Halloween!

Well, it's not exactly Halloween yet, but last night was the Halloween ball at school. It was actually a lot of fun, and amusing to see that the girls were actually wearing more clothes for Halloween than what they usually wear out to the clubs! Well, most girls for that matter.

The ball began at the DCU Hub, where we were supposed to wait to get on buses to take us all to the Mystery location. Everything was very hush, hush. Apparently, these mystery bus balls are very popular in Ireland and most Universities have one at least once a year. So, anyway we all get wristbands which get us on the buses, but the only problem was that there was not enough buses. So, somehow Ali coerced one of the ladies who worked for the Student Union to tell us where we were going. Finally, location unmasked eight of us load into a minivan cab and drive for over a half hour to the middle of no where and then this venue just appears. It was a little strange, but fun. Inside the venue there were four different areas: Elm Street, Dracula's Sanctuary, The Coven and Jason's Refuge. The venue wasn't really decorated, but it was fun none the less. People here love to dance. It is pretty funny.

The best costume I saw all night was a kid who dressed up as a bedside table and even had a lamp shade on his head. There was also a rubix cube and of course about a million bunnies, cats, devils, pretty much just throw the word "sexy" in front of anything and people were wearing it. My group was a bit more refined. Emphasis on "a bit." Ali and I were both 80's. We let the Irish girls do our hair and makeup. It was fantastic. I honestly did not even recognize myself. There were also the Spice Girls and David Beckham, a witch, a gangster, and of course the Ninja.

Just to show how ridiculous I looked:

Snap, Crackle and Pop meet the 80's
Elisha and I in the Hub.
David Beckham.
The Ninja and Scary Spice.
80's and the Devil.

Dance, dance.
Welcome to the 80's!
Check out that makeup! Seriously, did not recognize myself!

Bus ride home...

took..

forever!

Long Week

I have been slacking off on blogging and I know it. But in my defense it has been a very busy week. This was my first full week of classes and internship. Classes are going well, but the work is starting to pile up, so I am trying to be studious. Plus I have Don's Paper for my core course due on the 31st, so I have been working on that a ton. Well, I guess that's all for now. Until something exciting in my life happens...

Westward Bound... Again.

DAY 1: Strokestown Manor

Began the venture back to West Ireland on Wednesday. I am still struck by the beauty of Ireland. When I told people I was visiting Ireland they said you have never experienced green until you have seen Irish green. I now feel like I can truly say I understand what they mean. Even though I am traveling with my 18 group mates, who I have really come to love, it does not compare to traveling with Scott. I am excited to go back to Galway because I loved it, but I am happy that all my first memories of it are with Scott. Saying goodbye to Scott on Tuesday was actually not nearly as horrible as I thought it was going to be. Maybe it was because I have so much to look forward to, here in Ireland and back at home, but I really think a big part of it was that I am growing more and more comfortable with my time here in Ireland.

On Wednesday we headed to the Strokestown Manor. The road to Strokestown is ensconced on either side by miles of lush green farm lands with milky white sheep and spotted salt and pepper cows. The trees are reaching their peak fall colors of vibrant yellows, aubergine and rust. Sprinkled throughout the country are historic stone castles and churches. Most are in disrepair, but it does not detract in the slightest from their beauty.

Strokestown Manor is a large estate that I am sure was once a grandiose home in its hay day. Now it is forever preserved by its owner Jim Callery who purchased the estate at auction in 1980. The story of the home is actually quite tragic. It is over 270 years old, originally owned by the Mahon family. Then when the potato famine took effect on the Mahon family in 1847 they fell into debt. Mr. Mahon was so distraught over the thought of loosing his family home that he decided to find a suitable, very rich husband for his daughter Olive so the family could remain in the home. So, Olive became Olive Packenham of Strokestown Manor. The house was then passed down through the generations, until recently. The final Mahon’s who owned the home had three children, but decided that the Irish education system would not be proper for them, so when each turned 8 they were shipped to boarding school in England. At school the children grew distant and detached from their home, rarely returning home. When the children grew older they hardly ever came back to the house, so in 1980 when their Mother, who still resided at Strokestown could no longer care for the home or herself, her children put the home and all of its contents up for auction. Jim Callery, really only wanted a few achres of the land, but the house was only to be sold in its entirety, so he bought the entire estate.

