2009

Ireland 2007 - Rugby game and back to Shannon

Today I am heading over to the University fields to watch Adam play some rugby. Then I am taking the bus back to Shannon tonight and will be staying in a hotel there overnight. My flight leaves tomorrow morning around 8:30am....3:30am your time, and arrives in columbus around 7ish. I fly from Shannon to London, then London to Chicago and from Chi-town to C-bus. Good times :) The flight from London to Chicago only takes 7 hours, so that won't be bad.

I had a ton of fun here, and can't wait to come back again and see the northern and eastern parts of the country...yes Enrique, you are coming with me for sure next year :)


C-ya all late on monday...well make that early tuesday for most of ya. LOL

Cobh

Cobh is about a 30 minute train ride from Cork. It is also home to the titanic museum, since it was the last place the titanic docked before it sank out in the atlantic. Kind of eerie when you get there because they have everything set up like it was back when the boat was docked out in the port. After checking out the sites near the dock at Cobh, we wandered around the city and weaved in and out of all the old buildings and shops.

We walked up the huge hill that takes you to the top of the city and there we found Colman's Cathedral. (Yes Alan, it was colman without an "e" in it) This is a huge catholic church that looks over the entire town and is still used today for masses, weddings and things of that nature. After looking inside the church and wandering through the many rooms we decided to go back down to the main town and get back to Cork.


When we got back to Cork, we did a bit of shopping and then grabbed some dinner at a pub. We went across the street to Old Oak and listened to some live music and watched some great rugby matches on the big screen there. The rugby world cup is going on at the moment, so everyone here watches it. It is so much fun. I love me some rugby. Too bad Ireland got eliminated early on. So sad.

Cliffs of Moher and The Burren

Up early once again to catch the bus to the Cliffs and the Burren. The cliffs of moher are 300-400 meters high and are the most photographed site in Ireland. The Burren is near the coast of Doolin and has been described as a "lunar landscape" of sorts. It is very rocky and only grasses can grow there. My first stop that day was the cliffs. They dropped us off at the base of the cliffs and we made our way up the rocky terrain to about 200 meters from the drop site. Then the fun begins.

The landscape becomes more soft and grassy and we have to weave our way through cows and rock fences to get up to the top. I fed a few cows on the way, we are all good now. At the top you come out on the edge of these huge magnificant cliffs that are just jaw droppingly beautiful. Super blue water, the greenest grasses you have ever seen, and then there are the charcoal grey cliffs the just drop straight down to the crashing ocean below. WOW.

It is pretty windy up on top of the cliffs, so I can see why a few people get blown off them each year. And no they don't survive. A fall from that elevation into water is just like falling on solid asphalt. Yah no good. So i made sure not to get too close to the edge, kinda. Stayed up on top for an hour or so. Wandered up and down the length of the cliffs, then made my way back down to the shuttle that would take me to the Burren.

After about 30 min on the bus we arrived at what looked like the surface of the moon. Super rocky and very grey. There was some grass here and there, but it is very short grass..almost like what you would find on a golf course. We hiked up the south side of the Burren where there was no grass so we wouldn't slip on the rocks as we made our way up to the top of it. Once at the top we got the best views of the Atlantic. No wonder people tolerate living here (since it rains and is foggy most of the year), the views are insane, best views I have seen in a long time. So I hiked around the Burren for another hour, made my way over to the mini cliffs they have there...only 100 meters high. And since they are not as high, when the tide is up the waves crash over them and spray water everwhere. Pretty cool I tell ya. OH and the best part, I saw a huge humpback whale when I was walking around too. Since the burren leads right up to the ocean, you can see seals and whales most of the year from the baby cliffs there.

Hopped back on the shuttle, stopped in Doolin for dinner, and then made our way back to galway to then catch the bus back to cork at 6pm. Got back to Cork around 10pm and met up with Adam out on the town. Man that was one long day :)

Aran Islands

Got up early and hopped on the shuttle bus to the Aran islands. These are a set of three islands that are about 14miles long by 5 miles wide. Inish Mor is the larger of the three, and our destination today. Once we got to the main dock in Rosenvale, we boarded the big Aran Islands ferry and headed out to sea for our 30 minute journey. The seas were calm, so no problems with people puking over the edge of the boat or anything haha. Had a bunch of funny folks from Italy on board...they made the trip rather amusing.

Once we arrived at Inish Mor, we hopped on the mini bus that would take us up to our base camp....well not really base camp, more like a sweater shop at the base of the hill we would be climbing. Took about 45 minutes, but we made it up to the top of the hill and into the old circle fort that still resided there. Once through the fort, you are on the edge of a 200 meter high cliff that drops straight off into the ocean. IT WAS AWESOME. Don't worry, I didn't get too close to the edge. I tried to stay within 2 feet of falling off at all times.

After 30 minutes up on top of the world, we climbed back down the hill and walked around the western side of the island near the beaches. We came across a really neat old burial ground with huge celtic crosses marking the graves. They say these grounds go back to the 400's. We then came to a site called the "seven churches," and old church shaped like a cross with seven smaller buildings around it. Most of the smaller buildings had fallen, but the largest church remained standing. Pretty good for a 2000 year old building.

