RAG Week and Ring of Kerry

Okay so I'm going to do these updates in basically chronological order, beginning wayyy back in February with the Ring of Kerry tour and RAG week!

On the weekend of the 12th, I went on a trip organized through UCC to tour the Ring of Kerry. It was BEAUTIFUL. The Ring of Kerry is a tourist route around the Iveragh Peninsula of County Kerry, the most southwestern county in Ireland. The trip was put on by the head of the Irish language department at UCC, Marian. She's a really nice lady, and the weekend was chock full of things for us to do. There were about 50 of us on the trip, all visiting students, and I already knew about half of those people before we went (including all of the cackling hens, which we've adopted as the name for our group of 6) - which made for a good time. We all piled onto a big tour bus and began our trek out into the Kerry landscape.

Map of the Ring of Kerry Tour, done counter-clockwise.

The drive out to where we were staying in Cahersiveen was beautiful in itself. We took narrow winding roads along the base of mountains and beside rivers and the ocean. Marian gave us all a handout of basic phrases in Irish because we'd be going through some Gaeltacht areas (although I already knew them because of my Spoken Irish class), and we also sang the Irish version of "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes". We stopped in Glenbeigh at the Kerry Bog Village Museum, a replica of a famine town. There were little houses with thatched roofs and all sorts of Famine era objects. What everybody was most amused by, though, were two Irish wolf hounds and Hercules, the smallest miniature horse in Ireland. Also, there was King Puck - an exact model of a big wild goat that they caught one year for the Puck Fair, where they catch a wild goat and put him on a raised platform in the middle of an intersection, then drink for 48 hours straight... or so I was told!

Hercules, one of the wolfhounds, and King Puck!

The first of the most beautiful views I saw this weekend happened just before dark on the first day, just before we got into Cahersiveen.  The ocean suddenly came into view, and the road we were on led us along a route carved into the side of a mountain with the water at its base. We stopped at a pull-off for a few minutes, and were told that we were looking at Dingle Bay. It wast just a very wild view. The land on the opposite side of the bay was totally uninhabited, the water was wild, and big waves were crashing onto the rocks below us. It was the first of several views I just couldn't get enough of.

We got into Cahersiveen and checked into our hotel and had dinner. Our hotel, meals, transportation, and entrance fees to exhibits were all included in the fee we paid, and let me tell you, the food was definitely worth it. The most prominent thing at every meal was a never-ending supply of these little rolls... mmm so good. We would each eat 4 or 5 at each meal, on top of the regular food we had. They gave us a buffet of scrambled eggs and cereals with juice and coffee  at breakfast, little sandwiches at lunch- the barbecue meat was definitely the best, and a choice of what main dish we wanted at dinner. So yummy! And always, the rolls. After dinner, we had a local farmer, Muiris, come and talk to us about life in Kerry. It's pretty isolated, especially where he lives on Valentia Island. He talked about how far things have come in recent history, but how it still takes an hour and a half to drive to the nearest movie theater or hospital... After that, we learned some ceili dancing! I had done it once before during Trad Week at UCC, and it was SO FUN then, and it was again on this trip. It got off to a slow start, but once we'd run through the various dances a couple of times, it was great craic. My favorite ones were the Seige of Ennis and the Bridge of Athlone. I've read of beginners ceili dancing as a "self-regulating chaotic system", and I would agree - but still loads of fun! We went to bed pretty early that first night, and began our day early on Saturday.

We hopped on the bus relatively early and began to make our way to Muiris' farm. After driving through te little town of Portmagee, we went over a bridge onto Valentia Island. We stopped at The Telegraph Field, where the first transatlantic telegraph cable was laid in 1866, in Foilhommerum Bay. It was another beautiful view, with impressive waves crashing onto the cliffs and spraying at least 40 feet into the air. One of my friends went to investigate the cliff-side, and got drenched when she got a little too close. Out in the distance, we could see the Skellig Islands, the larger of which is the site of a 7th century monastery (very cool- google it!). Also, it was so windy there. I was practically blown over by one gust.

 The view from The Telegraph Field.

 

Rough waters! The Skelligs are there centered in the distance.

From there, we continued across Valentia until we got to Muiris' farm, whereupon we parked and began out ascent up to the highest point on the island. It was still incredibly windy, and a long, steep climb that was particularly difficult because of my bruised tailbone (I had been out with the girls and was dancing with a guy, which was all great fun until he decided to pick me up and promptly drop me straight onto my tailbone... ouch). But all grumbling aside, it was well work the hike. The view from the top was incredible - the second scenic vista of the trip that just took my breath away.

 As always, a picture can't really do it justice, but this was so beautiful!

Paige, Skye, and me climbing on Valentia... a little windblown!

On our way back down from the top, we take a little detour and walk out to see the Fogher Cliffs, another beautiful spot. At this point, we're all a little too windblown and decide to hoof it back to the bus to thaw. Once everyone's back and the head count is accurate, we continue on our way, stopping at the Valentia Slate Quarry. After crossing back over to the mainland of Ireland, we do the Skellig Ring Tour, sort of an offshoot of the Ring of Kerry. It's a lot of rural scenery, and we see St. Finian's Bay, purportedly one of the best places to surf (see this video for a cool look at the beach and one of the Skelligs - also, I think the dogs in it belong to Marian's brother, who lives across the road from the beach!)