The interesting piece of the story is that Jim Callery and his family were long time members of the Strokestown community and when he was in the process of restoring the home he found letters written by his ancestors begging Mr. Mahon to not evict them from their homes during the potato blight. In effect it is as if the house had gone full circle.

Inside the home it still holds all the original pieces from when the Mahon’s lived there. The rooms are very large with grand fireplaces in each. I thought a lot of Papa and Grams when I looked at all the china, although Papa and Grams collection of flow blue puts the Mahon’s to shame. My absolute favorite room and there is no surprise here, was the kitchen. It is a massive room with a viewing balcony where the lady of the house would look down over the help. There is two huge stoves built into the walls with a full rotisserie they could cook an entire pig on. The kitchen was even equipped with the original appliances that were used. Another cool facet, in the 1950s the lady of the house brought in an architect to completely gut the kitchen and equip it with modern appliances. She was tired of having to deal with the extremely dated appliances. The architect took one look at the beautiful kitchen and said absolutely not, so she installed a fake kitchen within the original with four false-walls. When Jim Callery bought the home he was told there was nothing behind those walls, but when he began to restore the house he was in for a big surprise to see that the original kitchen had been perfectly preserved.

The amazing kitchen.

Strokestown Living Room - 1950

Strokestown Living Room - 2009

There were secret tunnels built in under the Manor so the servants were never seen walking in the actual house.

The gardens, very Secret Gardenish.

DAY 2: Crough Patrick & Connemara

Crough Patrick Mountain. There is an annual pilgrimage to the top of the mountain each year to pay penance for your sins and homage to the saint. People who feel they have been especially bad will climb the mountain shoeless. We did it with shoes, thankfully. I don’t even want to imagine what a shoeless hike would be like. At the top there is a shrine to Saint Patrick. The view looking out over the town and water is remarkable. We only climbed to stage two, so I am sure the view only gets more incredible as you go up.

At the base of Crough Patrick is the the Coffin Ship Famine Memorial.

The sails are made of skeletons, representing all the people who died.

The Base of the Mountain - St. Patrick

Crough Patrick Mountain

The view.

Every where you looked, it was breathtaking.

I know I keep saying everywhere I visit is the most beautiful place, but I really think that Connemara is absolutely the most incredible sight I have ever seen. It appears as you turn the side of mountain and then stretches on for over 30 miles, mixing the land with winding river ways. It was amazingly sunny and warm. The sun would sparkle and glimmer off the water creating perfect mirrored reflections of the mountains and clouds. It is hard to describe how beautiful Connemara is. I love the pictures I took of it, but they honestly do not do it justice. When you stand there looking out over the winding road with curving waterways and mountains rising on either side like great protectors, you realize just how small you are.

Every year there is a famine walk through Connemara to commemorate the millions of lives lost. The mixture of history, beauty and religion that is weaved throughout the land creates a mystifying transportation back to the old world Ireland where people lived off the land to survive. It is absolutely amazing. There really is no words to describe it.

Tucked into the hills of Connemara is Kylemore Abbey, a beautiful mansion built as a summer vacation home. It’s pretty nice, for a summer home.

DAY 3: Galway

Going back to Galway was fun, but I have all my first memories there with Scott and I am happy for that. I learned a little more about the history though. There are two small castles in Galway called ten pound castles because that is how much they were originally thought to cost. The money was given to the builder and owner by the king in order to create sustainability for the town. The two castles are now a restaurant and an AIB bank.

Galway - Market Quay

This is a statue right outside the Spanish Arch commemorating Christo Columbus’ visit to Galway before he sailed to America.

DAY 4: Home

The last day we didn’t do much, pretty much woke up and got on the bus for Dublin. The hotel we stayed out was extremely nice. They provided us with breakfast and dinner everyday. The first night we sat to dinner and looked over the menu we were all amazed. Each night we ate a three course meal, choosing from duck, steak, fish and chips, lamb, seabass, chicken. It was delicious. The first course was also amazing, fish chowder, Cajun prawn salad with smoked salmon, bruschetta. We ate like kings, or more like we stuffed ourselves to the point of nausea. Then each morning we would come down stairs to a full buffet of fresh fruit, pastries, cereals, yogurt and granola. Only to sit down and be served an entire Irish breakfast of bacon, sausage, fried egg, tomato, mushrooms, black and white pudding and toast. It was a lot of eating.

