Adventures with Mom

At long last, my mom made it to Ireland after 3 delayed planes! Their plane was delayed Saturday the 13th because of rain storms and high wind in Newark, where their first flight was headed. They were unable to get on another flight until Monday...and my mom's friends Judy and Lauri decided to get their money back on their flights because they didn't want to miss so much of the tour. My mom's friend Bonnie was still coming with.

Well, Monday their flight out to Newark was delayed about 2 hours because of heavy air traffic control in Newark. They ended up missing their connecting flight to Dublin, but luckily they could make one that was at like 9:40 or something. Well, then they had to wait around for the NC marching band to arrive and connect on the flight. They ended up not leaving until after 11 PM.

They were able to meet up with their tour group in Killarney, even though there was only one day left on the tour. That's where our story begins, the next day (St. Paddy's Day, which I have already written about.)

The rest of our adventures begin on Thursday. Bonnie and Mom planned to sleep in, but I think they were still wired because they had been up late Wednesday night and still woke up relatively early Thursday morning. I met them down at the hotel. We planned the rest of the time that they'd be here, which was until Sunday the 21st. After that, we we went to St. Mary's Cathedral. My mom wanted to see an Irish graveyard. Then we went to King John's Castle, which was my THIRD Time there. I didn't really know where else to take them in Limerick, and I figured they'd want to see a castle. It's so funny--when we first got here I thought King John's Castle looked so cool...but now I never want to go there again! My mom and Bonnie liked it, which matters more! But all I'm going to say is that if anybody else decides to come visit and wants to see what's in Limerick...you're on your own!

After King John's, we stopped at Arabica coffee shop and had a late lunch of paninis and coffee. I discovered Arabica when Ellen visited. It's right across from the George hotel. it's soooo good and they put designs in the foam! Here is the "smiling sun" from my dark mocha.

I went back to my house in Plassey again that night. The next day we were planning to go to Cashel, where I've already been but it was part of the tour that they missed. I spent Thursday night at Stables with Katie Roz and Amanda. For a Thursday night, which is usually a big night at Stables, it was DEAD. Everyone was either out of town...most likely in Dublin...or hungover from Paddy's Day. I ended up having a blast though...they had a band that was pretty good, and then they played music and I danced a lot.

Friday, I went to my 9 am class and then we went to Cashel, which meant stopping in Cahir like last time to switch buses. We didn't go inside the castle this time, but we did the Riverside Walk around it which was nice. We stopped at a gift shop too and then boarded the bus to Cashel.

at Cahir Castle

Mom at Hore Abbey

We checked out Hore Abbey (I was perfectly fine with coming back there...I really think it's beautiful) and then we hit up the Rock of Cashel. It started raining just as we got in to the pub we were going to eat at, Feehan's. We had lunch and Bulmer's, and then luckily made an earlier bus back to Cahir because the bus was late and we got out there after the scheduled time. It rained the entire way back and was pouring as we walked from the bus station to the George. I spent the night at the hotel Friday.

Saturday, we got up, got more coffee at Arabica (I think I'm in love with that place) I showed them the university, which is when I realized that I honestly think I've spent more time at Stables then in the library!!! Although I may have changed that this week. This is the first week in awhile where I didn't set foot inside Stables. We ate lunch at a restaurant called Chocolat. You can probably guess by the name of it that it was DELICIOUS. I had a pesto chicken fettucine. We all got a dessert platter with three 3 different types of desserts on it. Yum yum yum. After that, we caught a bus to Bunratty. I was hoping to go inside the castle since I was in need of going to a new castle, but my mom and Bonnie didn't want to go inside since it was more expensive. They wanted to check out the gift stores that were around it. This is when I was starting to get antsy. In addition to going to many of the same places in Limerick, I've also been inside numerous gift shops and browsed through a ton of tourist knickknacks. I was getting slightly bored. I tried to stay chipper, but my patience with shopping was waning. I did end up buying a photography book of Ireland. We also went inside one of the oldest pubs in Ireland, Durty Nelly's, was established in 1620!