We head back to the hotel for a big dinner after our long day of sightseeing, and afterward get a lesson in Gaelic football from a local man and his son and nephew. There was a table quiz that night in the bar in the hotel, and though my team didn't really do so well, it was a lot of fun. There were these things called 'spot prizes', where randomly between rounds of questions, there would be a challenge, and the first person to do it would get a prize. The challenges were things like, first to find a certain person in the bar (a regular, of course), first guy to come up wearing an item of women's jewelry, first girl to come up wearing men's shoes, and first person to sing a song... and guess who was the first to sing a song? That's right, yours truly! I sang Tell Me Ma (with the help of Erin and Kelly) and won a bag of Skelligs mint chocolate brittle! SO yummy.  My team actually won almost all of the spot prizes, so we were winners after all!  We were all having such a good time that after the table quiz ended, we didn't want to go to bed yet. So of course, I make friends with the bartender, who promises me that he'll keep the bar open as late as we want to stay up. This sounds like a good deal to me, and barman Stephen becomes my new best friend! A couple of us wind up staying in the bar until about 4 or 4:30, at which time we decide it's probably a good idea to go to bed, considering we had to get up at 8... But before we did, Stephen got all of our phone numbers and said that he would definitely give us a call when he came to Cork for RAG week that next week.

Getting up for breakfast was not the most fun, and needless to say, we took advantage of the copious amounts of coffee offered. We started our day by going for a walk... a nearly TWO HOUR walk to this ring fort. The whole time were walking there, we could see massive storm clouds rolling in, and wondered what we'd do when they reached us... Turns out we get to the ring fort and it starts pelting hail down on us, so as many people as possible crowd into an entryway in the fort and try to wait it out, feeling bad for those stuck outside. Happily, the bus came to pick us up, but not until after we all get soaked through, including wet shoes. Yuck. The walk out was nice at least! Always an adventure in Ireland.

 A view from the bridge on the beginning of our walk, coming out of Cahersiveen.

I believe that's Skye and Kelly on top of the fort that we walked so far to see...

We finished touring that day, stopping to see Derrynane House, the home of Daniel O'Connell the Liberator. I fell asleep during the movie we watched about his life, so I can't tell you much about him, but the house and views were nice. Caherdaniel, the town, is one of the most beautiful places. It was in this area that I saw the most spectacular view of all. After driving through Waterville, which contains a bronze statue of Charlie Chaplin, we climbed up a mountainside, and stopped at the top of the gap. When I got out of the bus and saw the view, I literally had to turn my back because it was just too beautiful. Yeah. Of course, when I turned around, there was still another view, so it didn't do me much good!

 

Driving into Waterville.

The cackling hens! Kelly, Skye, Paige, me, Jen, and Erin.

 

On our way back, we also passed through Killarney National Forest, which was beautiful. We stopped at 'ladies' view' to check out the Killarney Lakes and snap some photos, but were all so tired that we quickly piled back onto the bus. I should mention some more about the bus, actually. The cackling hens took over the very front of the bus, and our boisterous guy friends were in the way back. Marian wanted us to be entertained by more than just the scenery, so she encouraged the more outgoing and talented people on the bus to come up to the front and use the microphone to talk to the bus... Basically, we took over, and were singing any song we could think of, from American Pie, to Galway Girl, to Lean On Me, to Mollie Malone. We were having a great time, until we realized that half of the bus was trying to sleep... then we gave up the mic to our friend Matt, who told jokes and made a fake commentary about what were seeing. After Killarney, we were all falling asleep, and he finally gave up and went back to sleep himself. The bus was quiet all the way into Cork. Our momentous weekend was over, and we were full of beautiful sights, yummy food, and generally high on life, despite being exhausted.

 Killarney Lakes as seen from Ladies' View.

Strange mountains...

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So after we got back from our Ring of Kerry Tour, despite being so exhausted, we went out that sunday night to see The Kilkennys perform. The Kilkennys are a band from Kilkenny (duh) that play a sort of rock take on traditional Irish music. And they're GREAT. I'd been listening to their music for a while before I saw them, so I was really looking forward to the show. They were playing in Reardens, and when we got there, I of course made my way to the very front of the stage. If you didn't know, I'm obsessed with the bodhran, the Irish traditional drum. It's just an amazing instrument, and I'm transfixed whenever it's being played... ask any of my friends. It' sort of a joke among us, actually. So I got right up to the stage and gazed up adoringly at the the bodhran player. They played a really great set of music, and things got pretty rowdy at times. I got shoved into the risers they were playing on by drunk people that I had massive bruises on my shins for the next week. Totally worth, it though. 

Skye, Kelly, and me with the lead singer of The Kilkennys, Davey.

And then it was RAG week... RAG week, or R&G, stands for Raise and Give. Basically, it's a week of fundraising for charity, but like every other holiday in Ireland, has turned into a major drinking event. And I mean MAJOR. Every night is crazy in every pub, people start drinking in the early afternoon, and it's sort of amazing if you go to your classes. In fact, if you drink every night and go to all your classes during RAG week, it's called a platinum week; if you only miss 1 or 2, it's a gold week, etc. There is a lot of pride about these, er, accomplishments. Now I'm not going to give you all the sordid details of my week, but I only completed half of what makes up a platinum week... I went out every night. And Stephen, our friend from Cahersiveen, did come up to Cork, and we hung out a few times! Also, our friends from Limerick came down, we played Irish Kings (a super fun card game) and went out with them. Overall, it was a really fun week! Legen - wait for it - dary. 

 The cackling hens :)

Updates at Last!

I've been a very bad blogger... sorry! Things started happening very fast in March, and the month flew by before I knew it. I'll try to recall some highlights for you, namely:
-our trip to Waterford and Tramore, Australian boys included,
-St. Patrick's Day,
-Denmark! (and the massive tumble I took just before),
-and from long ago: the Ring of Kerry tour and RAG week, the Cork music scene, and lots of other random things I can't bring to mind right now.

Time for some serious blogging...

