Waterford

Hello again!

I'm doing some more catching up...another blog!

Sat 14th us WAC students (Allison, Erik, and myself) went to Waterford for the day.  I love our little day trips.  We don't have to worry about packing or finding a place to sleep at night.  We make some PB&J sandwiches and head out for a fun filled day.  Also some of the places we visit don't have a whole lot to occupy a whole weekend.  

Anyway we spent our saturday exploring Waterford.  Unfortunately the biggest attraction, Waterford Crystal Factory, is closed after it went bankrupt and all the employees lost their pensions and started protesting.  So instead we went to the Waterford Museum of Treasures, Reginald's Tower, the People's Park, and finally another small art museum.

We left around 9am again and we got to Waterford around 11am.  The museum was right next to the Information center so we decided to go through there first.  It had a lot on Viking history.

  Waterford was one of first and largest Viking settlements in Ireland, next to Dublin.  Waterford

 is also a coastal city and it's closer to the main land.  Since I am taking a Vikings class this semester I was very interested learning more about their history.  Again I love Ireland because I got some really funny pictures with some

 props.  You can see me on a throne that I snuck onto...that red rope would not stop me :)  My favorite part of the museum was on the first floor we found this little room with benches, oars, and a front part of a Viking long boat.  As were taking pictures in the room, the door shuts automatically and this 

video starts to play.  This big face of an old man appears in front of us and 

the benches start to sway side to side.  We were not prepared for this!  It was suppose to symbolize the long voyage the Vikings embark on during their travels.  It was really fun!  

So after we learned some more Irish history we went out

 into the city to find Reginald's tower and eat lunch.  Near the water they had some nice benches and we stopped to eat our sandwiches.  Again we had another rain free day but it was a little cloudy...I'll take it!

Waterford used to be surrounded entirely by stone walls and towers.  Reginald's tower was closest to the water and it still stands intact.  It was a small little tower with 3 floors and some small exhibits.  The first

 picture up above is when I found this little whole in the tower lol.  I love exploring, it makes me feel like a little kid :)

The tower did not take a lot of time so we decided to go to the park and hang out for a while.  They had a nice fountain and more stuff to climb on lol.

We saw some exercise stuff and I tried to work on my triceps by doing to dips.  I realized my arms are not quit strong enough.  

After we went to the park we stopped by the art gallery and saw the exhibits there...it was only two on display so it didn't take a lot of time.  

We headed back to Cork on the 4pm bus.  It was not as productive as Limerick but we still had a good time.  I'm just happy I got to see another part of Ireland.  We still have to get to Dublin and Belfast.  Those are the last two big places we want to go.  I'm just glad Ireland is so small.

This coming Saturday we going to try and plan another day trip to Baltimore Ireland!  I'm so excited...not cause it's any major place or anything...just because it's Baltimore Ireland...it just sounds like fun.  They also have a ferry out to one of the Island and we might try and make it out to there.  Then next thursday the 26 Allison, Erik, and I are going to Scotland for 5 days!  I'm so excited!  Everyone I've talked to says it's suppose to be beautiful...it will probably be freezing though lol.  I only have 6/7 weeks of classes left...I can't believe how fast everything is going.  Next thing I know I'll be back on the Shore eating Crab cake sandwiches, mac and cheese, and driving my car again lol.

Miss you all!  

Limerick

Hello My Fellow Americans!

Sorry again it has been a really long time since I've updated.  I'm a little behind...

I turned in two papers last thursday and another one today.  I only have one more left due this thursday.  I feel so relieved to have these out of the way before my bigger trips to Scotland and London which are coming up soon.

I'm also sick again for my second time being here.  I think my immune system is still adjusting...hopefully this will be it.  (knock on wood)

I had a lot of work due these past two weeks.  Other then that things have been pretty calm.  

Saturday the 7th Allison, Erik and I went to Limerick for the day.  It was a very productive day trip.  We went to King John's Castle, St. Mary's Cathedral, the Hunt Museum, and an art gallery.

We left around 9 in the morning and it was a hour and a half bus ride to Limerick.  I've become very familiar with the bus system here.  I haven't taken the bus this much since high school lol.  Some of the trips are really bad...I've learned not to sit in the back or else I feel sick.

So our first stop in Limerick was at St. Mary's Cathedral.  It is the oldest building in Ireland that is still used for it's original purpose.  They still have mass there every sunday.  The inside was very pretty...though not as grand as some of the Cathedrals in England it was still nice.  You can tell Ireland is very proud of their history no matter what the size.  