Saturday night we went out for pizza (the one we got had jalepenos on it, and even though I picked them off my mouth felt like it was on fire. It was terrible. I'm such a wimp when it comes to spicy foods!) Then we went to Dolan's Pub for some Bulmer's and Irish music!

At Dolan's (that's Berry Bulmers in the glass!)

Sunday we took a tour to Blarney Castle and Cork (I had no idea Cork was the 2nd biggest city in Ireland) There were only like 10 of us on the tour, as it was the first one of the company's season. I kissed the Blarney stone!!! I was a little wary of kissing it because it is supposed to be super unsanitary, but in the end I couldn't resist. It was scary though, you have to hold on to these two bars at the top of the castle, and hang over to kiss it, and there is a guy who's job is literally to stand there and hold people all day so they don't fall. After Blarney we headed over to Cork, which was only about 15 minutes away. We ate lunch at a place called O'Brien's Sandwiches and we all had a Shamrock roll, which was a chicken sandwich with pesto on a shamrock shaped bun. It was really good, but I had herbs in my teeth after for sure! We walked along the main street in Cork and looked in some stores.

We got back in to Limerick at about 5:00 or so. My mom and Bonnie got their luggage from the hotel storage room and we walked to the bus station so they could take a bus to Shannon Airport. Their flight left at 8 AM the next morning, and they got a hotel room that is just steps away from the airport (Shannon Airport isn't that big.) I was so glad she came!! She said one of the same things I said when I first got here "I keep telling myself I'm in Ireland!" I'm so glad she came to visit because she wasn't 100% sure about it before I left. But Ireland is amazing so, of course she ended up coming! :)

Well, today is the first day of Easter Holiday or Vacation or whatever, or as we know it in America...SPRING BREAK. I'm going to Paris with Katie for 6 whole days. A lot of people are country hopping, but it will be nice to be able to take our time and soak up as much of it as we can. I didn't really feel that antsy during the week...but today it hit me. I'm going to PARIS!!! It's my first time out of Ireland! Tomorrow we are going to Dublin because that's where we are flying out of. I still have more of Dublin to see, and then we are going to crash at the airport and our plane leaves at like 10:55 Sunday morning. I am sure I will have tons to write about when I get back!

St. Paddy's Day...Not St. Patty's Day!

I consider myself very fortunate to have been able to spend a St. Patrick's Day in Ireland! It was one of the days of the entire semester I was most excited for, besides my 21st birthday in 2 weeks!

When I first got accepted to study abroad in Ireland and told my Grandma, she said all excitedly: "You can drink beer!" which was pretty funny since dying beer green in America is a pretty common occurrence. However, I was really in the St. Patrick's day spirit and decided to go to the store and I got some green food coloring. I for some reason got 2 little mini bottles...which was way more than I needed, but I guess I can use it next year!

Wednesday we didn't have school since it's obviously a very important holiday in Ireland. A lot of international students went to Dublin, but since I was expecting my mom in Limerick that evening, stayed in Limerick. My friends Amanda and Liz were also here, and Amanda's friend Carolyn joined us. We walked all the way down to City Centre for the parade because the buses weren't running yet and we didn't want to pay for a taxi. It actually wasn't a bad walk. I wouldn't want to do it alone though...having company definitely made it bearable.

As we were walking there, most of us wearing green, we noticed not many people on the streets were wearing green and I was like "oh Great. They don't get that in to it here." However, as we neared City Centre, the people decked in Green came crawling out of the woodwork. O'Connell Street, the main street downtown, was crawling with St. Patrick's Day celebrators. Before the parade started, we went to McDonald's and of course got Shamrock Shakes. The pricing in Ireland is so weird. I had gotten 2 smalls on previous occasions, for 2.50 each. However, that day I learned that a large was only 2.60!! A small extra price to pay for a considerable extra amount of shake.




We started to get all jealous of people because we didn't have any St. Patrick's Day memorabilia, which is rather funny because all semester we had seen it in stores and could have bought it at any time! Amanda and I ended up each buying a flag, as shown in the picture above. We found a decent spot along the street where we could easily see the parade, which ended up being only so-so. There was a lot of music, but not really any Irish music. There were a lot of city businesses advertising and people dressed up in silly outfits, and a lot of groups of other nationalities being represented which was cool, but we ended up getting bored after an hour or so while the parade was still going.

