Our Last Day in Ireland

Day 39: July 25, 2012

As I lie here on the bench outside of our dorms on the last day I can't help but play through the last six weeks I've spent here. I never could've imagined my study abroad experience any better. I have honestly enjoyed my entire time here. Being in Ireland from the summer of 2012 is something I will never ever forget. It really does seem like yesterday that I was sitting in the airport getting ready to board the plane to come here. I remember spilling that cold cup of water all over my legs on the flight and that first tour of Dublin, jet lagged and hungry. Only to be let down with Japanese food as our first meal. I have flashes of all the memories playing through my mind from our first week all the way to today.

I'm sitting on this bench listening to country music, my choice of summer time tunes, and I do not want to leave this surreal summer destination. Even after the rain and long bumpy bus rides I still wouldn't have changed a thing. But there is a huge part of me that is completely ready to go. I'm ready to see my parents and sleep in my own bed! Ready to see my best friends and Haley.  I'm ready to be at the beach even if it is practically 100 degrees. I've missed loads of things back home. My car, and driving, my dog, the sun, shorts and flip flops, green American dollars, Chipotle, Chik fil A, and sweet tea.

I cannot believe that in less than 24 hours I will be able to see and do all the things I have missed! I have no regrets from this trip at all. That's the best way to come out of an experience and I was so lucky and blessed to go through this with such a great group of people. Having Emily and Haley come visit for a week was like a little tease of home but it came at the perfect time! Their week here made my entire trip even better! I am going to miss Ireland greatly but I cannot wait to be home tomorrow!

We ended our trip by going to see River Dance. How much more Irish can you get? It was an awesome way to finish out our trip. After the show we all went to Trinity Bar. It holds a place deep within all of us because it’s the place where we all went out together for the very first time. We sat in the same spot, took repeats of some of the first pictures we had taken, and enjoyed reminiscing on the trip and chatting about what we will enjoy most when we return. At the end of the night we all walked back to Trinity College together and, the girls with their eyes watering, said our goodbyes. Some of us are traveling on the same flight so we will say them tomorrow back in the states. But for me it’s not a big deal to say goodbye. I mean we all go to the same school. Yeah, I know we will never be able to share this experience together again but it will live forever in the thousands of pictures taken and in our memories and stories we tell back home. We will get together once we return to JMU to remember our wonderful trip to the Emerald Isle in the summer of 2012. It definitely won’t be forgotten by any of us. So it's not goodbye. It's just see you later!

But now it’s time to go to bed. Catching an early bus in the morning to make it to the airport. But I will be in the states in less than 24 hours and I will be back in Yorktown in a little over! I am so blessed to have gone on this trip. I will always hold a place in my heart for Ireland.

See you back on the other side of the pond!

My “Must Do” List of Ireland

Day 39: July 25, 2012

            I don’t think there is anyway that I can come up with a completely comprehensive list of everything you must do when coming to Ireland, but I will do my best. There are definitely things I wish I had done while here, and there are others that I could have lived without.

(From Top Left going clockwise):
                Seafood Chowder, Shepherd's Pie,
               Ox Cheek Pie, Gourmet Sausage

I think what’s most important is not necessarily going on a bunch of bus tours (though a couple are smart) or touring every museum or castle; but, you just have to make the most out of your time here, and do that however possible. If that means taking tour after tour along the curvy country roads of Ireland then do it! The stunning scenic stops will be worth the sickness you incur on the ride. Visit what castles and historical sites you want and imagine what life used to be like there and think about the millions of people who have walked the same steps you have. You also have to stuff your face! Drink the beer, eat the starchy food, and enjoy the company you’re in while doing it.

So without further adieu here is my short list of things you must do before you leave the Emerald Isle. (In no particular order)

The beach on Inishmore

Go swimming in the ocean! It does not matter how cold it is, you have to do it. At least for a few minutes! My experience with this was in Tramore in Waterford Co. and it literally took my breath away. The icy sensation shot up my body quicker than a bullet from a gun. I only stayed in for about five minutes but I’m glad I can say I did it. I regret not taking a bathing suit to Inishmore with Emily and Haley when they came because the water was extremely warm. I wish we had just jumped in anyway, but spending a day riding bikes in soaking wet clothes would not have been enjoyable. So whether warm, or icy cold, make sure you do a little “bathing” in the ocean as the Irish like to call it.

