I'm exhausted...

...currently we are working on how to get from one city we will be at to another. Yup, we leave in 2 days and we're still planning. It's crazy. Packing you ask? Hmm....well. It's not done. It's started...per se. But not done. I have a fairly good idea of what I am bringing, and I have luckily done most of my laundry. I'm bringing a lot of stuff that can be mixed and matched. Lots of t-shirts and tank-tops and a few dresses that will be easy to throw on, especially for our time on Santorini Island in Greece. I even made a dress - by hand. Yup hand-sewn. Took me forever. I mean forever. I appreciate my sewing machine that much more right now.
I can't believe this trip came so fast. Within a few days we will be in Paris, France, from there we go to Barcelona, Spain and then on to Italy. While we are in Italy we will be in Rome, Florence and then Venice. From Venice we fly to Athens where will stay for a few days and then it's on to Santorini Isaland on Perissa Beach where we will soak up some island sun. Granted it won't be tropical weather, but anything seems tropical in comparison to all the rain that we have been getting here in Ireland.
I'm so excited. Nervous, and anxious and a little scared but so, so, so excited. I'm going to see the Eiffel Tower! And the parthenon! And Vatican City!! I always joke that I am such a dreamer, and I am. Sometimes I'd prefer to live in my dream world - hence why I love sleeping - but right now I feel like life is the dream world. I'm just hoping I don't wake up from this one.
By the way, daylight savings finally happened for us so we are back to being 5 hours ahead of everyone on the East Coast of the States. However while we are in France, Spain and Italy we will be 6 hours ahead and in Greece we will be 7 hours ahead. Something to keep in mind in case any of you ever want to call me. My phone doesn't let me call out while I am not in Ireland so if you wanna chat you will just have to give me a call!! C'mon I know you wanna, phone cards aren't that expensive! Trust me - ask me to let you know how much it would cost in Euro. You'll feel even better to know that if you were to spend 50euro, you are actually spending 75USdollars. Yeah, now imagine buying groceries. Now imagine buying groceries for 5 months. Lastly - imagine buying groceries for 5 months and living for those 5 months with a cheap roommate who steals your food that you spend all that money on. Great, I'm glad we're in the same frame of mind. Swear to God if my bananas, milk, cereal etc goes missing again when I am back from this trip - hell hath no fury like that of a women whose roommate has stolen her Frosted Flakes!!!!
Gnight!

At the end of every rainstorm...

...there is a rainbow.
I know this for sure - because it happened today. Genna and I went into town to meet with Lizzy and walk around. They needed some cheap sunglasses for our trip. It was beautiful out, the sun was shining, the sky was blue and the clouds in the sky were white and fluffy like cotton candy. It was quite windy as well, but we didn't mind since it was so sunny out! We met Lizzy at Finn's Corner, a store that sells rugby jerseys and sports clothing. From there we went to Penny's, where the girls found some great sunglasses and I found - for really inexpensive may I add - some jean capris (which is great because I don't have any) and a pair of navy blue leggings (also great and will be very useful on our trip). They were a steal I promise. From there we walked around a bit, and checked out Merchant's Quay, which is something like a mall. They grabbed some food at Quizno's but all I could eat/drink was a sprite. I hadn't been feeling well day. It may have been all the caffeine I had ingested but who knows. We checked out a book store on Oliver Plunkett street as well, perhaps for some good reading on all the flights we would be on the next three weeks. After that we were satisfied with our purchases and decided to head back to our respective apartment complexes. Genna and I said good-bye to Lizzy at the top of Oliver Plunkett street, as we walked across Grand Parade and headed down Western Road Genna pointed out some threatening grey clouds in the distance. We hoped it would stay to the right of us and decided to walk instead of hopping on a bus or taking a cab. About halfway down Western Road Genna remarked on how nice the weather was while we were in town. I responded that we were lucky it hadn't poured on us and we exchanged stories of being drenched from being caught in the middle of a downpour on our way to class or home during out stay in Ireland. Within a few minutes it started to drizzle. I had a hooded sweatshirt on so I wasn't too worried. Within moments after that...it began to rain even harder. We started to laugh, "I'm so glad we just said how it hadn't rained on us yet." WIth that, it began to sleet or hail or whatever it is that really hurts when it hits your face. We cursed Ireland and its rain as we headed for a bus stop that would shield us until it calmed down a bit. After a few minutes of standing extremely close with a bunch of other people who were also in need of shelter, Genna took a peek outside and said, "I can see sunshine and blue skies, let's go."
We continued on our journey down Western Road and as we passed the Western Star, an old bar that is no longer in business and functions as a meeting place, Genna felt compelled to turn around. "Look at that!" I turned around as well. To our surprise, in front of us was an amazing site. A complete rainbow stretched across the road in front of us, its colors were so bright against the blue sky behind it, and especially in comparison to the grey, ominous clouds in the distance. We stood there for a moment in awe. It was by far the most perfect and most beautiful of any rainbow we had ever been privileged enough to be in the presence of. We were hesitant to walk away. It was so majestic looking. By now the sun was shining down, warm on our wet faces, but it was still drizzling a bit. As we turned to finally take the last turn that would take us home I remembered one of my favorite quotes, "For every rainstorm, there's a rainbow." It's true. We witnessed it.