I texted my roommate Sean and asked him how his "St. Patty's Day" was going and he texted back and said "St. Patty's??" That, apparently, is the American faux pas way of spelling it and in Ireland it is shortened by saying "St. Paddy's." I then had to laugh when I saw people back home writing on Facebook "Happy St. Patty's Day!"

We walked back up to the campus and then I went to Stables with Amanda and Carolyn.There was stuff going on there all day. We went at about 4 PM. I wondered if many people would be there already since it seemed kind of early, but yeah...THERE WERE PEOPLE THERE! the place was hopping. We each bought a drink. We didn't really know anyone else there, so we just stood and observed everyone else's drunken antics. That's when my mom texted me and said they were on their way to their hotel in Limerick from Bunratty, which is only 20 minutes away. We finished our drinks and then I grabbed a taxi and headed to the hotel, which is the same one Ellen and Julie stayed in when they came!

I was so happy to finally see my mom and happy she made it to Ireland after all her difficulties! Her planes had ended up being delayed 3 times. The first day obviously...and then Monday it got delayed for about an hour and a half because of heavy air traffic, out of MSP to Newark again. Then her plane to Dublin got delayed because they were waiting for connecting passengers on the flight. She and her friend Bonnie who came with met up with their tour group in Killarney, and they managed to still see a traditional Irish farm and the Cliffs of Moher before getting to Limerick, which was the end of their tour.

When I got to their hotel room, Bonnie was having some difficulties with the tour bus driver because her bag had been misplaced because she wasn't aware of the loading procedures since she missed most of the tour. There was some major frustrations, but then after we got it straightened out we went to dinner at a restaurant called The Bailey. My mom was excited because our waiter had red hair just like her! She joked he was her long lost son. His name was Gary...short for Gearoid (Guh-road) just like my roommate. My mom tried Bulmer's cider and really liked it--the pear too! We had a very good dinner--Bonnie and Mom had fish and chips and I had Irish stew.

After dinner, we went back to the hotel for a little while and then I headed back to campus again. All in all, it was a very nice St. Paddy's Day!!

Going to New Heights in Belfast

Just talked to my mom on FB chat and as of now their flight at 2:30 out of MSP to Newark is still on schedule! Fingers crossed!

So this past weekend I went to Belfast with The International Society. We took off at about 4 PM Friday. They had said they wanted to make it a straight shot up there at the meeting we had Thursday night, but we ended up stopping for a half hour at a gas station in some small town. After we got back on the bus, we started watching movies. We watched "Just Friends" and "Bruce Almighty." I still think it's kind of funny how much American pop culture is here. I don't really know why, I realize American movies get big everywhere, I just figured I'd be exposed to more foreign entertainment here. We ended up getting to Belfast at about 9:30 or so if I remember correctly. We all got our hostel room assignments--I was with Katie Roz, Liz, Erin, Ben from UWEC, his roommate Martin from Sweden, Molly from Iowa, and a French guy who's name I don't remember...he wasn't in the room much. We all unpacked and then explored the hostel. We met up with Kathleen, Kaitlyn and Lily and all headed out in search of food and to see a little bit of Belfast. We stopped at a pub called Kelly's Cellars, one of the oldest in Belfast. Some guy told Kathleen he dated a girl from Eau Claire. She didn't believe him at first because of the crazy odds and he got all mad. Kelly's wasn't serving food anymore, so we went to a different pub, but the bouncer told us it was a "private party" but he was snickering after we left so we got the feeling he was lying to us and could tell we were tourists. Initially, I was a little nervous about going to Belfast since it's technically in Northern Ireland, and it's where most of the violence from the Catholic vs. Protestant issue arose. We were told at our meeting not to wear Nationality clothing or clothes for sports teams. and although it wasn't said, it was probably a good idea not to wear t-shirts that said "Go Protestantism!" or "I Heart Catholic Boys"

Anyway, we ended up at a Kebab place that was like in the back of this shopping complex type thing that looked a little sketchy but the guy was super nice--probably because we were his only customers. I had a chicken kebab. It was really good but I couldn't eat it all. Then we went back to Kelly's for drinks. I got a glass of Bailey's. We had to pay with pounds since Northern Ireland is part of the UK, and in comparison to Euros, it was cheaper, being only 2 something pounds. And I got more in my glass than in Dingle, where I paid like 4.20 Euros for a glass of it.