Our favorite Buskers

Talk to a busker/street performer.  Buskers are the musicians playing on the streets and they and the other street performers all have stories. We met a group of buskers on the island of Inishere and then when we got to Galway we saw them again. Turned out they were from Galway and a man just asked if they wanted to go to the island for the day. It was their first time there. They were a very quirky group. I didn’t talk to as many performers as I had hoped, but it is definitely something I recommend doing.

Watch an Irish sporting event in a pub. We watched plenty of the European Championship soccer matches in pubs when we were here during our first two weeks. Being able to watch those over here was a greater experience than watching them at home on my couch or in a bar in the states. But it’s something about the Gaelic sports that obviously gets the people more excited than watching soccer. Hurling and Irish football were great games to watch in the pubs. Talk to the locals and learn the rules. Pick a side to cheer for (whoever the majority in the pub is cheering for) and enjoy watching two great games while drinking a pint (or two).

Traditional Irish Music in Doolin!

Go to Doolin. I wish we had more time in Doolin. It is a small little village about a five minute drive from the Cliffs of Moher, and it is famous for it’s traditional Irish music. You will most likely need to be there at night to witness any of the music, but if you visit during the day there are things to do as well. We visited several of the shops around town and had great conversations with the people there. We walked down to the little tiny bay where Dusty the Doolin Dolphin lives and got beautiful pictures of the shore line and the Cliffs to the south. Doolin is a beautiful little village, and one that will always hold a little place inside me.

Our biker gang on Inishere

Ride bikes on the Aran Islands. It is a work out. But you have to do it. I rode a bike on Inishere (the smallest island) and Inishmore (the biggest island). It was definitely easier riding on Inishere, but I enjoyed riding on both. It takes you back to the years when biking was your main form of transportation. I just felt like a kid again riding around the streets in a biker gang! It allows you to enjoy the weather, fresh air, and ocean breeze on the island.

Visit a cathedral and say a prayer when you enter.  I had the opportunity to visit several cathedrals while here in Ireland. My absolute favorite one was St. Colman’s Cathedral in Cobh. It was absolutely incredible. I feel like it changed me. The magnificence was unbelievable! You must say a prayer when you enter. Some of the girls met an old man in a tiny church in Sandy Cove who told them that God listens to all prayers, but he specifically cannot ignore the first prayer you say when you go into an Irish cathedral. I did this every time I entered any cathedral. I’m excited to see how God responds to my prayer!

My Perfect Pint of Guinness

Drink a Guinness or a Baby Guinness. If you don’t drink then that’s ok! You can come to Ireland and not do these things. But it’s definitely an experience. I had heard Guinness tasted better in Ireland than it does in the states, but I had no idea it would be so difficult to return to Guinness in the states. I’m not looking forward to American Guinness! A Baby Guinness is a shot of Kalua with a head of Baileys on top. It looks just like a little baby Guinness (hence the name). It is delicious! More of a dessert than a shot! Also you have to take a visit to the Guinness Storehouse! It’s a Dublin Landmark!

The Full Irish Breakfast
at our hotel in Tramore!

Have a Full Irish Breakfast. Or at least try the black and white pudding. It is certainly not the most appetizing part of the breakfast but it is traditional Irish and it is a must taste! You also have to try all the other classic Irish meals such Shepherd’s Pie and Beef and Guinness stew. I have had an assortment of Japanese, Irish, Italian, and American food while being here and there has only been one meal that I was disappointed with (a burger with no bun, barely cooked bacon, and drenched in blue cheese) but other than that I have thoroughly enjoyed eating every single meal!

Kiss the Blarney Stone! This was something I was very hesitant in doing before I came because I had heard horrible things about it. I feel like if you don’t do anything else touristy while in Ireland you have to go to Blarney Castle and kiss the stone! Try to make sure you go on a nice day or else the climb through the castle will not be fun, but it’s so worth it! Emily and Haley both loved their trip to Blarney Castle!

The Greatest American Tour group ever.