Made our way back to the main town and stopped off at the Aran sweater market to check out the handmade wears they had there. I would get one if wool didn't make me itch like a crazy person. So no purchases were made...probably for the best since the sweaters were 125 bucks. YA I KNOW. WOO.

Hiked back down the rest of the way through the town (it's pretty hilly) and made our way over to the ferry. Got chased around by a funny little dog on my way. He decided I was his play buddy and kept wanting me to throw the stick he was holding, so of course I obliged. I think I threw that stick about 30 times. So I have a new dog pal in ireland, rock on haha.

Got on the boat and went back to Galway to stay the night. Because tomorrow I have another trek to go on. The Cliffs of Moher and the Burren, YES! Hiking and more hiking :)

Galway

On Wednesday afternoon, Kylie and I made the 4 hour trek up to Galway. It is a very young city...you can tell this by the number of pubs and clubs they have back to back on one street. I think on one street there was about 40 of them, so it's just like OU haha. We got into galway at around 7pm after stopping off in Limerick and Ennis...just two tiny towns on the way with some fun little sites to see. Once in Galway, we checked into our hostel....The Kinlay House.

I was pleasantly surprised when we walked in, it was nicely taken care of and everyone is really helpful and welcoming. We met our roommate, Leigham, from France. I think he was a bit overwhelmed considering our room consisted of two loud girls from the states and one quiet kid from Paris. He would offer to step out anytime we needed to "prepare," aka get dressed, shower (yes there was a separate bath with a door in our room), brush our teeth...you know, the basic preparations a girl needs to do to get ready for the night. He just didn't know what to do with himself. LOL

Kylie and I wandered around Galway city, and found ourselves in a great pub with live Irish music. That was great!!! They have the best live bands here, all acoustic and all irish. The fiddle guy had a guiness in hand the entire time. HA! After we had our fill of music at the pub, we walked across the street to get something to eat...I got the best fish and chips ever. Fish as big as your head and chips as big as your fingers (if you had 6 inch fingers). Our first night in Galway was a blast. Good thing we have one more :)

Killarney

Went to Killarney today and hiked around the national park, saw Ross Castle and muckross lake. Tried to get up onto the main mountain there but it was too foggy, so the trails were shut down for the afternoon. No biggie. I still did a 10 mile hike through the hills in the park and got to see the Irish forests.

And another big find in the city of Killarney...ICE CREAM. Finally! I don't think there is one single ice cream place in Cork. It is just not very big here. They mostly like gummy candies and things like that. SO it was a very happy time for me when I stumbled across Murphys Ice Cream Shop. I am thinking it is like the graeters of ireland from what I tasted hahaha. Had the cookies ice cream. Tastes just like cookies and cream back home.

I finished up my trip to killarney with a walk around town and throughout the woolin markets where they have some really nice sweaters. They had some pretty sweet cosby sweaters as well...crazy stripes and patterns with hats to match. Awesome.

After coming home from killarney, the group and I went to a pool hall and played a few games and hung around for the rest of the night listening to traditional irish music. As you can see, there are some crazy characters out on a Tuesday night hahaha.

Cork City Tour

On Monday we finally took the Cork City tour that everyone had been talking about. You go on an open topped bus and ride around the city ...you hop on and off the bus as you like so you can see all the sites. It was a good time.... other than it was about 50 degrees and windy burrrr.


We saw the Cork City Gaol (pronounced Jail), St. Finnbarr's Cathedral, Crawford Art Gallery, Cork Butter Museum (HAHA), Fitzgerald Park, Cork Opera House, Elizabeth Fort, and the City Hall/Courthouse. The Cork City Gaol is the best..it housed women only. In the 1800's the town would come up to the Gaol on the weekends and watch these women be hung from the front balcony of the entrance. Crazy.

After the tour, we went and watched a Gaelic football game. Now this game is insane. It is a mix of rugby and soccer. You can either score on the goal keeper for 3pts or put it through the uprights for 1 pt. They pass the ball by throwing it and advance up the field by dribbling and bouncing it off their foot. The games are announced all in Gaelic. Impossible language to even attempt to get a grasp on. But it's pretty funny to listen to. After a long day of seeing all of Cork we decided to go be bums and play cards (rummy) in Scott's apartment for a while. And of course I lost big time since I always get beat at Rummy. No fair.

Also, a BIG birthday hug goes out to my mom today. <------@------> (that is my virtual hug) HAPPY 29th BIRTHDAY MOM!! hehe :)

Sunday in Cork/Midelton

Today we went to a small town east of Cork called Midelton. It is the home of the Jameson Whiskey Distillery and museum. We did the guided tour, which was pretty darn fun, and then went to the main house for our complementary drink of Jameson. Now I remember why I don't like whiskey. It gives me the shivers woo. At least they gave us a coke with it so we all wouldn't be sitting around the distillery making horrible faces after each sip...that's just not good for sales. Adam, Kylie and Allison volunteered to do a whiskey taste test and then became "official" whiskey tasting experts. Or at least their signed and dated certificates say so.

