County Clare

This past weekend, we went to County Clare to see the Burren, the Aran Islands and see the Cliffs of Moher! We spent the weekend in a hostel in the little town of Lisdonvarna, which is known for its being the name of a Christy Moore song, being a spa town, and being home to a huge Matchmaking festival that lasts the entire month of September!
On our way down to the hostel, we stopped in to see the Rock of Cashel, a great castle, built on a large limestone rock and overlooks a lot of the country side. Once we got to the hostel and got the rooms sorted everyone set off to explore, get dinner, or in my case go golfing! A group of us headed out to a nearby pitch and put golf course in Doolin. It was a great little course, and had a beautiful view of the Cliffs of Moher! I can now say I have golfed in Ireland, and experienced "Irish Rough" first hand. It's not easy! I also had the unfortunate experience of landing in a water hazard. Although I'm sure that this isn't the most conventional one, only in Ireland I suppose! Other than that, it was lovely!
On Saturday we went to Aran Island, and walked around there. Many people took bikes or rode in a van to explore the island, but I decided I just wanted to walk around a bit after I had lunch. We found some old abandoned churches, as well as some gorgeous views of the bay and the island. There are so many stone walls all around the island, separating it out into little pastures and yards, it gives the island a sort of character. I loved the walls, they were so simple, yet really functional and sturdy. We then caught our ferry back to Doolin, to spend the rest of the day around town and then went to a local pub for some music and to relax. The pub was pretty crowded, there were a few locals, however it was mostly those of us from Mercyhurst, and a group of Dutch women who were traveling together and also staying at our hostel. The drummer in the band was also the bartender, so whenever someone wanted a drink he stopped playing and got up to go to the bar. The other musicians would just carry on without him. It was nice traditional music, with no vocals, just instruments.
On Sunday, we loaded up early in the morning for our bus tour around the Burren and over to the Cliffs of Moher. The Burren is an amazing landscape, there isn't really anything like it that I have ever seen. It was formed by the glaciers as they passed over the land and deposited huge boulders and scraping away the dirt to reveal limestone rocks. It's looks a bit lunar actually! Much later that afternoon we finally arrived at the Cliffs of Moher! It had been beautiful all day, blue skies, sunshine, warm weather and a little breeze. However, that all changed as soon as we got to the Cliffs of Moher. When we arrived, a fog bank had rolled in cloaking the cliffs in a mysterious gray-white blanket. It was too bad the fog never lifted, but I enjoyed seeing the cliffs in the fog. I figured that's how they look ninety percent of the time, so I got an authentic experience. Although you couldn't see all the cliffs at once, you could see the two cliffs nearest you on either side. This provided an element of surprise, as you walked along the edge suddenly a massive gray and green mass was looming in front of you. What is really amazing is that the cliffs were at one time completely submersed in water and were actually on the ocean floor! I am really glad I have seen them now, and I loved every minute of it. Walking along them as you could hear the ocean crash into the side of the cliff, and saw the cloud thin out and reveal the next cliff. It was a great day. Oh and lest I forget, it was Dr. Reed's birthday! So everywhere we stopped, we would sing a happy birthday song for Dr. Reed. So all in all, it was a great day to end an even better weekend!
Slainte!

Waterford Festival of Food

The festival of food! What a great weekend. It started on Friday night when we went to the barbecue at Lawlor's Hotel. It was so delicious, and so much fun! They were cooking chicken, lamb, hamburgers, and even rabbit! They also had a chocolate fountain with fruit kebabs. After dinner they had a jazz and come out and play for people to dance. They were really good, and there were a lot of really good swing dancers at the dinner too!
On Sunday they held the Farmer's Market in the town square, I couldn't believe how many people there were! The square was packed with families, vendors, pets and lots of delicious looking food. Many restaurants came out with small booths, while many of the usual vendors from the Thursday Farmer's Market were there too! There was a tent that had some people who were selling hand crafted jewelery, and some homemade soaps too! There was live music playing, and a really big hog on a spit in the middle of the square! Everything smelled and looked delicious, I wish I had enough money, and room in my stomach to try everything. I got a nice little burlap sack with the festival logo on it, and filled it with fresh food for the week ahead! I think I can say that we all had a great time at the festival this weekend!