At night we would venture into the town of Westport, which is basically made up of a handful of small shops and about 30 pubs. The most famous is Matt Molloy’s. There were always live music sessions going on and the whole place was filled with locals. I made friends with an Irish family who were more interested in the America than I ever thought possible. They were extremely sweet though and offered to take me surfing, they even had an extra board and wetsuit for me. I met Matt Molloy the second the night I was there he is in the Chieftons, a Grammy winning Irish group. There is one of his Grammy’s sitting on a shelf over the bar. That was pretty cool, but I think the better part was all the pictures of Matt with various artists hanging on the walls. It was definitely the type of pub you want to go to in Ireland. The trip to the West with the group was tons of fun. Now I am looking forward to Northern Ireland in November!

The Edge and Back: Galway, The Cliffs of Moher & The Aran Islands

After the first few weeks of uncertainty and disappointment with the reality that the part of Ireland I was staying in was not what I had in mind, I finally found my Ireland. This past weekend was one of the most amazing, breathtakingly beautiful weekends of my life. I traveled from the east coast to the west coast to explore the ancient city of Galway, originally a major Irish port where wine was traded with continental Europe. I then went on to conquer the great Cliffs of Moher, looming 700 feet above the roaring ocean, spanning almost five miles. Finally, on to the picturesque Aran Islands, where I bicycled my way through hills and valleys of untouched Irish beauty. But now I am getting ahead of myself and must start from the very beginning of my journey to the edge and back.

DAY 1: Dublin
It began on Wednesday, with the arrival of Scott, a very exciting arrival! It being his first night in the town I knew I needed to show him all around Dublin City Center and indulge him in the great spirits of the Irish. We both sipped our first Temple Bar Guinness, while listening to the gentle strum of the guitarist playing Galway Girl and then Molly Malone. It was the perfect Irish beginning to the Irish meal that was to follow. We dined on potato and leek soup and steak and chips with brown gravy. It was perfectly delicious.

DAY 2: Galway
The next morning we arrived back in the city center bright and early to catch a bus to Galway. Much to my surprise the bus actually left exactly on time and arrived in Galway on time, driving us through farmlands and small town celebrations like Ballinasloe, one of the oldest horse fairs in Ireland, complete with a merry-go-round. When we arrived in Galway it was one of the best weather days I have had since I got to Ireland, although I must admit the weather has been decidedly good overall, but that day was warm and sunny with crystal clear blue skies. We ate this wonderful little pub called Townhouse, where we wound up having two more meals because it was so good. We sat outside in the sunshine, sipping Guinness and making friends with the locals, while munching on chips.

Galway is one of the sweetest little fishing towns I have ever seen.

There are churches everywhere in Ireland, each one more beautiful than the next.

Sunset on the Galway waterfront.

DAY 3: Cliffs of Moher
The next day it poured all morning, but that didn't dampen our spirits. Scott and I took a bus tour from Galway to the Cliffs of Moher, exploring the Burren region which is this crazy limestone rock covered lands, that seems to stretch for mile upon mile. While it seems gray and depressing there is actually a unique beauty in the way the green grass comes through the sides of the gray rock emphasizing the rich colors of each. Even with gray skies it didn't detract from how strong the greens are here, highlighted by the sea and sky.

We also went to see the Poulnabrone Dolmen, one of the most famous landmarks in the Burren. It was built by Neolithic Farmers almost 6,000 years ago. It is in the middle of the Burren and I am pretty sure if you didn't know what it was you wouldn't spend too much looking at it. The part that amazed me was that it is such a simple structure, yet has survived the elements of time for thousands of years.

We also trotted through a fairyring, where legends were made. Fairyrings are basically single circles of trees that I am not sure if anyone knows how they were made, but they are beautiful in their simplicity. There are hundreds of fairy tails, but the one that I loved the most was about the mother who looked after her child so ardently that her son was never able to be a real boy. He always had clean cloths and was never allowed to run and around. Then one day her son broke loose and ran in the garden, digging in the dirt, rolling in the mud. By the time his mother got him he was covered in head to toe with mud. His mother scrubbed and scrubbed him trying to get him clean, but the dirt would not get out from under his fingernails. Then not too long after that the boy went missing again, his mother was frantic. She looked everywhere for him and was giving up hope as the hours passed, but finally the boy showed up. When his mother asked where he had been all day, the boy responded by saying the fairies had taken him to their magical world. He had flown and played with them all day, but in the end they couldn't keep him and had to send him back to the real world because the he still had pieces of earth on him, under his dirty nails. From that day on the boy was always allowed to play and have fun like all the other little boys.