After we were finished there we went to King John's Castle.  This was definitely the highlight of my day.  I love history so much and this was such a treat for me.  They had a short little video 

about the history of the castle before we went into the court yard.  One of my favorite things 

about Ireland is there lack of security.  I managed to get some really funny pictures with some of the props and

 displays.  We had a really great time there.  Also at the top of one of towers we got a great view of the city. 

 After we were finished exploring the castle we headed to the hunt museum.  This museum is from a families private collection of artifacts. 

 They had a lot of ancient history including Rome, Greek, and even Egpyt.  But the majority of the exhibits had to do with Irish history.  Unfortunately I do not have any photos from the museum because there was no camera allowed and unlike most other places they were very serious about the no photos.  We walked around for about an hour and ate lunch in the cafe before heading back into the city.

Our final destination was the Limerick art gallery.  Before we went inside though we walked through this park that was right next to the gallery.  It was a beautiful day out, very sunny and comfortable.  The art gallery was really great because it was free :) and that is always a good thing.  It was more modern art but still very interesting.  This one collection was drawings on pieces of trash. 

 It was really funny stuff.  My favorite was these charcoal drawings done on one of walls.  It made me want to draw really badly.

We headed back to Cork around 5 or so and had a relaxing evening.  Surprisingly I do not go out much on the weekends.  My friends and I prefer going out during the week because things are less packed.  I've gotten really close with my roommates and I'm making some really good friends here.  It makes it alot easier when you're with other people going through the same experiences.  I really lucked out in having 5 of the best roommates possible.  I thought for sure with 6 girls in one place we would have problems, but so far we haven't had a single one.

We are all really good about buying stuff for the apartment together and we all share alot.  Some of the girls have been getting care packages from home with treats but we all share...it's surprising what things they don't have here.  American peanut butter is really hard to find!  My grilled cheeses aren't the same either...no one makes them better then my mom...I just don't have that special something lol.

Anyway...I'll be updating again soon about out trip Sat. 14 to Waterford soon!

Love you all!

Galway, Connemara, and the Aran Islands

Hey Everyone!

It's been a while since I've updated.  I'm a little behind due to school.  I have 4 papers coming up next week so I've been a little distracted.  We went to Galway the weekend of the 23.

Anyway I'm ready to tell you all about my amazing trip to Galway .  Galway is probably the

 farthest we've traveled since we've been here.  I

t was a four hour bus ride and not very fun.  The city of Galway is very lively and exciting with a really pretty city center and alot of activity.  Friday night after we got settled and ate at the local Supermacs(fast food) we met up with some friends from school.  We had a really fun night.  

On Saturday we headed to the information office in the city.  They have a bunch of tours and information and maps.  We jumped onto a bus that was doing the Connemara tours.  We wanted to see Kylemore Abbey and some of the scenery.  The tour lasted from 11am-5pm and it was stunning the whole time.  We saw alot of mountains and there was even snow on top. 

 Down

 below you can see some mountains and a lake.  It was cloudy on Saturday and only very light rain but overall it was a very good day concerning weather.

Halfway on our trip we reached Kylemore Abbey which was the highlight of the day.  It was originally a castle but was later bought by Nuns and turned into a private girls boarding school.  We only got to see a little of the inside but I got some great outside pictures.  The abbey was on this beautiful lake and behind it were some mountains.  There was also a small Gothic style church near the school.

The tour guide was very informative and I learned alot of local stories and history.  One town we stopped in had this statue in the center and the tour guide told us that the statue served no purpose other then to attract people.  He said "When people see a statue they think it's important.  So they stop take pictures and maybe stay to grab a drink or a sandwich."  I think that's a smart idea when you're in the middle of nowhere.  After we got back to the city we ate at subway (we are so cheap when we travel) and headed back to our hotel.  We had to get up early the next day to take the ferry to the Aran Islands.

Now the Aran Islands only have one ferry that goes out in the morning and one ferry back at night and the ferry is about 45 mins away from the city so you have to take a bus.  We got up around 8 am (very early for us young people) to get to the bus.  The ferry ride to the Island was amazing.  The water was so beautiful and there were virtually no clouds out that day.  We couldn't had planned it better ourselves.  We decided to rent bikes and ride around the island ourselves. 

 It was so beautiful out we wanted to go at our own pace.  We stopped at a few beaches and collected some more rocks. 

 One of the beaches had weird rock formations it's hard to describe.  It was just so amazing!  The Aran Islands is my favorite place so far.  The combination of good weather, bike riding, and breath taking scenery just made it a perfect day.  We stopped at a few small historic sites.  One was a old church and the another was called the seven churches.  We didn't get to make it up to one of the forts because of our bikes but we were still satisfied. 