Volcano's, Beaches, Curry and Tea

So today, I was supposed to head to Portugal to see a good family friend and his family. Unfortunately, Iceland had other plans for me! Yesterday, the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland errupted releasing a huge cloud of ash and smoke into the air! So since there was a mass of volcanic ash floating over the UK and other parts of Europe, no planes were allowed up - which meant I was staying right where I was in Dungarvan! So, I spent a good deal of that morning and afternoon just calling Expedia and British Airways trying to get my ticket changed to later date. However, the hold time for British Airways was a little over three hours. Needless to say, I don't have that many minutes on my calling card so waiting on the phone was not an option. After talking with my parents, my mom was going to try getting a hold of them - since she could call the toll free number without worrying about minutes.
Some good friends of my family live nearby here in Waterford. They had offered to take me to the beach with them that evening since I was no longer going to Portugal. It was the best thing that had happened that day. I had such a great time with them! It was Jason, his wife Claire and their two little boys, AJ and Spencer. Jason picked me up and we drove along the coastal road over to the beach, Bohamon Beach. We stopped on the way to look out at one of the coves. The Irish Sea is so beautiful. The beach was gorgeous, just a little cove of a beach in between cliffs, with a big sand dune behind it. Jason told me that about 15 years ago there were some bad storms that really did a lot of damage to the beach and the dunes. Since then they have reinforced the dunes and restored the beach. We met Claire and the boys at the beach, and played there for about an hour, till it started to get chilly when the sun went down. So we moved to the play ground there. It was a really neat playground, very new and the kids had a great time, I even got to swing on the swings! While we were there we had some fish and chips from a "chipper". A "chipper" is a place where they actually make the chips by cutting up the potatoes and frying them right there! It was really good and I felt pretty authentic.
After we headed back to their house for some chicken curry for dinner. The boys gave me a tour of the house, and showed me their toys in the back yard. After a very enthusiastic tour, I got to help make dinner. Jason made chicken curry and rice, I got to chop up the peppers. It was really nice to be able to help make dinner, and to sit down to a real family style dinner. I haven't done that since I've been here. It was just nice to feel at home. The curry was delicious! I've never had curry before so I really enjoyed it. After dinner, I helped clean up and do the dishes, while the boys got ready for bed. After everything was cleaned up and the boys were in bed we had a cup of tea and sat around before I went back. It was a really relaxing way to end a day that started out very stressfully. I'm really grateful that Jason and Claire and the boys are here, this trip wouldn't be the same without them.