Go on at least one bus tour. We were on busses for probably a solid 48 hours during my entire six weeks in Ireland. I could be perfectly happy never riding on a bus ever again. But the bus tours have a real tourist feel to them and sometimes that makes the trip fun! I went on a bus tour with Emily and Haley to the Cliffs of Moher and even though the weather wasn’t great the tour was still fun because our guide was joking around the entire time and the company was fun! Also a Hop On/Hop Off tour of any city would be a good way to see the sights!

Our first excursion as a group to Sandy Cove!

So there is my “short” list of Must Do’s while visiting Ireland! I hope everyone gets the chance to visit Ireland at some point in their lifetime. It is an absolutely gorgeous country, rain or shine! I could not have asked for a better study abroad experience, from the group of sixteen students, to our two and a half professors (Profs. Reynolds and Kutchins, and their daughter Ava). From our first group outing playing Jenga in Porterhouse to our Pub Crawl in Galway and every minute in between. I am so thankful I got to do this trip and would suggest studying abroad to anyone who can do it!

Guest Post 2: Ireland from the Heart of Haley

July 13-21, 2012

The word that comes to mind when looking back on our adventures through Ireland is surreal. Honestly, it still has not hit me that we were in Ireland. Brad and I had joked about me visiting him in Ireland for a while but having it actually happen still has not occurred to me yet.  Going to another country had never been a top priority because in my mind, the United States of America is the greatest place on Earth. But I hope that there is more world travel in my future because Ireland was an absolutely amazing experience. 

Some of the beautifully bright doors in Dublin!

            One of my favorite things about Ireland was the colorful doors that lined every street. Bright colors have always been part of my wardrobe and room décor so seeing the doors all the time was so fun.  I also love the story behind it, when Queen Elizabeth died the Irish were told to paint their doors black in reverence to the Queen. In true Irish fashion, they rebelled and painted their doors bright colors. I really enjoyed walking down the streets everywhere we went knowing that there was more of a meaning behind all of the bright colors.  

Me and Brad at the beach on Inishmore (Aran Islands)

            Looking back on our trip, the only thing I wish we had done was spent more time in Ireland. The Cliffs of Moher, Blarney Castle and the Aran Islands are just a few of the amazing places we were able to travel to in such a short amount of time. My favorite adventure we did was the trip to the Aran Islands. I was dying to get up close to a horse in Ireland and finally, I was able to pet one which just so happened to be my favorite kind. I definitely could have left Ireland a happy girl at that point. The Aran Islands were breathtaking because you had the perfect combination of beaches and mountains. It was gorgeous and I definitely would love to go back there and stay for a night.

It still blows me away that so many places in Ireland are older than the United States. I think that is really cool to think about. I loved comparing our culture to theirs and meeting the people from Ireland was so much fun. I was pretty bad at understanding some of what they were saying but luckily Brad, our Ireland expert, was able to help out. Talking to the locals was a fun experience because anyone can look at the gorgeous sites Ireland has to offer, but actually talking to people made me appreciate the country so much more and it allowed me to understand their culture a little better.

            I really hope that I will be able to go back to Ireland someday. Between the colorful doors, the picturesque places, the friendly people and oh yeah, getting to see Brad, Ireland was an unforgettable place. This trip beyond exceeded my expectations and I am so glad I was able to experience it all with Brad and Emily! 

Guest Post 1: Ireland in the Eyes of Emily

July 13-21, 2012

As soon as I heard Bradley was heading to Ireland for the summer, I knew I had to take the opportunity to go visit!  Never being out of the country, I had to go through the process to get a passport.  This should normally be a painless process, but coming from a line of procrastinators, I waited until the last minute.  And lucky for me, the passport agency had mistaken me for a diplomat, so I was able to get my passport, after a very stressful trip to D.C., in about two hours.

Our journey to Ireland involved almost all types of transportation, and once there we continued using all of the different modes available! 

Favorite part of the Jameson Tour!
Picking Jack Daniels as #1!

Arriving in Ireland with about an hour of sleep in 24 hours was probably not the best idea, and landing that first day and exploring the city are still a blur to this day.  Even looking back through pictures, I am not quite sure what happened, but the rest of the trip I am sure I will never forget!

Dublin is much like any other large city, bustling people and streets, lots of sounds and smells, and visually stimulating.  However, it is definitely a stop that I wouldn’t have missed!  We were able to squeeze in all of the major sights in a day through a hop-on/hop-off bus tour!

Me and Bradley at the Cliffs of Moher!