We made it back to the ferry with time to spar so we walked around till 5pm when the ferry departs.  Then we waited for the bus to come pick us up a little after 6pm.  Now we believed that the last bus to Cork was 8:05pm so we thought we were going to be fine.  But when we got to the station we learned that the last bus to Cork was actually 6:05pm.  We were not very happy about this...we had to go back to our hotel and stay another night...ugh!  We got up Monday morning at 6:30am for the first bus back to Cork.  We all slept the whole bus ride and luckily I did not have class till 4pm and Allison doesn't have class at all on Mondays.  Erik however missed his morning class...but we all decided it was worth it to see the Aran Islands.  It wasn't possible to get back from the Islands and catch the last bus.  

The weekend was still a great success...we had great weather and saw alot of Galway sights.

We went to Limerick for the day just this past Saturday and I'll update my blog from that trip later this week.  We won't be going anywhere this coming weekend because of our papers coming up.  We are planning on going to see a musical at the Cork Opera house this weekend and maybe explore Cork more.

I have gotten alot of requests for school pictures and I'll be sure to take some soon.  I keep forgetting about the school and that I have classes.  Erik, Allison and I also recently bought tickets to Edinburgh and London so we're very excited for those trips.

On a side note school is going really well and I'm really enjoying my classes.  My favorite class has to be my Vikings....or maybe my Pagans to Christians....or Hitler and Nazism (the teacher is hilarious and really entertaining).  I'm also taking a yoga class twice a week which I love.  Anyway I'm having an amazing time here.  I really like my flatmates and my new friends!

Should update again soon!

Thank you all!

Cheers!  

Erica

Blarney Castle

Hello my fellow Americans!

I hope you all are doing well.  I finally got my photos up of Blarney Castle and the Blarney Stone.  Erik, Allison and I went to Blarney Castle and explored the ancient ruins and grounds.

Here on the left is me kissing the famous Blarney Stone for some special Irish good luck.  It was terrifying...if you can see from the photo it is a long way down.

The castle was really fun...you were free to roam around and we found lots of corridors and narrow passages.  My favorite room had to be the murder hole.  It is a little room with a hole in the floor.  Apparently if unwanted guests were 

coming in someone could throw rocks and other dangerous objects at them through the hole.  I thought that was very funny lol.

On the right is my best view of the castle.  On the left side of the picture is the watch tower and

 we walked all the way to the top of the castle to reach the Blarney stone.

There was alot of grounds for us to explore.  We found some caves, the battlements(also known as a defense wall) and a dungeon.  The three of us also discovered the the Blarney Mansion that is still occupied today so we weren't allowed inside.  I have decided that mom and I should buy the mansion and move there lol...hint hint mom!

We walked along this trail behind the mansion to a lake on the back grounds.  It was a little flooded from the rain but it was still a pretty sight.  

We were very lucky in that the rain managed to stay away our whole time on the Blarney grounds.  It only rained during our bus ride to Blarney and the way back to Cork.  I was very happy about a successful day of sight seeing.  I hope my Irish luck will stick with me throughout the rest of travels.  Although asking for less rain in Ireland is like asking for less sun in the desert.

Allison, Erik and I are planning our trip to Galway this weekend.  We're hoping to do a tour of the Kylemore Abbey one day and the Aran Islands on another day.  I wish we could spend more time there but hopefully we'll get alot in!  

Thank you all for being interested in my travels!  It's very exciting to share my experiences with so many!

You are all in my thoughts!

-Erica

Killarney, Ring of Kerry, and Tatler Jacks

Hi Everyone!

I just got back from my weekend in Killarney!  Erik, Allison and I stayed at a great Hostel right in town and we did the Ring of Kerry Tour which was beautiful despite the rain.

I had my first and probably only pint of Guinness at a bar called Tatler Jacks.  We listened to live folk music that was very Irish.  I'm sure we looked like tourists lol.

We did a paid tour that the hostel offered at a really good price.  A van came and picked us up around 10am.  The ring of Kerry is very long so the van was a good idea.  We stopped at some scenic spots for a chance to take photos.  As well as a town or two.  One town was called Bog Village and Allison and I found the Bog Pony!  Apparently this Pony is famous in Ireland...we have no idea why.  Each stop was beautiful and we could not pull ourselves away from the van windows for very long.  

The Ring of Kerry is home to the largest mountain peak in Ireland.  It had many hills, rivers, and lots of coastline.