Saturday we got up bright and early (well, 8 AM) and headed to the Giant's Causeway at 9. First we stopped at a beach in the town of Portrush.

I LOVED the Giant's Causeway. I think I might have liked it better than the Cliffs of Moher. I knew it was supposed to have cool looking rocks, which I learned resulted from an ancient volcanic eruption, but there were spectacular views when you headed up towards the surrounding cliffs. It was an amazing view.

After we left the Causeway, we stopped at Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. It is about 100 feet above rocks and the ocean. I ALMOST chickened out upon actually seeing it and the rocks and water below. I knew that we were going to the rope bridge, but actually being there scared me. The stairs going down to the bridge were scary enough. I am terrified of heights, especially trying to move myself when I'm up high. I don't like anyone touching me. I can't wait in line for the higher water slides at Noah's Ark without tensing up. However, I told myself that I needed to do this because honestly, when am I going to cross a rope bridge ever again? It ended up not being so bad. I walked really slow, and the only thing that freaked me out was that it was windy. I was afraid my jacket was going to blow off and take me with it. Katie got some pictures of me going across and she is going to email them to me. I was really proud of myself for getting across without squealing or crying. Then we explored the island that it led to. I was a little more nervous for going back across the bridge because when I went the first time we were some of the first people in line and the two girls behind me were scared too and walking super slow just like me, but on the way back there were a lot of people waiting to go. When I made it back across I shouted "I'm alive! I'm alive!"

We left the Rope Bridge and went back to Belfast. A lot of us went to a grocery store to buy stuff for dinner. I bought a microwave spaghetti thing because I was too tired to cook. It wasn't the best but hey it was microwaveable. After dinner I played cards with Katie, Erin, Martin, Ben, Liz, and Molly. We were technically playing drinking games, but I didn't drink Saturday. I wanted a break. I still had a lot of fun though! The agenda for the evening was to go to an area with a lot of pubs and nightclubs geared towards college students, but I 100% decided to be a lame-o and not go out and caught up on my sleep! I was also trying to deal with the fact my mom wasn't getting in to Ireland the next day like I'd hoped.

Sunday morning we had a bus tour of the city of Belfast. I really liked Belfast, despite it's somewhat modern-day violent history. I learned about the history of the "troubles" as Rosemary, our tour guide kept referring to it, learned more about the building of the Titanic, which took place in Belfast. Rosemary said "Belfast has built thousands of other ships, but Titanic is the only one anyone ever remembers." :) I couldn't get great pictures on the bus because I ended up sitting with some kid I didn't know and he kept whipping his camera out so he could get pictures of stuff that was on the other side of the bus, so I had to sit there and just look so I wouldn't get in the way of his camera. Annoying.

After the bus tour, we had free time to do what we wanted. Katie, Erin and I rode on the Belfast Wheel, a giant Ferris Wheelish wheel near City Hall. it isn't like a regular Ferris Wheel, because you sit in pods and not just little buckets like you do at fairs and stuff. Which made things much better than had we not been enclosed. The wheel went up 200 feet and we got to go around 4 times. I managed not to get too scared, but I still found it hard to move and turn around to see what was behind me, and when Katie and Erin got up to switch sides I was afraid the pod would tilt all over.

After the wheel, we ate lunch at a nice little diner/cafe thing. I had a triple decker sandwich that was pretty good. Then we went to a cupcake shop for dessert. I got 1 red velvet with cream cheese frosting and 1 triple chocolate! Yum!