The Journey or the Destination

Disclaimer: This post gets pretty corny at the end... bear with me!

Call me crazy, but one of the things I enjoy most about being in Cork is walking to and from class- not because I'm excited to go to class, but because I just love being out in the city. The past few days the weather has been beautiful - in the 50s, sunny, not windy, just gorgeous, and today was no different. I had class at 2, and I just really enjoyed my walk home. I was with Paige until I hit Grand Parade, where we bumped into our friend Joanie and chatted for a while next to the fountain about weekend plans. Skye and her boyfriend Mike, who's visiting this week, came along as well, and we all had a few laughs before going our separate ways. I crossed Grand Parade and began to make my way along Oliver Plunkett. This is the street that I invariably walk on every day, no matter where I go, whether to class or out at night. It's a pedestrianized street; there's only one-way traffic at certain times of the day - never a constant flow of cars (a lot like Church St. for my VTers). As I begin making my way down the street, the sun is warm on the backs of my legs; there's a flower shop on my right, and I can smell its sweet aroma as I walk by on the opposite side of the street. The Brog, the infamous pub, I pass on my left, weaving through the small but ever-present crowd of smokers standing out front. I've learned to hold my breath when I pass by, but this leaves my first inhale falling as I pass the entrance to the English Market, where I'm blasted by the strong odor of fresh fish. I keep walking, past Euro 2 (it's like a dollar store, but eveything's 2 euros), and now I start to people watch. There's usually a good number of people out in the afternoons here, and today's no different- no sign of the economic troubles to be seen, except that every store is having massive sales!

The people in Cork, as in any city I suppose, vary widely. There are groups of students in their private school windbreaker uniforms, insignia attached; old hunched men slowly making their way down the street with a cane, or sitting on anything they can find and squinting through thick glasses at the people quickly passing them by; trashy women in track suits; more respectable moms (or dads) pushing adorable babies in giant buggies; businessmen walking briskly in suits and nice shoes; young Irish guys in their typical outfit of a nice sweater and athletic-type pants (I find this look quite strange. It's like they can't decide if they want to be casual or dressy, so they do both - even out in the pubs!); and I swear every third person is smoking.

At this point, there's a lot of people on the sidewalk, and since I'm a fast walker and don't much enjoy weaving through slow-moving mobs, I take to the center of the street as I usually do - don't worry, it's one of the times of day when cars aren't allowed, and even if they were, it's quite easy to avoid them! I pass by two Italian looking guys taking a photo with a cheesy grin in front of something stereotypically Irish and chuckle to myself. I'm getting pretty good at picking out who's not Irish, and I'm being mistaken for being Irish more often. (Quick side story: I was out at a bar Saturday night, talking to a guy, and I asked if he was from Cork. He wasn't - he was from Co. Laois, so I told him I was from the States, and wasn't it obvious? He looked at me quizzically and said he didn't believe me. When I asked why, he said, "Ye've got a tick (thick) Cork accent on ye". I was so excited to hear that!!!)  I pass by the Sound Store, blasting American music as it always does, and see my buddy Séamus in front of me. Séamus is a busker, and sings opera for passersby. Some day I'll tell the story of how I met him, but today as I passed, I gave him a smile and a wave and a nod, and received a slight bow and salute in return.
 

Séamus singing in front of the Tesco.

I carry on, passing by a bookstore, the kebab place, chocolate shops, O'Donovans (the closest off license!), and some of my favorite stores to windowshop, smiling and waving to a couple of people I know. Guiney's, a large but strange store that's sort of like looking through someone's Grandma's attic, is piping a local radio station currently on commercial break out to the street. I'm about at the GPO (General Post Office) at this point, a prime area for buskers, and I'm surprised to see only a very shy-looking, awkward young guy strumming a guitar and singing inaudibly. What I do hear, though, is "Echo! Echo! Evening Echo!" being shouted repeatedly by a now very familiar voice. The same guy sits outside of the GPO almost every day, it seems, shouting the name of this newspaper for sale. I was talking to an Irish friend, and he said he had the thought one day that this guy has probably said the word "echo" more than any other word in his life... then he said he had this thought 9 years ago, so it's most likely true now!

I go on, still hearing "echo" behind me, past the Old Oak and An Bodhran, and the foot traffic begins to thin a bit as I get further from the main shopping area. I pass the tattoo shop and see just ahead of me the sign for Market Lane, the restaurant that is my signifier for the entrance to my street. I cross over to the right sidewalk, and turn just after the little cook store, currently advertising cooking classes in Italian dinners and a sale on pots. My street is lined with uneven paving stones, and I walk on the far right where it's actually more level. I pass by the usual few waiters and waitresses outside taking a smoke break, and the recently built but empty and unfinished Beasly Hotel hangs out over the alley; I see that there are actually a few construction workers inside, and I hope that they don't decide to do any early morning hammering in the future. "Lituanica", the Lithuanian food store (don't ask me why), is on my right, and I grab my keys out of my pocket before coming to the bright red door of my apartment.

I really do enjoy just walking by myself around the city. If only my 5 year old self could see me now! I like to go places that I haven't been yet, and see new things. It's getting to be spring here, the weather's shaping up, flowers are blooming, and I'm feeling more happy than ever here, despite any recent fallbacks. For me, loving my walks to and from class is a metaphor for being here. We all know that cheesy expression, life's about the journey, not the destination. But for the first time, I feel like I'm truly living life, to the fullest, each and every day. I'm wondering if this is part of my journey, or if this could be my destination.

Update: I think this is finally just the beginning of the "journey" of my life... I have a lot more to see before I know my "destination".

Today...