Finn MacCool and Carrick-a-Rede

On Friday, after flying into Cork, Caitlin and I split from the group to begin our adventure up to Belfast to see the Giant's Causeway, the beautiful coastline, and cross Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. Our journey began smoothly we picked up our train tickets at the Cork Rail Station and got on our train. This was my first train ride, and I was really excited. I was also excited because getting to Belfast was going to require us to take a plane, a train, and an automobile! Cliche I realize, but hey it's the little things in life, right? Our train was really nice, we both had window seats, and since we had pre-booked our tickets, our names were in a little marque above our seats! I realize taking a picture may have been a little unnecessary, but you may not have believed me otherwise! We had empty seats next to us to start with, but were joined by a grandmother travelling with her two grand daughters a few stops later. The younger girl was cute and very amusing, getting up every few moments to walk around the train, then come back and report what she saw. Everything was going smoothly until we were about twenty minutes outside of Dublin. We had stopped to pick up a few passengers, but then we weren't going again! It was announced that the train in front of us had broken down and we would be leaving in about a half hour. This was not good news for Caitlin and I! We had a connecting train to catch to take us up to Belfast! So we finally got to the train station, but had missed our connecting train at this point, so we headed to information to figure out what to do instead. The very nice lady who was on duty there helpfully informed us that there was a bus that left Dublin every hour for Belfast, we could catch the Luas, a shuttle, over to the bus station and they would honor our train tickets there. Which they did! So we caught the bus up to Belfast, and made our way over to the hostel.
Saturday morning we got up to catch our tour bus up to the Giant's Causeway. It was a beautiful day, warm, sunny, a little breeze - perfect for our drive up the coast. Although we would spend a good deal of our day on a tour bus, our bus driver was very entertaining and told us all about the lovely scenery and history of the places we passed. We had several stops so we could get out and take pictures and stretch a few moments. The drive up the coast was beautiful, the landscape is unlike anything we've seen down in Dungarvan, Cork, Waterford or Dublin. The coast line is huge, jagged rock or grassy cliffs that seem to drop straight down into the water. Everything had become very green in our absence over the past week, so it was nice to see the landscape beginning to really flourish. When we reached the Giant's Causeway, we quickly alighted from the bus and headed down the steep path to see these mythical rocks. Now the Causeway for me has a special place in my heart. Growing up my Grandfather would tell us stories about Finn Mac Cool, and other tall Irish tales. Now, I am finally getting to see these fabled far away places I was told about as a small child. If you don't know the legend of Finn Mac Cool, I've included a link to it here. The Causeway itself is a phenomenon. The rocks are so different. Before and after them there are round boulders sitting around the water, and then suddenly they change form to these hexagonal pillars protruding from the ground creating this bridge out into the ocean. It's sublime. The huge cliffs standing tall behind you, the North Atlantic lapping up against the rocks, as you stand on top of these strangely shaped rocks. It was great! There are a very few places in the world where theses rocks exist, and this is where there are the most of them in one place. It was neat how they formed this bridge and pathway for walking on, some of them were covered with lichen, while others closer to the water had sea weed growing on them. After climbing around for a while we headed back up to eat some lunch and then walk up the cliff over looking the Causeway. What a view! You could see the entire Causeway, as well as up and down the coast and the open farmland and rolling hills that were further inland. Not to mention the great weather that we were having made the view that much more incredible. The blue sky meeting the cliffs and the ocean was really something great. I'm really glad I went. After that we got back on the bus to head to our final stop of the day, the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. Carrick-a-Rede originally functioned so that fishermen could cross from the mainland to a small island, or large rock - your preference - and fish for salmon! Now since salmon is no longer fished for on the coast because the North Atlantic Salmon is now almost extinct - the rope bridge remains up for daring tourists walk across. For about four pounds, you can test your fears as you walk across a twenty meter long rope bridge hung about thirty meters in the air above the very cold North Atlantic, and a good deal of unfriendly looking rocks. Luckily the day we were there the sun was shining and there was no wind, and the bridge was dry! Often times the bridge is wet and slippy, making crossing more of a challenge as well as more frightening. The view from the other side is definitely worth the thrill. You can look back on the coast, or out to Scotland, sitting happily on the horizon to the East. Some of the cliffs, both on the coast and on Scotland are brilliantly white, making them stand out even more. This is because they are limestone quarries! Around the area there have been sightings of seals, dolphins, stray migrating whales, as well as lots of sea birds. We saw a great deal of birds nesting on the side of the cliff, and on smaller rocks around the island. We did hear some seals barking, but we couldn't find where they were hiding. The seals reminded me of the Selkies, another legend I had heard from my Grandfather. The Selkies were seals that were able to change their form into that of a human. When I was little I watched a movie about the Selkies called, The Secret of Roan Inish.
So for me, the day was one filled with gorgeous new places, and some childhood nostalgia - a perfect combination.