We left Belfast for Limerick at about 4:15 and didn't get back till maybe 9:30 or so again. I was beat! All in all I had a great time and would love to visit Belfast again someday! It was definitely a bit of Irish culture and British culture. I heard some lady say to a man "Cheerio!" I am a bit disgruntled at the fact that now I have been assigned by one of my housemates to do the dishes because we have another house inspection tomorrow. It wouldn't bother me except for the fact there are a million of them to do and hardly any of them are mine. I always wash my own dishes when I am done with them. But yeah....I guess it's good timing because I am sure my mom will come check it out when she gets here! I'm so excited for what's in store. Friday will be the halfway mark since I've been here. How crazy! I'll never forget this time in my life. It's been so amazing so far and it can only get better checking out other European countries!

Cheers!

The Good and The Bad

I figured my entry about Belfast alone will be lengthy as it is, so wanted to write about a few things that have happened--both good and bad in the past week separately.

First off: Wednesday night my roommate Sean came to my room and we were casually talking like we usually do, then suddenly he tells me he's dropping out and it's his last week. I thought he was joking and I couldn't believe it. I stood there not knowing what to say. He was the one I felt closest to of my Irish roommates. I almost thought I was going to cry. I am sure he will visit...he might be here next week for RAG week (Raising and Giving) it's supposed to be a big week of charity stuff, but it's basically like Homecoming Week and everybody gets wasted. I woke up the next morning and had forgotten about it and then remembered. Thursday night there was a birthday party for Katha, who lives next door. I went for awhile, and then went to Stables with Erin, Lily, and Kathleen. I got back to my room, and it may have been the Bulmers, but I got super sad about Sean leaving. He left Friday and when I got back last night his door was wide open and it's completely empty :(

At The Lodge. Sean is the one in the blue sweater


The Good piece of news is that on Friday we booked flights to Brussels, Belgium for the weekend of April 9-11 and then to Rome for April 23-25! I am SO excited. I was starting to think I wouldn't be able to get to more of Europe because everyone was starting to become less available with visitors and other conflicts, but we got it all figured out! I still really want to see Auschwitz but not sure if I'll make it. But I guess either way I'll be content with what I did instead :) I am mostly excited for the food that both places offers! Chocolate and waffles and PASTA! yum yum yum.

Now on to the bad. My mom and her 3 friends were supposed to leave for Ireland Saturday. While I was in Belfast, I had my home phone with me to get texts from her for updates on their travels. Unfortunately at about 9:00 PM or so I got back up to my room in the hostel and looked at my phone. Their flight to Newark was delayed at least 2 hours because of bad weather. We texted back and forth for a bit and then I just decided to call to see what was going on. My mom said they couldn't get another flight until Monday--or today, rather. I was SO bummed. Even though I still felt confident she could get here, I was sad that they were going to miss the stuff on their tour and she wasn't going to get to see all of Ireland and it's amazingness. 2 of her friends decided to not even come anymore. They had flight insurance and got their money back. However, when I got back last night I checked my email and my mom said she and her friend Bonnie found a way to meet up with their tour after they get to Dublin Tuesday morning. I checked the weather for Newark, and apparently there has been a big rain storm the past few days. Saturday they had high winds too. The forecast says it is supposed to rain today too, but as long as the winds stay low they should make their flight I'd think. I really really really hope it all works out today because I was so excited for my mom to be here on St. Patty's Day! She is going to stay a couple extra days now too and we might go to 1 or 2 places that they missed on the tour. All we need is the luck of the Irish today!!
My mom and I on a plane to San Diego, almost exactly 1 year ago!

Playing "Tour Guide"

Wow! I feel like it's been forever since I updated this because I have usually updated right after getting back from a weekend trip or the day after. I also have a million new entries from the blogs I'm following it seems to catch up on. I've done quite a bit of traveling in the past couple days with my good friend Ellen from high school and her older sister Julie.