... is my BIRTHDAY! Happy Birthday to meee. It's strange to be so far away from everyone and everything familiar, but I'm getting lots of well-wishes, and I feel the love from afar. My friends here in Ireland are making today a good day as well- more to come on what we actually do, but Paige is cooking me dinner tonight, and last night my closest friends and I went to the Old Oak for midnight when it turned over to my b-day, and they bought me birthday shots! My facebook is blowing up with birthday messages and chats from friends from home, and from Ireland. Don't I feel special : )

Home?

Just a brief observation, but I've come to realize that I call my apartment here "home". This isn't to say that I've replaced my VT home in my mind- that's just ridiculous. But I never called my dorm or room at MoHo "home"... Maybe it's because I have an actual apartment here, with my own room, bathroom, and kitchen and living room. Or maybe it's because I feel so comfortable and happy here... Dunno. It's just been on my mind, is all. Random thought!

One Month!

I have officially been in Cork one month today... in some ways I feel like it's only been a week, but in others, like it's been ages. Life's still quite good, and I'm more than happy here. Home is getting pounded by feet of snow, and it was the unofficial first day of spring here- 50 degrees and sunny! I've got another head cold and cough, which I think is going to become the usual state I'm in, regardless of how often I go out. It's just the dampness. In fact, I wasn't feeling very good yesterday- very stuffed up and coughing horrendously. I went out last night, and woke up feeling so much better! Who knows. I'm still putting off going to register with immigration... here's to not getting deported... and Catherine, friend from childhood, is coming to visit for the next few days! I'm waiting for a phone call from her right now, in fact.  Trad session at Rearden's tomorrow should be some good craic. I need to do a post on the music scene here... I'm surprisingly into a few local artists here, and am in the know about where and when there's good music going down. It helps to have musical friends!

The Week of The Old Oak

I missed a week in blogging before I went to Galway, so I'll try to give some quick updates now.  I've discovered my newest favorite pub, the Old Oak, and had some good times there since- we went there 4 out of 5 nights last week! Basically, the Old Oak has mostly of older patrons... there's quite a range of ages, really, but most are in their late 20s and early 30s, up to their 40s and 50s, with a few quite old people in their 70s (it was shocking to see a very old man tottering through the bar at 1:30am the other night...) Usually, my friends and I are the youngest people in there, which probably explains why it's always so entertaining to go there.

The first night I went, I was with my friends Skye and Laura. We were supposed to meet up later with friends at An  Bróg (which is a much younger, crazier crowd), but since we were all still a bit sick and not really up for a crazy night we wanted a more mellow evening. We were about to leave the Old Oak to grudgingly meet our friends at the Bróg, but as we stepped outside, a 40-something and his younger early-30s friend starting chatting up Laura. Skye and I obliged and stayed and chatted as well. Initial conversations with the Irish usually go like this: "Oh, yer American!  Where in America are ye from?  Oh, I've never been there, is that near Canada or New York?" Charming, right? Most of the time, I'm out with a friend from Montana, and if they answer first, it's usually just assumed that I'm from Montana as well, which can be a bit annoying. These guys were pretty nice though, as most Irishmen are, and when they invited us back inside for a pint, we couldn't say no (never turn down a free drink!) Turns out, they were having their office Christmas party, because it had been delayed in December by the snow they had here. It was about ten of us sitting in the pub, and one of the guys we met outside, Eoghan (pronounced Owen...) started buying us drinks. After a while, all the girls in the group left, and it was us three and a bunch of older men. They were all very polite and friendly and charming, typical at this point. Skye and I both had horrendous coughs from being sick, and every time we laughed, would launch into a fit of coughing which, after a few pints, was very amusing, leading to a cycle of laughing, coughing, and laughing at coughing, then more coughing... you see where this is going. We eventually all moved back closer to the main bar and music and dance floor, and one of the guys kept dragging me onto the dance floor. We were basically swing dancing, which was really fun- he would just spin me all over the floor. The bar was closing soon, and as I was coming back from the dance floor, Skye cut me off and proclaimed to me that they were all married! This was a bit of a shock, not because any of us actually liked them, but because as polite as they had been, they were flirting, and how strange to go and hang out with young girls when your wife is at home... We said our goodbyes and laughed our way home.

The next time we went to the Old Oak, (the next night, I think...) it was me and a bunch of my girl friends. Paige and I had gone across the river to Sober Lane (a pub- the name is misleading) to meet Donncha and some of his friends for a pint. After being there for a bit, we headed to the Old Oak. We met a few friends there, and suddenly it was decided that we were going to request a song and dance. Note that at this point, NO ONE is dancing, and that the actual dance floor is more like a stage that faces the bar. So one of us requests Don't Stop Believing, and when it comes on, we storm the stage and start rocking out, singing and dancing like crazy people. At one point, I turned around to face the bar, and saw that EVERYONE was watching us!!! We were the night's entertainment, apparently. The DJ loved us and kept playing good songs, and we continued dancing (by ourselves, with everyone watching) for a good while. Eventually, we got a few more people joining us, and wound up leaving to go to the Brog. But that was quite the night!

The next night, we went again. This time it was just me, Paige, and Skye, and we didn't want to do more than sit and chat and have a pint or two. We all get Bulmer's and find a little booth to sit down in. We were sitting in a room that you have to go through to get to the main part of the bar, so it was a prime people watching location. Although it came to be that we were watched more than we watched... that was a confusing sentence. Basically, we sat and chatted, but were looking at all the people walking by. It was an off night, so there really were no younger people, and we laughed at the older women wearing mini dresses and high high heels. The men, though, were checking us out. I would actually say that every other man that walked past us would slow down and look at us all, and smile, or wink, or do something of that nature. Some actually stopped to try to make conversation, or held eye contact more than was natural, or something of that nature. One guy actually did stop, came over to me, held out his hand and shook mine, and said, "I just had to tell you how beautiful you are". He proceeds to look at Skye sitting next to me, and says, "ah, so are ye", and then to Paige, who is looking at me wide-eyed and laughing, he lifts her chin with his hand and says, "ah, gorgeous". Crazy man! His friends then came over and dragged him away, apologizing for his forwardness. We were very amused. It became the joke of the night how much we were getting hit on.