Then we traveled through countryside filled to the brim with history and beauty around curve in the road.

Then we finally made it. The Cliffs of Moher. In part I don't know if any words I could ever say would give justice to the awe inspiring sight of them. It is one of the most moving experiencing I have ever had. You stand at the edge of the cliffs and are hit by how small you really are. The pure sight of them makes me wonder what else there is in this world I have not seen. Pictures are one thing, but standing at the edge looking for the side the cliffs you cannot help but stop and realize how amazing this earth that we live on really is.

It is truly the most amazing sight I have ever seen in my entire life.

DAY4: The Aran Islands
Just when I thought it could not get any better we took a 45 minute bus south to the Ferry at Rossaveel and then over to the Aran Islands. Weather permitting, I was told renting bicycles was the best way to explore the Island. It is the best way. There is something to see and explore at every turn. Feeling the sea breeze flow through my hair as I rolled down the coast of Aran is the only way I would ever want to experience the beauty of this Island. The only part that I didn't realize when I rented the bikes is that the Aran Islands are not exactly flat. In fact, they are extremely hilly. Needless to say both Scott and I were a bit sore then next day, but it was definitely worth every achy muscle!

One of the oldest church remnants on the Island.

There are stone walls all over Ireland, but their beauty was evident on the Aran Islands because the walls were so close together and since the Island is quite hilly you could see them for miles.

There are farm animals, like horses, sheep and cows everywhere on the Island. I am not sure who owns them, or if they are even owned. But, they definitely add to the beauty of the Island. The water was absolutely gorgeous. It looked tropical in most places which was so unique and contrasting to the lush green grasses that surrounded it.

This was one of the most unexpected parts of the trip. After biking up this very large hill, you get to the top and there is a group of Aran sweater shops and then a small museum where you pay 1 euro. Scott and I were a little confused by this, but though hey, when else are we going to be here? So, we pay the euro and hike up a mountain, which only has a little trail leading up to what looks like a big circular stone structure. Then as you reach the top you realize you are at the edge of the Island. Since these cliffs were so unexpected they were almost more beautiful and awe inspiring than the Cliffs of Moher.

Absolutely amazing.

This was by far my favorite part of the trip.

DAY 5: Back to Dublin
After an action packed weekend, Sunday was finally a day of rest. Scott and I ventured around Galway a bit more, poking in shops and having a leisurely lunch at the favorite Townhouse. We then caught the bus back to Dublin to gear up for a big Monday of tours and more.

DAY 6: Here's to Arthur.. and John!
Since Ireland is known for its drinking, we thought it only proper to see how the famous drinks were made! We toured the Jameson Distillery where I was given a diploma as an official Jameson taster, which I can now proudly say I will probably never drink again. Hard liquor is definitely not my idea of delicious. Nonetheless, I did partake in the merriment and cheer.

Getting ready to enter the distillery!

The original barrels that they age the 18 year old Whiskey in. I can say it is much smoother than Scotch whiskey, like John Walker and Jack Daniels does not even enter into the same realm as Jameson, as I learned during my taste test.

GUINNESS! After Jameson, I was a little toured out, but knew that we had to go to Guinness. It is an Irish institution after all. The tour house is actually amazing. It is seven stories that tells the entire story of how Guinness is made, how it came to be Guinness, runs through the entire 250 years of advertising, which was my favorite part and then the best part is the seventh floor, the Gravity Bar. The Gravity Bar is one of the coolest places in Dublin. It is very similar to Top of the Hub in Boston, a 360 degree view of the entire city and then up to the mountains. It is the perfect way to end the tour. And, it really is true, Guinness does taste better here.

Just a little excited. I was too!

To Arthur!

Just lounging at Arthur's desk in his chair.

The John Gilroy advertisement campaign with the Toucan, Giraffe and other circus characters was definitely my favorite!

Gravity Bar

Amazing views.


From every angle.

Cheers!

All in all, it was one of the best weekends of my life. I could not have asked for better weather, better food, better drinks or most of all better company. Cheers!