Oh! The Places You'll Go!
Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
- Dr. Suess :)
Well, hello! It has been a wonderful couple weeks, and I have been so many places since my last post! Weekends in The Ring of Kerry, Galway, and Dublin, and day trips in Cahir, Cashel, and Blarney! I have certainly been scoping out the landscapes of Ireland, but at the same time I have been hard at work with school. My Dad created a "half-way" point for my stay here in Ireland, and I believe the exact date is March 24th. I cannot believe that already 2 and a half months have flown by, and I only have 2 weeks of school remaining. I have an entire month off in April for Easter and "studying" (aka travelling), then two exams during the month of May. There are many places to see, things to experience, and lessons to learn. I often pinch myself to make sure I really am here. It's an incredible blessing to be here! Let me share with you where I have been this past month :)
...My apologies on the length...it is quite a lot to read. Next time i will be updating more frequently and with a smaller word count! ;)
In February I went with my school to the Ring of Kerry. The Ring of Kerry is a heritage trail that takes you through the little towns and coastal cities in County Kerry. It is known to be one of the most beautiful areas of Ireland, and it certainly lived up to its reputation! We stayed at a hotel, had wonderful food (that I didn't have to cook myself!), and took a bus tour and walked all around the countryside. I met lots of American students, went to a Ceili!! (it's like Irish line dancing with partners and in a huge group) and enjoyed the nice weather. Our hotel was in Cahersiveen, County Kerry, then we traveled on the bus to many places: Killarney, Killorglin, Valentia Island, saw the Skelligs in Ballinskelligs from the coast (they are two historical rock islands off the coast...monasteries have been found there dating to very early Christian times), Portmagee, Caherdaniel, Derrynane (the home of Daniel O'Connell, the famous "Irish Catholic liberator"), and many other small towns! Some of my favorite parts of the trip were when we got to explore the stone forts we stumbled upon! I also loved seeing ruins of castles on the beach, hearing the Atlantic ocean waves, and feeling the misty wind on my face. It occurred to me that this same ocean touched my homeland!! Truly amazing :)
After the Ring of Kerry weekend trip, I went on a day trip to Cahir Castle and The Rock of Cashel. I went with the campus ministry here at UCC, and it was a very nice day! The castle was fun to explore, and there were many historical facts about it. It was originally built in the 1100's, and the recent design is from the 1840's. So cool!! The Rock of Cashel is also known as "St. Patrick's Rock" and is believed to be the place where the King of Munster was converted to Catholicism and baptized by St. Patrick in 400 A.D. The fortress is absolutely magnificent and is quite large! The view of the land surrounding the rock is truly incredible, and no matter how many pictures I took I could never capture the fullness of its beauty!! The structures we saw were partially in ruins; what remains is from the 12th & 13th centuries. That day, I met a family from Maine! We thought they were American, and they kept looking at us like they thought we were Americans too. So, to meet them, my friend and I asked if they could take our picture in front of the Rock. It was a great plan! :) Plus, they had very nice looking sons and they were going to school in the Northeast too! It was a wonderful plane.
I also went to Galway City at the end of February! It is such a small city, and much different than Cork. I really like the atmosphere! I went on this trip with the campus ministry from UCC again, and I met and made great friends here!! Since then, I got together with some of the girls and we had a girls' night with brownies and Disney movies :) We took a day trip to Connemara, (in the northern/coastal part of County Galway) and toured Kylemore Abbey and the Connemara National Park. Both were beautiful! While we were walking through the national park, it started to sleet and rain and hail and snow! Quite an adventure! We just kept singing and walking and laughing as the wind and rain wrapped all around us. Of course, once we got back to the bottom of the mountain and climbed into the bus, the precipitation stopped. :) That night after a nap and dry clothes we went out to a lovely pub and enjoyed each other's company and singing abilities, and we found a place called Coyote! It had the American flag plastered on the ceilings, country music playing, 80's music and a mechanical bull!!!! It was such a cool place!! I absolutely HAD to try the bull riding, because I had heard so much about it from my friends. It was quite a sight to see, and only after trying it did I discover the trick to holding on. I lasted 2.3 seconds ... not even one full rotation! I didn't care that I was bad at it, I just knew that if I hadn't tried it, I would have regretted it :) This just means that I will have to attempt riding it again back home! hehe
The next day we walked around the city, and I bought a Claddagh ring, since this was the site of the original Claddagh jewelers! Unfortunately the shop was closed and we couldn't go in to see the museum, but there were many vendors selling this type of ring. The bus ride home was very relaxing, and I was quite happy to be back in my little "home", Cork.
Last week, in between classes, I took a day trip to Blarney Castle, and kissed the Blarney Stone!! I heard that the locals pee on the stone during the night, but then again I knew I would have been sad if I hadn't bent backwards over the castle wall to participate in the classic Irish tradition. The stairs up to the top of the castle were winding, narrow, and seemed to be growing smaller as I climbed higher. The grounds around the Castle were very nice as well, and I saw signs of springtime! Flowers of all kinds were sprouting from the ground; it looked like Easter!
Dublin was my trip last weekend, and I went with two other friends for our return debut. We met up with one of our friends from back home! She is the athletic trainer for the Yale rugby team and they were on tour in the UK. It was nice to see her and give her a big hug!! We briefly met the team, and we had planned on going to a game but because we got lost and delayed on our way to the city, we missed it. :( It worked out for the better, because we were able to spend an entire day with her on Saturday and enjoyed watching an Ireland rugby match from one of the local pubs in Dublin! The official website for the rugby games: http://www.rbs6nations.com/en/home.php and the highlights of the weekend!!!: http://www.rbssixnations.premiumtv.co.uk/page/RBSSixNations/0,,12785~1946803,00.html The Ireland team beat the Wales team by 27 to 12, and being in the pub to watch the game was quite an experience!! It felt something akin to a series with the Red Sox versus Yankees! Such an exciting game and it was truly nice to spend time with friends in that atmosphere. Not to mention that the food was amazing!!! (Rev. Uncle Andre you were right! The pub food is really tasty!) During the weekend, I bought an Ireland rugby shirt...not the official jersey because it was really expensive, but still a rugby shirt :)
I have loved travelling these past month, and I am looking forward to this next weekend for studying for my finals before I head out again into the big, wide world. I'll be sure to tell you about my St. Patrick's Day experience in Ireland!
Talk to you soon, mariss
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