Another night, we happened upon some live music at the Oak. The band, Recoil, was local, and they were really good. They played covers of songs, all of which we knew. After a pint or two, we were in the front row dancing and shout-singing along to every song. And I wonder why I lose my voice... It was a really fun night, though, and ended with us being invited into the private bar-room to hang out with the band, but awkwardly being kicked out my Old Oak management. Guess they didn't want us to drink for free too! That was the night that I truly became obsessed with the song Little Lion Man by Mumford and Sons. It, along with all the other songs, were tons of fun to sing along to.

So that was the week of the Old Oak! Ironically, I haven't really been back there much since then... there is one night we went that has a good story attached to it, though. Some friends and I had gone out to watch our friend Gabriel sing at a 23s club, and decided to go to Old Oak afterward. I had to run back to my flat first, though, so when I came back I was alone. There were two doormen there, both older guys in their 50s probably, and one other guy promoting for the Oak. I have my ID ready, and hand it to one of them. Without a word or even looking at it, he puts it in his back pocket... I'm a little confused at first, but quickly realize he's just messing with me (he probably recognized me from that past week, ha). I proceed to give him a look, and then just stand off to the side and start making small talk about the weather. The promoter asks if I'm a doorman now to, and I make a crack about how my brother was a bouncer, so it must run in the family. They're very amused that I'm responding to their little joke like this, and we probably stood and chatted for a few minutes at least while other people come and go from the pub. Finally, I was getting a little chilly and anxious for a pint, so I asked if I could get my license back. He goes oh what, this? But you gave it to me! I told him I just thought he might want to look at it, but don't look too closely because the picture is terrible (it really is....) this of course prompts him to get it out of his pocket and look at it, laugh, and show it to the other doorman, who also laughs. He hands it back to me, and I bid them adieu and go into the pub. The next few nights, whenever I walk by and one of them is there, I wave, and they wave back. We went back to the Oak a few nights later, and as we're sitting waiting for a not-so-good band to finish and the DJ to start, in walks one of the doormen! He sees me and waves, and later in the night we formally introduce ourselves and chat for a bit. I've made a friend! Last Wednesday, I walked by kind of late at night with Donncha, and Ken was outside the Oak. I of course stopped to chat for a bit, and he gave me a look like 'what are you doing with this guy...' to which I just laughed. Good times.

Love the Old Oak!!!

Galway Weekend! (a.k.a. the longest post ever)

This past weekend, some friends and I decided we would go to Galway for the weekend! We hopped on a bus at 8:25am on Friday morning (after going out Thursday night, of course) and got to Galway at about 11:45 or so. We walked to our hostel, which was in a really good location downtown, checked in, and then walked around the city for a while. Galway is a very quaint place, full of culture- it's the center of trad music in Ireland. We made our way around, checking out various churches, cathedrals, and other sights along the way. Galway Cathedral is incredibly beautiful- it's massive, with so many stained glass windows and different rooms- very impressive. Minus the gift shop... which just seemed a little ridiculous to me.

 The central area of the enormous cross-shaped cathedral.

One of many beautiful stained glass windows, with a gigantic organ below. 

There was actually an organist playing live while we were looking around.

The city is very foggy at all times of the day, and incredibly cold... cut to the bone cold.  The fog is sort of surreal, seeing vague outlines of buildings in the distance, and it can feel a bit claustrophobic at times. It made me glad that Cork isn't constantly quite so misty. Despite the gray fogginess, the city has a lively feel. There are a lot of buskers (street performers) on the main pedestrianized streets, some of which were quite entertaining. And the pubs! We went first to Tig Cóilí, which is renowned for its two live trad sessions per night, every night of the week. It was a charming little pub, and all of us girls got Irish coffees and listened to some trad. Some of us went to dinner and back to the hostel to get ready to go out, and proceeded to go to King's Head. It was a decent place, though it seemed a bit like a tourist trap. We ran into a Gaelic football and rugby team, which was, er, interesting... Let's just say we didn't stick around that pub for too long. After that we went to Front Door, which was a gigantic maze of a bar. We were a bit exhausted after our day, and headed home a little after midnight. 


The hostel we stayed at, Barnacles Quay, was actually pretty nice. It was clean and well equipped, with a nice big kitchen and common room. Paige, Skye, Kaelyn and I stayed in the 12-person room, and Erin, Kelly, and Laura were in a 6-person room. I had the top bunk in the far corner in the picture below.

We only met a few of our roommates, but they were all pretty nice... except when we were woken up by an alarm at 6:30am... there was a 50-something year old man who got up and proceeded to pace around the room, go to the bathroom multiple times, cough a lot, rustle plastic bags loudly, turn on and leave on the lights, and generally wake up and greatly annoy everyone in the room. Also, he was only wearing boxer briefs, and was not under his blanket... very uncomfortable. I wasn't sleeping that well anyway because of the symphony of snoring and coughing of everyone in the room, and the hellish hot temperature. Needless to say, none of us slept well- we figure about 5 hours of light sleeping, which is about what we had all gotten the night before, which led to a very sleepy and silly day. Breakfast was toast, and then we were off to the bus station to get back on a tour bus at 9:45 to go to the CLIFFS OF MOHER!