After purchasing some Jameson for the back homers we all wandered into a nice little pub and had lunch and watched old guys yell at the horse races on T.V. Okay, imagine the movie "Snatch," do you remember how no one could understand Brad Pitt's character? Well that is exactly how the Irish in Cork sound. "Ya gotch dur hurse n de gruss wit de leg ore de ting n he won n ye ga yaaah"...WHAT? Exactly. Go horses is basically what he was saying.

So after my meal of roast turkey with 7 different kinds of potatoes we took a stroll over to the bus station to wait for our ride home. After waiting for a bit we start to hear a rumble coming down the street.... I am thinking, what the heck kind of muffler is on this car...oh but it is not a car with a crazy muffler rumbling down the street, it's a HUGE tractor looking thing driven by 2 teenagers. AND who follows them up, another crazy tractor with more kids driving. They drove up and down the main drag of Midelton about 3 times, and then probably got bored of me running after them taking pictures and went home. Ireland is crazy.

New friends and a night out in Cork

After my awesome 3 hr nap at Adam's, he took me up to meet his friends that live upstairs. Two girls, Allison and Kylie, and two guys, Scott and Rob, all from the States. We also met Tex and Jeff from Boston and Marlu, Tahan, Uli and Martina from Germany. Fun, fun bunch of folks. Scott made Aliison, Adam and I dinner (Chicken Ceasar Salad and garlic bread) in his apartment, so so good. Especially after the plane food I had eaten 8 hrs prior. After dinner we played quite a few games of Euchre and made fun of the crazy things on Irish televsion before we went out on the town.


We made our way over to Old Oak, a great pub in downtown Cork, and danced the night away to one hit wonders from the 90's and a slew of other "past their prime" american music. The guiness was good, the hard cider was better...Balmers Cider is what everyone drinks over here, sort of funny cosidering how much Ireland is tied to beer. We will check out more clubs later in the week, but this was a good intro into the Irish nightlife.

Oy, ya finally made it eh?

So after the debauchery at the airport Thursday I finally made it to Ireland early Saturday morning. Did you know the flight from Philly is only 5.5 hours? Yeah short, I know. I attempted to sleep the majority of the time, but to no avail. So I just did about 17 crossword puzzles and talked to my row mate for a few hours. She was the guest of the Education Ministry here in Ireland...trying to revamp Irelands secondary education programs and get the kids out of bars, or something like that.

Once I arrived in Cork and whizzed through customs...there was a lovely customs agent that decided I looked Irish enough to pull me out of the non-EU countries line and throw me into the super short line with all the native Irish ladies and gents...I continued on my way out to the #51 bus to Cork that was just about to take off. Woo thank god for that customs guy, he saved me an hour wait time for another bus. Thanks for the red hair mom, it comes in handy every now and again haha!

Bus ride = 2 hours. Slept. Got to the Cork bus station where Adam was waiting for me. He lives about a 5-minute Irish walk...or a 7-minute walk from the bus station. (The Irish distance/time perceptions are a little short of target for the most part...everything is "Oh ya, it's right down there, 5 minutes and you'll have it.") Got back to Adam's place and got myself a nap. All in all, it was a good traveling day.

And I really do LOVE US Airways!

Okay, so the trip has been put on hold a day. My flight to Philly was grounded do to rain. Come on, I am sure the pilots have flown in the rain a million times. I think they are just out to ruin my vacation....LOL.

So, US Air, I have decided to let you fly ME to ireland tomorrow. HOWEVER, haha check this out....I have cancelled my return flight with you (with full refund) and have taken my business to American Airlines. How can you go wrong with anything American? Well actually, I guess you can go wrong.... look at all those people in 1978 who bought a Chevy Chevette. Yikes!

So yes tomorrow, at half past high noon, I will be at the airport sitting at my gate waiting for those words I love to hear from US Air....*static* "uhhh folks, well, uhhh the flight deck tells us we have an hour delay, so uhhh, just sit tight, and uhhh we will be boarding soon." Good news is though, that I was able to extend my trip till next Monday....so Saturday to Monday is much better than Saturday to Saturday.

PS - many thanks go out to my hero Enrique "the bull" Medina. Mostly for flashing his military ID and giving the desk agent "a line" so that he could come through security with me and hang out at the gate. AND thanks for holding my bags for me while I sprinted up and down the airport twice, once with shoes on and once without. You are the best ever.

Leaving for Ireland

I leave for Ireland today at 6pm. Fly into Philly at 7pm, then off to Shannon, Ireland. It's an overnight flight, so we shall see if I can sleep a bit. I did bring my sweet OU blanket, so I am sure my row mates on the plane will be jealous since I will be so cozy LOL. Kidding, I will share :)

I get into Ireland at 8:30 on Friday morning and then take the 2hr bus trek to Cork, Ireland where I will be staying for half of my trip. I am sure I will be sleepy when I get there, but I will try to take some pics and post more Friday.