Soooo behind...

...and I apologize. SO here is what's up. My friends came and were here for 10 days (one of them was) and there was St. Patrick's Day and Easter and plenty of homework to keep what free time I've had busy. I also leave for my 3 week Eurotrip in like 2 or 3 days so clearly I have had a lot on my mind. I'm going to do my best to recall...as much as I can.
HollyAnn came on Thursday night. She didn't know it but I was actually meeting her at the airport. I'm so sneaky, I didn't tell her. I headed for the airport around ten o clock since her flight was supposed to get in around 1130 and 10 was the last bus that I could take. I brought my homework to the airport so that I oculd do some studying for my Gaelic final which was at nine in the morning the next day. Her flight ended up being delayed so she didn't get in until a little after midnight. But soon after I got there my friend Jen who was meeting her boyfriend came over and we chatted. She was so excited. It was probably one the best kodak moments I have ever witnessed. We ended up splitting a cab from the airport back to the apartment with a girl who lived in the complex next door who was meeting her boyfriend at the airport. (That turned out to be a whole different story but I'll get to that later.)
The next morning I had my Gaelic exam, which wasn't too bad. Especially considering I had already done...not so well...on the oral exam which I had unfortunaetly been unaware of the date for. Brilliant. I love that I pay attention to important details. Oh well, what can you do?! Everything happens for a reason I suppose. In any case it went pretty well and then I went back to the apartment. HollyAnn and I ended up going to Waterford with Lizzy and her friend Caitlin, and Genna and her friend Sarah. We walked around and did a little window shopping and went out to eat at - of all places - an Italian restaurant that I had gone to the last time I was there. Then we hopped on the bus and headed back to Cork (still my favorite city that I've been to!).
Alanna and Arielle came on Sunday and we luckily caught a cab to the bus station to pick them up and he was great, he even waited for us and brought us back to the apartment. I felt bad for him - I don't think that he realized just how heavy the suitcases were going to be that the girls were carrying. Alanna even brought a queen size air mattress. God love her - it actually worked out really really well. They were exhausted but the worst thing to do is go to sleep in the middle of the day. So they showered and we headed to Blarney with every intention of going to the castle. However, we ended up in the gift store for hours, and by the time we actually got to the castle area, it was closed. Not meant to be!
The next day was St Patrick's Day! I'm mildly exhausted right now so I will let you know how that went tomorrow when I'm able to write a good detailed blog entry about it. Stay tuned!!

Pictures Added!

Luckily I couldn't sleep last night. So instead I decided I would continually try to upload pictures and....it finally worked!
I've added pictures from the Ring of Kerry weekend, and as soon as I finish commenting on my Scotland Weekend pictures I will put the link to those up as well.
The link for Kerry Pictures is on the right. Or just go here: Ring of Kerry Weekend - February 22-24th

Coincidences...

...make life so grand.