The tour took us south down through the Burren, which is basically just mountains of solid limestone that's been laboriously cleared in some areas with endless stone walls. It was barren, but beautiful, and we all slept through most of it. The bus ride itself was not too pleasant. the roads are shockingly narrow and bumpy and windy... which led to a constant rocking, swaying, and bouncing. Our bus driver warned us and said he could provide plastic bags to contain any sickness that we may have felt- which we all nearly did.

The Burren- and the Atlantic Ocean off to the left!

We continued our windy way to a small village where all 60 of us filed off the bus to get some lunch at a pub. We went on and arrived at the cliffs. The visitors' center was very unique- it's built right into the side of the hill, and it contained some very nice restrooms with waterfall sinks that we availed of... We were very easily amused because of how overtired we were. We walked up a small hill, unable to see the cliffs yet, and then suddenly, BAM, there they are, in all their incredibly glory. There really aren't any words to describe how beautiful it was. Every direction you turn, the view takes your breath away. We were all breathless and giddy with every step we took. We were so lucky with the weather. It had been foggy and freezing in Galway, but here it was sunny, warm, and not even windy. Here are some pictures, but no camera can capture the phenomenal beauty. 

Yeah... pictures obviously can't do it justice. It was an amazing sight to behold.

We grudgingly left the Cliffs and headed back on our bouncy bus to Galway, but made 2 more stops on the way- a 5,000 year old megalithic tomb, and the Aillwee Cave.  Go here for better pictures than I could get. It was pretty interesting- we went half a kilometer into the cave, and it was a little hairy for claustrophobic me, ducking through small passageways and walking over bridges in the dark... but it was a fun experience, as I'd never been in a cave before.

We climbed back aboard the bus and snoozed our way to Galway. We were all exhausted, but of course wanted to go back out and check out more of the pub and trad music scene. We made ourselves dinner- pasta with carbonara sauce and chicken. While we were cleaning up, we ran into an Australian guy that was staying in our room with us. We were being pretty crazy, doing an assembly line of washing, passing, rinsing, drying, and putting away our dishes, generally having a grand time and laughing a lot. He was a little intimidated, I think, and called us cackling hens, so we proceeded to tease him about not having any friends (even though he did, they came down shortly after). We invited them all out with us, but didn't wind up seeing them until later. As we were pre-gaming in our 12-person room, we started talking to a German guy, Florian (Flo) that was staying there as well. He was a pretty funny guy, and we invited him out with us, and he actually came! Possibly the funniest comments of the night came from him. We were talking about how the Irish girls dress, and he called them "oil tanks in hot pants"... aka fat girls in little clothing. Later, we had a cheers in the pub, and I didn't make eye contact with him- he said that in Germany, if you don't look at a person when you cheers, your children will be gay... needless to say, a very odd but funny guy, and he had us in stitches several times. 

We all headed out up the main street, Quay St., where we were approached by a promoter for a club- Coyotes. Yes, like Coyote Ugly, the movie. He stamped our hands and led us to the club, where we got a free shot, and Paige danced on stage with the performer because he was singing country music. It was pretty lame, though, and not what we were looking for, so we didn't stay long. Next stop was Taaffe's, which is also known for having great sessions. However, the pub is tiny, and was totally packed when we got there. We couldn't even move, so even though the music was good, Skye, Erin, Flo and I decided to go somewhere else, and left Kelly and Paige and Kaelyn (who joined us shortly) and went to Quays, which was right across the way from our hostel. This was a very cool place, with multiple levels and bars and lots of character. I could have spent all night just looking at the random things they had on the walls- including a fencing helmet that served as a lampshade. We were walking around looking for a place to stake out when we see the rugby guys from the night before... We grabbed a few pints and retreated to a balcony on the other side of the bar, assuming they wouldn't even recognize us if they did see us (which they didn't). We hung out there and danced for a while, and when we finished our pints, decided to head the The Crane Bar, also well-known for great trad sessions. 

The five of us (me, Erin, Skye, Flo, and Kaelyn) walk across the river and ask directions from multiple people before finding the pub... but OH was it worth it. We walk in to see a tiny pub with lots of character, and a session going on with eight musicians. There isn't really any place to sit or stand, so we decide to head upstairs when we spot a staircase. We go up to find another full bar and a different session with eleven musicians playing... We stand and listen for a few minutes and grab a table and order a few pints of Guinness. The music is great- exactly what we were looking for. If you search "session in the crane bar" on youtube, you can get a few videos of basically what we saw last night. You just can't sit still or not have a smile on your face when you are watching a session. We all were high off the music and having a great time sitting and talking, when suddenly, right next to us, a guy starts Irish step dancing wearing tap shoes. He goes all out for an entire song. It was so great to watch! When he stopped, we told him that he basically had just made our night. I also started talking to a drummer that was playing with the group, and he's from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, and gave me his band's card so I could find them online. He said they actually have played in VT before, and that I should follow their schedule to see if they're ever in the area. New friends everywhere!

 The upstairs session at The Crane. Amazing music!

 Irish step dancing!!! This guy was great.

We were just sitting listening to the music when three guys sat down at the table next to us. I strike up a conversation with them, and we talk for an hour or so until last call. Kaelyn and Flo leave, and the guys invite us to go with them to a club, Roisin Dubh, or "the rosh" as the called it. We went there, but once again, it was way too packed to be able to have a good time, so we left again and they took us to another place, Massimo. It was slightly less crowded, so we stayed there and talked some more. The guys were all funny and nice, and it turns out one was from New Hampshire! The other two were from Ireland and Ottawa, Canada. It turns out they all had girlfriends, but they promised to friend us on facebook and let us know if they ever come down to Cork... we'll see if that happens!

