inside of it because we didn't really have time to wait for the next tour but it was still really cool to walk around and take some pictures.  If you've been keeping up with my posts you know about the Audrey getting lost debacle and it was here, at Ross Castle, that we were experiencing a part two to the ongoing saga.  We left her alone for 10 minutes and POOF she disappeared along with a couple of the other girls we were with.  All was well and we eventually found her and the other girls but it was a sticky situation for a little bit.

 

 

 

 

 

Once our group reunited we headed back to the Rent-A-Bike store to check in our bikes after a 5 hours day of biking.  Lets just say that I have not been in so much pain in my life and it was hard to sit for a couple of days.  Next time I'm requesting a seat with some cushion or I'll just bring my own.

 

 

Day 2 of our weekend adventure started with breakfast at our hostel and then we were off to take a carriage ride!  I love horses so I was totally pumped for this part of the trip.  We paid for the 30 minute trip through some of the National Park and it was awesome! Our guide was so nice and told us a lot of history about the park that we didn't know, for instance the National Park was donated by an American!

 

 

Say 'Hello' to George the horse! Unfortunately I didn't get our wonderful tour guides name but he was awesome!

 

Just some other people enjoying a carriage ride first thing in the morning!

 

After our lovely morning we grabbed some coffee on our way to the bus station and then grabbed the 11:30 bus back to Cork.  It was a really awesome weekend and I would totally recommend visiting Killarney to anyone thinking about coming to Ireland. 





15 Minutes of Fame

Guys, I'm famous! My picture is on a bands' Facebook page and they said my friends and I were, and I quote, "Legends"! Try not to be too jealous; your day will come...eventually.

The token guy in the back is the lead singer of J90! Check them out on Facebook!



 It all started when we decided to have a night out - Rearden's Bar being our destination.  We knew there was a free concert going on and we had already approved the bar (having been a few times before) so we got dressed up hit the town.  We got to the bar a little early but it worked out because we got front row seats and started the night off right with a couple of drinks. 

The only hiccup of the night, and I probably wouldn't even call it that, was the man at the bar that said I had to be American since I ordered a Murphey's beer.  It was just really confusing because Murphey's is an Irish beer.  I'm assuming he was trying to be a pain in my arse, so he poked fun for a couple of minutes but I didn't let him get to me too much. He just wasn't worth it.

After that bump in the road the night went on without a hitch.  While we waited for the band to get set up and start the lead singer came over to our table and handed out their CD to us.  I'll be honest - he was a looker so I told him he could take a picture with us, which he was more than happy to do of course. The, finally, around 11:30, the party really started when the band played some great covers of songs like: Ceiling Can't Hold Us, Ho Hey, I Knew You Were Trouble, Back in Black, Little Talks, Locked Out of Heaven, and All the Small Things; they also played some original songs that were really good too! 

The whole bar was packed with people and the stage was surrounded by a bunch of drunk people singing along and dancing.  It was definitely interesting to see how the Irish 'party'. I wouldn't say that it's too different from us but the age group at the bar is definitely much larger than it is back home.  There were people anywhere from age 21 to probably at least mid 50s!  It really proved that age is just a number and you're never too old to have a good time!








No big deal, we just got our picture taken with him while he was performing!







 

Anyway, I'll stop bragging, but we did have a fantastic night; we danced, we sang, and I lost my voice and some of my hearing (both were worth it, I assure you).  We stayed until the band was done and then headed home since we had an early morning the next day.  It was raining outside (that's Ireland for you) so we took a cab home;  8 Euros and a 7 minute cab ride, with a man named Denis, later we arrived safely back at our apartment.  It's nights that these that you remember and I'm so happy we're getting to have such great experiences here in Ireland!

Living the High Life

I know it's Wednesday and I'm just now writing about my weekend but that's what happens when you're living the high life in Ireland; jet-setting to places such as Fota and Cobh last Friday (by jet-setting I mean taking a bus to the train station and then taking a moderately slow train to both Fota and Cobh), shopping in the bustling city center on Saturday, and exploring the lay of the land in Cork on Sunday.

I would love to say that all of those things happened without a single bump in the road but that just simply isn't true. The trip to Fota and Cobh (pronounced Cove) was probably the least bumpy of all and that may have had something to do with it being orchestrated by our professors.  However, I did experience what it is like to fry in the Irish heat wave they seemed to be having last weekend. Let me explain that a heat wave in Ireland is 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit).  In Oklahoma I would have been freezing but here I got a sunburn.  My porcelain white skin can't seem to catch a break anywhere I go in the world. I got this sunburn for a couple of reasons: 1 - I didn't pack sunscreen because everyone knows it's always dreary in Ireland (now I know better) and 2 - the train that should have picked us up around 2 to take us to Cobh was at least 30 minutes late, which is more than enough time to bake. We finally got to Cobh and it was beautiful! It's right on the coast and the buildings are painted in dozens of different colors!  The only downside to our time in Cobh was the killer hill we took to see the Cathedral! Myself and my roommates were all gasping for air when we finally made it to the top.  After we found our way to the cathedral and back to the main city we had a wonderful rest of the afternoon!



This is the Killer Hill! I'm hoping that the picture does it justice but if not just trust me when I say it was a monster to climb!

 

 I think my roommates would agree that St. Colman's  Cathedral was worth the climb.