Post Paris Recap

So now that I am home from Paris, I'll do a recap of our adventures and escapades last week. First off we all became metro pros by the time the week was over. We were all able to get on and off and navigate the Paris Metro system all on our own. We were also pros at ordering crepes from the vendors on the street - which were so delicious. I am happy to say I saw the major landmarks of Paris as well as found a quiet cafe to sit in and watch Paris pass by. We saw and climbed the Arc de Triomph, as well as spent a morning in the Louvre. The Louvre was amazing, and quite overwhelming. There were so many pieces of art and so many people there, sometimes it was a little hard to digest it all. But we found that some exhibits were quieter than others - like the Africa, North America and Oceania exhibit. Where to our surprise and excitement, we found one of the Easter Island heads! My favorite piece of artwork was actually a newer addition, found on the ceilling. It is a piece called "The Ceiling" and the creator is a contemporary American artist, CY Twombly. It was probably my favorite piece of artwork there. I would like to go back to the Louvre to see more of it, because you definitely need more than a morning in the Louvre. We also went to Musee L'Orangerie - where the paintings Water Lillies by Money are on exhibit. Monet is one of my favorite painters. So I was really excited to get to see a lot of his work. It was incredible to be face to face with the real things. L'Orangerie was probably my favorite museum that we visited. It wasn't huge and it wasn't terribly crowded either. It was really a nice museum with a lot of really nice exhibits. Second to L'Orangerie I loved Musee D'Orsay, a really big muesum. But not nearly the size of the Louvre, but much bigger than L'Orangerie. There was more Monet and impressionistic artists here - one of my favorite periods. I really enjoyed my time there. I also liked the time we spent at Montmarte, an artsy little neighborhood on a hill overlooking the city. It is also home to Sacre Couer - the first concrete church built in Paris. A beautiful church that can be seen from all over Paris, because of its size, white concrete, and placement on a hill. On Wednesday, I spent some time just sitting on a grass lawn between Napoleon's grave and the Exposition. We just sat in the sun and watched Paris pass us by for about an hour.
Thursday we headed out to Versailles to explore the Royal Palace and its huge grounds. Versailles requires an entire day to see it properly and to take the whole thing in. The grounds are so expansive they have shuttles and golf carts you can ride around so you can see everything. We didn't make it down to the Queen's Hamlet when we were there, but what we got to see was beautiful. It took over 50 years to get Versailles to the way it is seen now, and they said that most of the rooms were done over at least 10 times each. I can't imagine the kind of money it took to build a place like this. The Hall of Mirrors was incredible, it's crazy to think that we were walking along the same places that some of the most famous people in European history walked. That night a bunch of us went and found a little place to eat near where we were staying Alesia. The food was delicious and we all had a great time. It was a really nice way to end a wonderful week in Paris.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! We were leaving for Paris on Easter Sunday, so I went to vigil mass with Elizabeth on Saturday evening at St. Mary's here in Dungarvan. It was a beautiful mass. It started by candle light with all the lights in the church out. All the candles that people were holding lit the entire church - and St. Mary's isn't little! It was a very nice mass, the choir sang and it wasn't terribly long like some Easter vigil masses are. After mass they passed out little Cadburry Cream Eggs! So that was a nice little Easter treat since I didn't have a very traditional Easter! But a great one at that.
Easter Sunday we headed out to Paris! Up in the morning we didn't look for Easter Eggs, but we did sing a verse of Little Peter Cotton Tail under the Eiffel Tower! It was a great Easter. The weather in Paris was gorgeous - sunshine, blue skies, clouds that seemed to drift along at their own Parisian pace. I conquered my fear of heights this year on Easter and went all the way to the top open deck of the Eiffel Tower. I figured that I had no idea when I would go to Paris next, and that I should take advantage of it. I shouldn't let my fears stop me from getting a beautiful view. And it was worth it. The view was gorgeous - it was exhilarating to stand at the top of one of the most recognized landmarks int he world and watch the sun set on one of the most beautiful cities in the world. After that we walked down the Seine River enjoying Paris at night. The lights, and the boats moving up and down the river. We arrived at Notre Dame - home of Quasimodo and Esmeralda for all you die hard Disney fans. But it was great to see it all light up at night! It was a good end to a long day of traveling.

Farmer's Market

Thursday is quickly becoming my favorite day of the week! Why, you ask? Well because Thursday is the day that Dungravan holds their weekly farmers market. I love farmers markets, its one of my favorite things about summer. Going to the market, getting really fresh and delicious food, for a really good price. I love that I get to do it here, and it's April! So I spent most of my Thursday morning walking around the town square buying my lunch and doing some souvenir shopping for friends and family back home. I bought myself some mini plums, a vine of cherry tomatoes, a hot cross bun and a blueberry muffin for lunch. I also had some hot chocolate to drink. Now the hot chocolate in Ireland is probably the best hot chocolate I have ever had. Anywhere. And this seems to be a consensus among the group. No matter where we go, if anyone gets hot chocolate, it is always amazing. So in case you weren't sure, I love Thursday.
At this point we have finished Yeats, and Joyce and are waiting for Dr. Reed to come so we can get started with our class sessions after Paris. So Paris in less than a week! I can't wait :) I won't be blogging much from Paris, probably once, maybe twice. I plan on spending the least amount of time in my hotel as possible.
Au'revoir Ireland, and Bonjour Paris!