They got here in the morning on March 5 (Ellen's 21st) We didn't meet up till that night though because they were majorly jet lagged and passed out in their hotel. I took them to Stables since it's on campus and the drinks are a little cheaper than regular pubs and restaurants. It was "Latin America" night, but towards the end of the evening I think they gave up on it and didn't think anyone who was attempting to salsa was doing it well. It started going downhill with "Mambo #5" and then suddenly it was 100% not Latin American with "Bad Romance." It was still a pretty good time. I bought Ellen a Bulmers pear for her birthday. We took a taxi to the hotel they were staying at (i didn't think the two of them would sleep well if they stayed at my house seeing as there are 8 people already living there and not much space in the kitchen or on my bedroom floor)

Saturday morning we took a daytrip to Dublin. We toured the Guinness factory, which was cool. It's 7 stories high and at the top you have a beautiful view of the city. We got a free pint with our ticket, but I wasn't feeling that well from the previous night, so I just had the small sample they gave us. Seeing as I'm not a huge fan of Guinness anyway, the small sample was enough for me! After that we went to the bus station to make sure we knew when we'd be able to get on a bus back to Limerick. We ate lunch and then toured a Viking museum, which was pretty interesting. After that we walked around for a little while and saw a giant leprechaun. We got back to the main drag through Dublin and the sun was starting to set. It was beautiful over the river. I love all the bridges in Dublin too that are on the main drag. I don't remember the name of the street. O'Connell maybe? The busride back was quite long. We left at 6:30 and probably got back at 10. I took a taxi to Plassey so I could sleep in my own bed.

Sunday, we met up at around 1 and I showed Ellen and Julie around Limerick. We grabbed some Shamrock Shakes from McDonald's (yes, they have those in Ireland. It's not just for silly Americans!) and went to King John's Castle. They really seemed to think it was cool! The view from one of the towers is really beautiful, as you can see from my entry about the first time I went there. I will probably be taking my mom there too next week! Then we ate at the Locke Bar. I had Chicken wrapped in bacon,mashed potatoes, and veggies and a slice of Baileys cheesecake for dessert! we were seated right by the fireplace which was nice because it had been sunny out but pretty chilly! We were there for probably two hours, talking and having a drink and dessert. I spent the night at the hotel again because Monday we were leaving for Galway. It would have been nice to see places I hadn't seen yet either but I felt it would be easier as a tour guide to take them to places I have already been! Dublin was a little overwhelming and we mostly took taxis to get around which added up.

Ellen and Julie really wanted to see the Cliffs of Moher, but since I just went on the trip through the university, I wasn't really sure how to get their on our own. but when we got off the bus in Galway, I spotted a bus through the national bus service, Bus Eireann, that said it was going to the Cliffs. A round trip was 20.50. It did however, mean spending almost another 4 hours on a bus to get there and back. But I was glad I was able to get them there after all. We drove through the Burren on the way there, and I am glad they were able to see the countryside of Ireland! Ellen even said to me "This is how I pictured Ireland!" I remember having that moment. It was another gorgeous day, but sooooooo much windier than it was the weekend before when I went with the university. It's kind of cool to go back to the places I've been before, because than it's like I'm really a "resident" of the country and not just a visitor, if that makes sense.

We got back to Galway around 3:30 and i took them to The Front Door, the restaurant we ate at when we went in January. I LOVED the bangers and mash there and we all got that. They agreed it was quite delicious. Then we went to the the original Claddagh maker shop, which I actually didn't go to the first time. I think I shouldn't have told the old lady working that mine wasn't the original. I thought it might be an insult to the Claddagh name! I like my ring though, it's sparkly and hey, it didn't cost me as much! We had an interesting discussion with her about Americans and geography. She told us she once spoke to someone who wanted to drive from London to Dublin. hahaha. Then we went down to the bay, the cathedral and St. Nicholas' Church. We got back on the bus at around 7 PM. I hung out at the hotel with them for a little while, and then came back to my room because my mom wanted to talk to me since we'd been out of touch for a few days. Today Ellen and Julie were planning to go to Killarney. They leave tomorrow morning. It was a fun filled few days and I am glad I was able to show them quite a bit--I got them to both sides of the island! A week from tomorrow my mom will be in Limerick. It will be a little less work on my part-- I only have to show them around the actual city!! I have a lot of schoolwork starting, and I need to go grocery shopping and do laundry soon. That's all for this week! Cheers!

PS. This weekend I'm going to Belfast through the International Society, which is in Northern Ireland! It'll be a long trip, but I'm excited to head up that way!

Picture time! Sorry..the stupid picture adder always seems to mess them up!







sunset in Dublin