 

 

A small look at Cobh's beautiful seaside view

 

 

 In Fota we got to go to the wildlife park

 

 

On to Saturday! We decided that we would have a relaxation day filled with sleeping in (we've all been dying to do that) and shopping!  The day began successfully and ended successfully but there were some questionable times in-between there. the day began wonderfully! I slept until probably 11:30 and woke up feeling really great.  Once myself and my 3 roommates, plus our friend Katie, were up and ready to go we headed to the city center to do some retail therapy.  I needed to find shorts and some tennis shoes asap since I didn't bother to pack either, which actually went really well. Where the day went a little sour was when we lost one of my roommates, Audrey.  We were in H&M browsing around by ourselves (it's a 3 story store) and somehow we all ended up on the bottom floor except for Audrey. When we went to look for her she was nowhere to be found! We searched that store for at least an hour; I even asked the cashier if she could make an announcement for her.  We extended the search party to the Costa and Tesco, both just around the corner from H&M, but no luck.  At this point the 4 of us were getting really nervous and probably all playing scenes of 'Taken' in our heads.  Finally we decided to use the WiFi at Costa and Facebook Audrey.  Finally, we got a reply from her that all was well and that she had ventured home to change since she couldn't find us.  Needless to say we were very happy to know she was okay, but now it's our running joke for her not to stray too far!

 

Once Audrey had been found and we were able to meet back up we continued our day of shopping.  Once we had satisfied that desire we decided to drop our things off at our dorms and go for a walk! We found Fitzgerald park and took the walking path that runs through it.  We were having a really awesome scenic walk until we ran into a group of 3 men walking the opposite way.  I can honestly say that what happened next was a first for me and hopefully a last as well.  The men had clearly been drinking, and if we couldn't tell from their demeanor the box of beer with them certainly gave them away.  We had stopped to take a few pictures and as the men approached they started talking to us.  At first I couldn't understand what one of the men was saying but I found out in about .5 seconds when he reached for the waist band on his shorts to pull them down and show us his, and I quote, "ballskies".  After dodging the snake in his pants we quickly moved on with our walk.  Not 10 minutes later did we encounter another unfortunate excuse for a human being.  Once again we had paused, this time to shoot a vine, I guess we hadn't learned our lesson.  While minding our own business another group of men passed us.  One of the men asked if we were American in a very sarcastic tone of voice and we simply replied that we were.  To our surprise/shock he followed our response with a "go back to America" comment.  We weren't expecting that kind of response since we had met so many nice people thus far.  Thankfully he just kept on going down the walking path and left us alone.  I think the best thing to do in regard to that a****** is chalk it up to ignorance. The rest of the evening went really well and we didn't let the two crazies get us down!  We ended up at a local pub and relaxed with a couple of drinks.

 

Sunday is a much shorter story but a perfect example of going with the flow.  We had plans to go to Dingle Sunday morning.  We were going to catch the bus early and get to the bus station in time to catch the bus there and spend most of the day there.  Well instead our morning went something like this: we got up and headed to the bus stop not realizing that on Sundays the bus doesn't run until after 9 and we needed the bus to pick us up around 8:30 to catch the bus to Dingle by 9:30.  We decided to give it a shot and walk to the bus station that is in the city center.  We were probably 10 minutes into our walk and realized there was no way we were going to make it to the bus station.  Although we were disappointed we regrouped and decided to make this weekend's trip longer and do Killarny and Dingle all in one weekend.  Sunday ended up be really great; we hung out in the city center in the morning and got some coffee from Costa, took a nap back at our dorm, and went to UCC's campus to explore and do some homework.  It just goes to show that sometimes you have to play the cards you're given and have faith that it's all going to work out!

 

UCC campus! We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day!

 

 

Overall we had a very adventurous and fun weekend here in Cork!  

 



I guess I'm feelin' 22...whatever that means.

Okay, it has been a few days but I'm finally getting around to talking about spending my 22nd birthday in Ireland!  First, I need to say that I was kind of dreading having my birthday abroad. I mean, think about it, you're going to a new strange country without any of your friends or family and your birthday is during the first week of the program so you're still getting to know people.  BUUUUUUT I had no need to fear! I had a really amazing birthday! Aside from missing people from home, I am so happy that I got to spend the day with new friends in a really beautiful place and we had a great time. 

I'm just really thankful to all of my classmates and professors.  I walked into class first thing Thursday morning and was greeted by them all singing happy birthday; I was embarrassed but really appreciative too.  Later that night I went out with some lovely ladies and got dinner and hit up a couple of bars for a few drinks (don't worry nothing too crazy!).

This is just part of the group that went to dinner.


 

After dinner: These are some of the sweetest girls! I had such a great time!

We ended up eating at the Flying Enterprise which wasn't the plan at all. I really wanted to go to a traditional pub but the place we planned on going to stopped serving food at a certain time (note to self - start googling restaurants before you go if you haven't been before). Needless to say I'm so happy we ended up here! The waiters were some of the nicest people we have met so far, I'm definitely going to be eating there again! Also, when they found out it was my birthday they upgraded my single scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream to 3 scoops with cream puffs AND candles! They sang happy birthday to me and everything. It was so sweet!

See, this was my surprised face. I was genuinely caught off guard and so happy to see 2 extra scoops of the most delicious mint chocolate chip ice cream I've ever had! Also, don't worry I made a wish when I blew out my candles; I'll let you know if it comes true!

 

 

After dinner we hit up some cool bars and did the, what I imagine to be, 'typical' Irish thing and just had a few drinks (I drank Murphy's all night. No girlie drinks for me!)  and chatted.  I loved it! We did learn though that the Irish like to go out later in the evening, so don't expect a lot of people to be out and about any earlier than 11ish.

 

 

At the end of the night it was just me and my roomies standing! We had a great night and ended it with a walk back to our dorm, plus we stopped to get a few pictures in :)  I'm just so grateful to have had such awesome people to celebrate with and make me feel at home, especially since I was definitely missing my family and friends.  Thanks everyone!