We left the club and walked back towards our hostel, running into Kelly and Paige on the way. They had quite a crazy night, but that's an entire other story. We went back to our hostel, and in the stairwell, run into the Aussie and his friends. I'm dead tired at this point- 3:30am- so we all go to bed. I get into bed (after passing the old man in his underwear- gross) and I hear the Aussie come in. There's some bumps and shuffling, and I hear him start talking to someone. I turned over in bed to see a random, fully dressed girl, that wasn't staying in our room, lying on his bed. She's obviously wasted, and he tries to wake her up with a "wake up, princess, wake up, pissed b****". I start laughing at him at this point, as does the Irish guy sleeping in the bunk below me. He eventually gives up and just crawls into bed next to her, but not before he asks her to at least tell him her name- to no avail.

Another sleepless night ensues; we all wake up for good at about 8:30 and go eat breakfast and hang out in the kitchen before checking out at half 10. We walked around the city again, seeing the Spanish Arch and heading out to Claddagh Park and the Atlantic Ocean to walk on the sandy, mussel shell covered beach at low tide. While it was foggy as we headed out to the park, and even thicker fog rolled in when we were out there, to the point that we couldn't see a hundred yards away. We saw the swans that Galway are famous for, swimming around and biting each other in Galway Bay. We went and got coffee and pastries to try to warm up (it was FREEZING- the damp cold just doesn't leave you), before getting nachos at a Tex-Mex restaurant and heading to the bus station to catch our bus at 2:05. On the way back, I finally, after spending 10 hours on buses in the past 48 hours, how to prop up my head with my coat and scarf to get comfortable enough to fully pass out without doing the dreadful head bob and snap. 

 Claddagh Park

The Galway swans.

And that brings me pretty much to where I am right now- a bit hungry, and incredibly tired, so please forgive anything in this post that didn't make sense. It took me hours to write, but I'm afraid of how it turned out. Check out my flickr (eventually) for more pictures- I took over 200 just this weekend! But all in all, it was a really fun weekend. I like Galway a lot. It's got a great feel, awesome music scene, interesting history, and gorgeous scenery on the ocean. I still think I like Cork better, though... :)

Quay Street

Hooray, Beer!

No, I haven't drank any Red Stripe here. But I will give you a breakdown of the most common beers on tap in any given pub, with my expertise tasting notes... ha. In no particular order, there's:

A thing of beauty.

Beamish. One word to describe this local Cork beer is DELICIOUS. The actual beer I am referring to is the Beamish stout, the flagship product of Beamish and Crawford Brewing Co., which is now owned by Heineken... It's definitely a very dark beer, has little carbonation, a very creamy and long-lasting head of foam (when poured correctly, but of course it's always poured correctly here. I waited 3 minutes for my pint last night while the bartender was waiting for it to settle properly!). It has a creamy feel and a little smokey taste, and I always get a hint of chocolate... Maybe that's why I like it so!  Definitely my favorite beer that I've had here- yes, even better than...

Guinness. Don't get me wrong, I love a good pint of Guinness- I even picked it to be my first drink in Ireland. Maybe it's psychological, but it tastes different (and better) here than what I've had back home. It has that roasted flavor similar to Beamish, and is creamy as well, bitter and tangy, and of course a gorgeous head of foam.

Murphy's. Much like Beamish, Murphy's is another wonderful stout made here in Cork. It's a bit less tangy than the previous two, and is lighter in flavor as well, with a very thick head and zero carbonation. A very good pint indeed.

Carlsberg. It's more of what the average American would expect when they order a beer- it's clear yellow, more bubbly, not a very intense flavor, sort of medium all around- overall, a very easy-drinking beer. And it's Danish, so I feel connected to my best friend who's studying abroad there!

Bulmer's. Not actually a beer, Bulmer's is hard cider. To those who've had a Wood Chuck, it tastes much like that. It's sweet and bubbly and tasty, a nice alternative to a heavier stout. I've seen in Tesco (the main supermarkets here) that there is actually flavored Bulmer's, which I want to try- both berry and pear.

Budweiser. I'm only including this because it's one of the most common beers on tap in a pub, and that's what I said I was going to do. But I'm not giving tasting notes...

Well, all this talk has made me quite thirsty... it's off to a pub with me! Sláinte!!!

Linguistics

This is a tricky topic to write on. It's tough to encapsulate the Irish accent and slang... but here are a few things that have stood out to me either because of how much they are used, or because it's strange or funny. Some are more obvious and expected, others quite quirky.


adding "so" to the end of sentences
"d"  replaces any "t" or "th" sounds- eg. "they" becomes "dey", "the" is "duh"
"ye" instead of "you"
the sidewalk is the "footpath"
quay is pronounced "key"
apartment is "flat", and roommates are "flatmates"
when saying the time, it's not "eight thirty", it's "half eight"
sort of slur words- don't say all the vowels basically
...but enunciate- say each word clearly
things are grand, not great
when you pause when talking, it's "em" not "um"
people actually say bollocks
chips are french fries, crisps are potato chips
talk very fast...

Maybe this is why I have a hard time doing an Irish accent? These are just the few that I can think of right now. If I realize more, I'll add them to the end of future posts.

Oh, and I had another moment today that made me feel Irish- a girl sought me out and gave me a handout for a program for Irish students to travel to the US next summer...  in my head, I said, "thanks, I plan to!"

Directions

I'm finally feeling better, and went to my first class this week today (Archaeology of Ireland, which is actually very interesting...). I was much sicker than my last post may have made me seem. I had a full-on flu, with all the expected effects. BUT that's (pretty much) done with now, except for a wracking cough that keeps me up at night.