We took a train across Ireland to Galway and the countryside is like a picture from a book or movie.  There were green pastures spotted with black and white sheep the entire three-hour trip across the country. 

Galway was my favorite place by far, the people were so kind and it was almost like a storybook town.  The streets were cobblestone and lined with colorful buildings.  We stayed here for the rest of the week in a cute little boutique hotel. 

Buses were our main mode of transportation for the week and being prone to motion sickness, I had some difficulty seeing the sights while we were driving.  But we made plenty of stops along the way for me to soak it all in.  Ireland is a gorgeous country, from the Cliffs of Moher, to the Burren, and Aran Islands.  There is so much to see, do, eat, and experience.  We squeezed in a week what Bradley and his group spent doing over a month!  But we left with a great experience and some wonderful memories.

Looking back on our trip, it is hard to pick just one thing that was my favorite part.  I would say experiencing a different culture and meeting people from all over the world was my favorite part by far, and that is something that I will always remember.   

Crawling toward the End of a Great Week!

Night 33 & Day 34: July 19 & 20, 2012

            After we made it back safely to Galway from the Big Island we had planned to do the Galway Pub Crawl with the rest of the students from my group. It was a great idea! We had an absolutely time. There were sixteen of us total in the group so we got a 5 euro discount on our tickets. The crawl started around 9pm with two leaders and 55 crawlers. We moved from pub to pub, staying at each for about an hour. We got discounted drink specials and a free shot at each pub.

The group headed to our 2nd stop!

Emily, Kelly, Haley, and Me at Kelly's Pub!

            Our favorite place was this bar called Coyotes. It was decorated in everything American. Right when we got in we saw the stars and stripes, the Johnny Cash posters, and the band was playing Wagon Wheel. We knew this would be the best stop on the crawl! Downstairs they had a mechanical bull, which took Emily and I back to some good times at Saddle Ridge (R.I.P). We both took our turns on the bull and we eventually convinced Haley to get up and ride the bull and she did great!!

           After Coyotes we went this club called Karma. It was set up like a rainforest or Aztec city inside. I’m pretty sure the only people there were all the pub crawlers so we eventually left and went back to Coyotes for a little bit. It was a great way to end the night!

            Emily and Haley had to be out of their hotel at noon on the following day so once they brought their hundreds of pounds of luggage over to my apartment we headed out to do some final shopping and exploring of Galway City. Each of the girls added another few pounds of gifts to their bags. We headed back to my place and started planning their way home. It caused a few stressful situations, but in the end we got to bed early because the girls had to catch what we thought was the 5:05 am bus (the same one I caught going to Dublin the previous week) only I forgot one minor detail. I traveled to Dublin on a Friday and they were traveling on a Saturday. The train doesn’t go that early in the morning on weekends, but thankfully they were able to catch a bus headed to Dublin at 5:15 and they made it back home safely (after a few bumps along the way).

I’m hoping the girls will write something for me about their trip so that I can post it soon! Only a couple days and posts left! Hope you’ve enjoyed reading so far! Thanks for keeping up with them!

The (way too big) Big Island

Day 33: July 19, 2012

The famous Aran Island Sweaters

            Inishmore (meaning Big Island) is the largest of the Aran Islands. It is almost 15 km long and 3 km wide. So when we convert that to miles it’s around 9 miles long and almost 2 miles wide. That doesn’t sound too big right? Well I probably wouldn’t think so either if I didn’t have the experience I had on it.

            A big thing to do on all of the Aran Islands is to ride bikes. Haley and Emily did not want to miss out on this “must do” part of their visit to Ireland, so we of course rented three bikes and (after a couple practice laps by Emily) were off on our adventure.

The beach on Inishmore

            We rode down past one of the beaches on the island and decided to stop by to see how the water was. Well after my experience at Tramore and the freezing cold water there, I was expecting just about the same, especially since we are much more northern in the Atlantic than we were in Tramore. I was proven completely wrong. After walking of the grey sand, which felt almost more like a mixture of sand and mud I bent down to feel the water.

            It might have been because the day was so warm and there was barely a cloud in the sky (which rarely happens in Ireland) but the water was warm. It felt like pool water on a nice 90 degree day back home in Virginia. I could not believe it. We immediately regretted the decision of not bringing our bathing suits, but who would’ve thought we had needed them?