I was sitting on the bus to Kinsale, flipping through my notes as I prepared to interview the craftsmen of Kinsale Crystal. The man in the seat next to me holds out a picture. "This is Alex - of Kinsale Crystal," he says. It's a black and white photograph of an upclose shot of Alex Davies, a crystal master cutter, as he works on a large piece in the small workroom of their shop in Kinsale. We chatted about how he had photographed the entire process of their crystal cutting and how laid back all of Ireland was. He had actuallly moved to Ireland from Scotland and said he still wasn't used to it. We got to chatting about the transportation, which is amazing. He pointed out that it is because you can't afford to live in the cities. He lived 2.5 hours outside of Dublin and preferred commuting to actually living in the city. That says a lot.
By the time we made it to Kinsale I was starved and had a headache. Though the photographer was wonderful to talk to, he was a smoker and it gave me an awful headache. My friends Lizzy and Cate had joined me for the trip and so we went and grabbed some lunch at a fantastic little place that served the best friend haddock I have ever, ever hand. Hands down, no questions asked. It was phenomenal. I had to eat pretty quickly though and run to the Kinsale Shop for fear of not getting there in time to get a good interview.
When I got there I started chatting with Tomas, who was the one who had emailed me letting me know when I could come in and chat with them. Alex, the master cutter was on his way out and I immediately turned on my recorder and started chatting with them about being the oldest in the family. Tomas was in the process of giving his younger brother a shove to pick up his end since he had been falling short on that day. The last thing that I wanted was the feel of a rehearsed and boring interview. I just wanted to chat and get as much information from him in a comfortable and informal way. They were great to chat with and Tomas was very pleasant and welcoming through the whole thing. In fact pretty much the entire interview was actually done in the work shop where he let me watch him cut the crystal, and showed me the first thing that he learned when he was cutting, and even let me look over his shoulder as he made each cut. It was such a cool experience. The girls came in after about 40 minutes, and I knew that meant that I was running out of time. I looked down at my list of questions and realized that we had covered every topic I wanted to in one form or another. I smiled when I realized it and thanked him for his time. He had no idea I had been recording the whole time - ah I love reporters license. It was such a hard thing to explain, it sounds so simple, but it was a really awesome experience and I am so glad I had the opportunity.
I have to go work on my article now, since that was the point of the interview in the first place. I love you all! God Bless.

Catching up....

Yes, I've been slacking on my blogging as of late. I apologize greatly. I have no idea where to begin either, because I have no idea where I left off, so I will tell you that a week ago I went away to Kerry for the weekend. It was a trip put together by the school and it was pretty amazing.
Ring of Kerry. Kerry is a County in Ireland with some of the most beautiful views of the ocean and countryside. Unfortunately I was sick as a dog for a good majority of the trip. I guess that's what happens when you are travelling nonstop.
It was a 3-hour ride to the small town of Cahersiveen in County Kerry where our tour guide, Professor Mariann Moore of UCC, apparently knew everyone. She had grown up in the town and as we drove along on this Ring of Kerry Heritage Weekend that she put together, she pointed out houses along the way where she grew up, where her mother-in-law lives, her brother-in-law, and countless others. The hotel we stayed at is owned by her brother, and after dinner we sat down for a talk by a local and her 93-year old mother in law who is still completely independent and looked fantastic. You never would have known she was 93-years old. After a table quiz we retired to our hotel rooms, arguably the nicest place we will stay in during our travels around Europe. Hostel don’t exactly offer the same accommodations, like extra pillows, tea and coffee, and bringing breakfast to your room when you are too sick to make it to breakfast. (Yes I was that girl.) The next morning we started off with a breakfast buffet and boarded the bus by 9:30.
Professor Mariann was an amazing tour guide and as the bus took us all around Kerry she had something to say about every area we passed. I can’t say that I retained all the information, but in the very least it made us all decide on returning to Kerry in May when you can visit the Skelligs – huge rock formations on top of which, where monks built an amazing monastery as a tribute to God. In order to even reach the top of the Skellig, the monks had to build their own stairs. The views were breathtaking as we looked out across the ocean toward the skelligs. The darkened bus windows only barely took away from the extreme blueness of the ocean. We had the afternoon free, so we roamed the small town, were harassed by some of the local tween-agers, and hit every store that looked even remotely intriguing. We walked away with some great souvenirs, and a new appreciation for kind tween-agers. After a 3-course dinner, including some phenomenal cheesecake, we headed to the Céilí and Set Dancing classes. When we walked into the room, we were all shivering; by the end we were shedding layers of clothes and wiping our brows. We learned 3 dances while a band of three played traditional Irish music. We were hilarious to watch as we spun in circles, laughing at ourselves as we tripped over our own feet. It was impossible to not have a good time, but we were thankful when we could return to our rooms and sleep off the exhaustion is caused.
The next morning we ventured out on a “walking tour” which was fantastic in the rain and sleet. Ireland weather tends to resemble New England’s though, and after a 20-minute rain storm, the sun was shining again. We toured Stone Forts, some of the most well-preserved in all of Ireland. They were usually on the top of hills as well, creating some great background for pictures. We boarded the bus again with all of our things, and headed out to Derrynane House, which was Daniel O’Connell’s home, Sneem, Moll’s Gap and Ladies’ View. Basically, we went to every site in Kerry that was unbelievably beautiful and picturesque. The kind of areas that make you want to take a million pictures, but no matter how many you take, they simply cannot ever fully convey the glorious beauty that is witnessed in person. We tried anyways. By 7 we were back in Cork, our home away from home, with souvenirs in hand, traditional Irish dancing in our repertoire, even more travel destination ideas, and at least 2 Facebook albums worth of pictures.
Pictures Coming Soon