So as I was walking back from class, in the rain, of course, feeling somewhat miserable - sick and like a drowned rat - I'm checking out a situation involving a few Garda when a guy walking the opposite direction catches my eye and says "excuse me". I'm a little surprised because I don't know him, and although Irish people are friendly, they don't typically pick you off the street for a conversation. I stop walking and he heads over to me and asks where a particular shoppe is... I of course have no idea, and tell him so, and that I've only been here a week. He asks if I knew which street we were on (I did!) and he thanked me and went on his merry way.

This may seem pretty unremarkable, but I enjoyed the fact that out of all the many people walking down that street, and the Garda 10 ft away, he picked ME out to ask directions. I take it to mean that I fit in rather well in Ireland. I must have had the slightly grumpy face and determined walk that signifies a native to Cork? Who knows. But I'm taking it to mean that he thought I was Irish and knew the city well enough to give him directions, which I enjoy.

Comments

I just realized that my settings were such that not everyone could comment on my posts- this is now changed- comment away if you want to!

Paying the Price

This is the first night I've been here that I haven't gone out- not for lack of places to go, but because I've fallen sick. I figured an illness was coming, considering not only the fact that I've been up late every night, but that I'm in a totally new environment surrounded by all new people with all new germs! I'm not doing too bad, mostly just very stuffed up and a bit of a cough. I slept in late today, and just stayed in bed watching movies. I've been in contact with my friend Donncha, who has also been sick (I wonder if I got it from him), and he's going to come over tomorrow night. We're going to, as he said, "be miserable together. It'll be like a hospital ward". He's bringing tissues, and is going to "rustle up" some chicken soup... in the microwave. It'll be nice to have some human contact; I've been alone all day, and it's a bummer to think about all my friends out at the pubs right now. I've been with people almost constantly since I've been here, so this feels like some kind of withdrawal!

Last night was one of many new experiences I've had in Ireland- my first pub crawl! We met just down my street and headed to 4 pubs and 1 club all over the city. It was 10 euros, and we got a free shot at each of the pubs we went to- plus a lei, because it was a Hawaii theme that night... I swear, the Irish are absolutely crazy. I made friends with the leaders of the crawl, Tim and Eoin (pronounced like Owen). Both are nice guys, and seeing as they hold the crawls twice a week all semester, I'll probably see them again! Plus, they said they would give me a t-shirt with "Cork City Pub Crawl" written on it. the only drawback of last night is that I completely lost my voice as a result of shouting over music in pubs night after night. Today I sound like a 70 year old chain smoker- lovely. Maybe it's a good thing I've hardly seen anyone!

After I see Donncha tomorrow, who is a native of Cork, I think I'm going to try to put together a post about language and accents here... not a very straightforward topic, so we'll see how it turns out!

First Post!

Sorry for the delay in posting! This is my fifth full day, and so far, it's amazing! The trip over was fine, despite a three hour delay in Burlington for my connecting flight to Newark. I got to Shannon, Ireland, at about 6:45AM local time after a 6 1/2 hour ride over the Atlantic. I took a bus from Shannon to Cork, and made friends with a few other study abroad students that I have since bumped into several times around the city. My apartment is on Beasley St., right off Oliver Plunkett, which is directly in the city centre and part of the main shopping/entertainment/pub area of the city.

I am really loving the city. There's something to do on every street, with countless little pubs and shops. Ireland is living up to it's promise of being incredibly friendly. I've only run into a few people that aren't quite nice to me, even though I'm the dumb American in most circumstances. Socializing is very different here than what I've experienced in the US. I've gone out to pubs every night that I've been here, and each time, it's so easy to make a new (Irish) friend. On my first night, I met a guy named Donncha O'Leary- I still can't pronounce his name properly! We talked for four hours, and made plans last night for him to take me sightseeing on Sunday, winding up in a pub of course. In pubs, you can approach anyone and start talking, especially the guys. I'm not a big fan of most of the Irish girls that I've met so far. They are very materialistic, always dressing to the nines to go out (aka very tight, short, and low cut), with poofed hair and loads of makeup and high, high, heels. The guys are a much more mellow breed, and it's easy to carry a conversation with any of them- as long as their accent isn't too thick!

I've made a lot of friends in the time that I've been here, mostly people that I'm living with. I have two roommates, and they are both from Finland. They're rather sweet and we're getting along well so far. They call me their dictionary, because I'm always giving them English words that they don't know or can't think of. Our apartment is quite nice. I have my own bedroom and bathroom, and we share a fully equipped kitchen and living room. My neighbors across the hall are nice- 4 girls from NYC, Montana, and I forget where else... I've met so many people in the past few days, it's a wonder I remember my own name! The floor above me has an apartment with three guys who are all very nice as well. I've also become friend with two guys from Portugal that are so sweet and nice. On the first floor (which would be the second floor in America- one of the many things that are different here) is Paige, who's from Montana. She and I have been spending the most time together, and we get along really well. There are a lot of girls from Montana here because of an exchange program they have with Cork, and I like them all- very down-to-earth, relaxed and fun girls. I have more friends that live across the river, including a couple of people from UMass Amherst, which will be handy for keeping in touch back in the states.

The UCC campus is absolutely gorgeous. I put a few pictures up on my flickr (www.flickr.com/lswalch) of the campus and the city. I haven't actually registered for classes yet, but I think I'm going to take Irish Folklore, Spoken Irish, Traditional Music, the History of Ireland, and Archaeology in Ireland.
My friends are I are going out tonight (for the 6th night in a row!) on a pub crawl on Washington St. It's been raining today, but I hope it lets up before we go out. I'm having dinner with Paige in her apartment downstairs at 7- pasta leftover from last night, and I'm going to try to take a nap as well in that time. So for now, sláinte!