            So after our little photoshoot on the beach we decided to head to one of the islands bigger attractions, the lighthouse. The lighthouse stands at the highest point on the island. Why in the world we thought it would be a good idea to ride bikes there I have no idea, but we started on our journey.

The highlight of Haley's trip!

It was a difficult ride up the hills of Inishmore. We had to get off and walk a couple times and we had a few stops along the way. Mainly a stop that was the highlight of Haley’s entire trip to Ireland, which was when we stopped to pet a horse that was right next to a gate on the side of the road. We stood by the horse and pet it and a donkey that came up for about twenty minutes or so. After our detour of the donkey and horse we proceeded up the hills to the lighthouse. We never made it to the lighthouse, but we would get an A for effort! We just did not have enough time to get all the way up to it, because we wanted to stop somewhere and get lunch before we had to leave the island.

We had some of the most delicious burgers ever at this little pub on the side of the road. We ate outside since it was such a gorgeous day but two things unfortunately interrupted our meals. The first of which was a little boy who fell off his bike about fifty yards away. He was wailing and screaming his lungs out for about twenty straight minutes. (We saw him later on the ferry back and he had a hole in he pants the size of a penny. Needless to say, he was overdoing it a tad.) Our second interruption was from a rooster who was walking around the picnic area outside of the pub. It would crow about every five minutes and it kept walking closer to us. One of the locals said it had attacked people before so I was ready with a full water jug to bat that thing away if it decided to come at us.

Once we finished our entertaining meals we headed back down to the town and returned our bikes and got back on the ferry. Looking back at the beach and the beautiful sky over the island made us all wish we could have stayed longer, but a pub crawl awaited us back in Galway. And it was well worth going back early for!

            

Ireland in a Fog Part 3

Day 31: July 17, 2012

Check out Ireland in a Fog Part 1 and Part 2

            Our bus tour of Connemara and Kylemore Abbey was in the company of a little different crowd than our previous tour had been. Instead of talkative, joking 20 something’s, we got a group of smelly old folks. The tour was very similar in the fact that it was one, a very rainy and foggy day, and two, that we had to endure the bumpy winding roads of Ireland’s countryside.

Having a cup of tea inside the cottage

            Our first stop was to meet up with the rest of the group at their breakfast stop. They were at this tourist information center on the side of the road and next to the center was The Quiet Man replica cottage. I had to watch The Quiet Man for my Irish film class and ever since we have always joked about the movie. Apparently the people here in Ireland either love it or hate it. Either way, I probably won’t watch it ever again, but it was an experience that had to happen while studying Irish film.

So of course I wanted to stop in the cottage and take some pictures. It was straight up creepy! So creepy in fact that Haley could only stand to be in there for long enough to take just one picture of me. The place looked like it hadn’t been cleaned since Maureen O’Hara did it in the movie. To say the least it was pretty creepy.

Our quiche and mac and cheese!

We then drove for a little while until we got to Kylemore Abbey. Kylemore used to be a castle in the late 1800’s but it was later occupied nuns who turned it into an all girls boarding school. It stayed this way until 2010 when they did not have enough attendance to continue. The nuns still live there and they have a garden where they grow loads of food. They make their own chocolate, jams, fudge, and all the food you can eat in the visitor center restaurant is made by them as well. They do a great job! We had quiche and mac and cheese and they were both amazing!

Kylemore Abbey from across the lake!

            Kylemore Abbey is not on the trip for my study abroad program but I really think it needs to be. We went in a downpour and it was gorgeous. I can only imagine getting to go on a nice day. The architecture is not like a castle from the middle ages, but more like the gothic times of the late 18^th early 19^th centuries. It reminded me a lot of the mansions you see up in Newport, Rhode Island.

            Overall the abbey was beautiful! It would have been nice if we had gotten to tour a little more of it and if the weather hadn’t been so bad. There are Victorian gardens, a Gothic church, and a Mausoleum on the grounds as well, but due to the rain we decided to not go to those. Instead we caught the gift shop on our way out where we spent way too much money (like usual) but got some great things for people back home! After we were done at the gift shop we headed towards the bus and of course, it stopped raining. Unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to go back up to do anymore exploring, but we still enjoyed our visit!