The ocean was amazing!  The cliffs and coastline seemed endless and the water was very rough on account of the weather.  We stopped at this beach and got to walk down to the water.  The beach was filled with these beautiful stones and pebbles.  Erik, Allison and I each got some.  I picked up about 10 and all I could think was how Tammy would love to see all these stones!  Don't worry I saved some for you Tammy!

However Sunday was not as successful due to the large amounts of rain that lasted throughout the day.  We tried to walk down to Ross Castle (the main attraction in the National Park in Killarney) but due to the rain we couldn't find a bike rental place so we had to walk.  We walked what seemed like hours until we were completely soaked that our shoes were filled.  We decided to stop at a B&B to ask how much further it was.  We came to find out that the castle was closed for the day.  The people were so nice, however, that they agreed to drive us into town!  We were so happy after such a miserable day.  Once we got back to the hostel we got dry and headed back to Cork.  We might try and go back in the spring for maybe a day trip and try the national park again.

Next Saturday Allison, Erik, and I are going to Blarney Castle and are going to kiss the Blarney stone!

Jameson Distillery, Midleton, and Ballycotton

Hey Everyone!

I've been in Ireland for 

a few days now and I'm starting to settle in.  I have 5 other girls livi

ng with me and we have a nice kitchen, living room, and two bathrooms.  We do tend to use alot of hot water so I've had a few cold showers.  My room is small but comfortable and I've managed to fit my things in.  I even got a cellphone but I need to put some minutes on it.  I'm meeting some really nice people and not just

 international students either.  I'm excited about orientation tomorrow...I'm actually ready for classes to start.

I think I'm going to join the International Society because they plan lots of trips around Ireland and I think that will help alot.  Erik and I are planning on going to Killarney next weekend.  I'm trying to find the best deal to travel along with a hostel.  There is so much I want to do I feel like I'll run out of time.

I haven't really gotten a chance to explore Cork city as much as I hope but I have w

itnessed a street protest and little children gangs.  The city is packed during the day...but alot of shops and stores close pretty early which can be a hassel.

Today, a friend from Washington College named Bridget, who lives here in Ireland, took myself, Erik and our friend Allison (also from WAC) to the Jameson Distillery, her home town of Midleton for some horse racing, and Ballycotton a beautiful coastal city south of Cork.

The Jameson Factory was awesome. 

Here is a picture of the main entrance.  This is actually the old factory that is not used

 anymore...we did not get to see the new factory but we could smell the smoking coming from the distillery.

 There was a 30 minute walking tour and they served a glass of whiskey at the end.

We saw the process used to make the whiskey as well as the long time it takes to perfect the whiskey.  

You could even do a taste test and compare the whiskey to other from America and Scottland...obviously the Jameson was the smoothest and richest. 

 It was a really fun tour!

Next Bridget took us to her home in Midleton and we met some of her family.  Apparently today was the county horse racing.  She took us down to a field where there were tons of locals and even

 out of town people betting on horses and races.  It was completely different from the Harrington

 raceways that I'm used to.

I bet on a horse named Cottage Acre #4 but it only got 3rd place.  Erik's horse won and he got

 8euro.  It was really fun and the scenery was beautiful.  It was actually cloudy...which is a first

 since we've been here.  It hasn't rained yet since during the winter rain is not as common as it is in the spring.  It has been kind of cold but not nearly as bad as it gets in MD. 

Bridget's mom made us a lunch...which is probably the best meal I'll get in a while.  Her family was very friendly and welcoming.  I really enjoy the Irish hospitality.

After lunch Bridget took us to Ballycotton, a small town south of Midleton on the coast.  The scenery was breathtaking.  The cliffs and the island were amazing. 

 

I wanted to rent a little boat to take to the island and see the lighthouse but it was to late and a sunday.  

I might try and visit there during may when the weather is warmer.  A friend of Bridget's lives there, her name is Evelyn and she also goes to UCC.  She was very friendly and showed us around the town.  I decided I want to become a fisherman and move to Ballycotton and live in a little cottage.  It was so cozy and quiet...I would prefer that to the big city of Cork.

The driving here scares me to death...the roads are so small and the drivers are pretty hasty.  But the people are so friendly.  You can walk past someone on the street and they will say hello and how are you.  It's very differnt.

So classes start on tuesday and I'm sure it will be a crazy week.

I'll write something new soon.

I miss you all!

Erica

Hey Everyone!

Welcome to my blog!

I'm about to set off for Ireland on the 31st!

I started this blog up so that everyone can view my photos and read about how I'm doing.

Everyone is free to email me directly at eclairesaunders@yahoo.com