Jessa you're a star
oh yes you are. I'm also cranky as hell. I think I'm PMSing but I don't like it.
I've been planning like mad for my trip. I can't decide if I'm planning more or less for this trip than I did for Germany. I just feel like I know less about Ireland than I did about Germany, having studied the country for three years. But for all my planning, here is my TENTATIVE plan. Of course, this can and possibly will change within the next twenty-four hours.
I fly out Monday. HOPEFULLY I'll make all my flights. Pray and cross your fingers. That'll land me in Dublin Tuesday morning. First thing I'll do is find a hostel and most likely take a nap. I'll spend all day Tuesday and Wednesday in Dublin (haven't decided yet what I want to see/do there). Either Wednesday night or Thursday morning I'll take the bus (15-pounds) to Westport up in Mayo. I'll stay there Thursday and Friday, then Friday night take the train to Cork, leaving around 7:30 and getting in around midnight. I'll spend Saturday, Sunday, and probably Monday in Cork area --one day in Cork; I'll bike out to Blarney Castle to see the castle and stone; one day I'll go down to the coast to Kinsale and the little fishing towns. Tuesday morning I'll take train or bus (not sure which is better yet for this leg) to Kilkenny, but I'll only spend the day there. I'll see the castle and walk around a bit, then get back on the train back to Dublin. Then, if I make my flight, I'll be flying back on Wednesday. If not, I'll have another day or so in Dublin.
It's funny, but compared to my Germany trip, it's much more relaxed. I hit Frankfurt, Heidelberg, Freiberg, Munich (not much of it), Neuschwanstein, and Berlin in like six days. Here I'm spendign at least two days in each city. I have my packing list almost planned. My trusty guidebook is in hand. I'm even hopefully going to be doing some biking, which will be RAD. My only anxiety at this point is whether the train&bus system will be as efficient as the German one, and if there will be empty rooms in hostels when I show up. If not, I've spent the night on trains and in airports before, but it's definitely not ideal. Bus tickets in Ireland seem to be pretty cheap, but train tickets are NOT, and for certains legs (like Westport to Cork) train is really the only choice, so it looks like I'll be getting the more expensive pass that's just under 200 that will give my eight days of travel on buses and trains. Meh. I'll see what the train station guys have to say when I get there. I think going to an English-speaking country is giving me a false sense of relief.
Well, so that's my planning at the moment. I've got lists of things to see and do in each place. I'm really digging this whole guidebook thing.
Anyways, so today. Went to Yoder for breakfast this morning, but we got there too late to eat breakfast, so had lunch and PIE. Why have I been craving pie so much lately? I usually hate pie. But so Yoder is an Amish town. My big amusement of the day was when, waiting for Mom, Jerry, and Aunt Brenda to come out of a store, I saw an Amish guy pull up on his tractor to try and go to the hardware store, which was closed. He was quite handsome. Seeing a guy try to go to a store that's closed is such a human thing, and then there's just something so appealing about knowing that this guy (about my age, by my guess) is probably twice as mature as most others kids our age. He's probably been helping out on the farm since he was a kid and is now looking for a wife, ready to start farming his own land. Maybe I'm wrong. This was all my dream, though. I had a dream crush on an Amish guy --or at least my stereotyped impression of him.
Went to a museum this afternoon that's full of all this super weird stuff. I LOVED the first floor, full of sarcophogi (sp?) and ancient texts and heiroglypics and pottery and weapons and shrunken heads. The other floors were kinda bland, but I was enthralled with all the ancient artifacts. Greece and Egypt have both been scooted up on my Places to Visit list.
Tonight was the family dinner. Mom and Jerry got the time wrong and found out it was six, not 6:30, so they came running over at 6:10 to wake me. I completely changed in three minutes and we sprinted over there, then had to sit at a table with strangers and eat just remnants. Once we ate, though, things improved, and then we moved back to the table with Grandmarie and Aunt Brenda and Uncle Guy. I got the read the questions during the family trivia game, and then was dubbed official photographer --all of which I found ironic since it's not even my family. It's my stepdad's family. I loved all the stories, though, and really feel like in the next few years I'll be writing a book heavily inspired by the eleven Shoenecker children.
And now I'm chilling in my room. Cleaning off my computer and putting my itinerary down on paper. Part of me is ecstatically looking forward to my trip and the other part is overwhelmed and anxious. I'm always like this before I travel, and I know I'm going to have to get better at dealing with it since this is my LIFE --this is what I'll be doing as my career hopefully. I hide it really well. People think I'm all cool and collected and don't get anxious at all about traveling. Well of course I do. I guess just less than most people, because I don't fear things going wrong. That's what makes teh trips memorable, right? I mean, fun things are great and all, but it's the rain and nights spent on trains and blisters and accidents with locals that make the great stories for later.
Now I'm going to go get another cup of coffee, fill in a few more things for my itinerary, then relax the rest of the night. I feel bad I haven't updated my writing site in over a week now, but I'm just mentally focused entirely on my trip. uh well. Sorry, Phantom Reality --and EthneEyes and Blakefans.net, if we're going to be honest. I promise when I get home from Ireland, I'll focus more on you and get everything up to date! In the meantime, I did finally update my photography site (link to the right) with some pictures I even took as recently as today.
And now, ta! Next time I write, I'll be packing. EEK!!!
I've been planning like mad for my trip. I can't decide if I'm planning more or less for this trip than I did for Germany. I just feel like I know less about Ireland than I did about Germany, having studied the country for three years. But for all my planning, here is my TENTATIVE plan. Of course, this can and possibly will change within the next twenty-four hours.
I fly out Monday. HOPEFULLY I'll make all my flights. Pray and cross your fingers. That'll land me in Dublin Tuesday morning. First thing I'll do is find a hostel and most likely take a nap. I'll spend all day Tuesday and Wednesday in Dublin (haven't decided yet what I want to see/do there). Either Wednesday night or Thursday morning I'll take the bus (15-pounds) to Westport up in Mayo. I'll stay there Thursday and Friday, then Friday night take the train to Cork, leaving around 7:30 and getting in around midnight. I'll spend Saturday, Sunday, and probably Monday in Cork area --one day in Cork; I'll bike out to Blarney Castle to see the castle and stone; one day I'll go down to the coast to Kinsale and the little fishing towns. Tuesday morning I'll take train or bus (not sure which is better yet for this leg) to Kilkenny, but I'll only spend the day there. I'll see the castle and walk around a bit, then get back on the train back to Dublin. Then, if I make my flight, I'll be flying back on Wednesday. If not, I'll have another day or so in Dublin.
It's funny, but compared to my Germany trip, it's much more relaxed. I hit Frankfurt, Heidelberg, Freiberg, Munich (not much of it), Neuschwanstein, and Berlin in like six days. Here I'm spendign at least two days in each city. I have my packing list almost planned. My trusty guidebook is in hand. I'm even hopefully going to be doing some biking, which will be RAD. My only anxiety at this point is whether the train&bus system will be as efficient as the German one, and if there will be empty rooms in hostels when I show up. If not, I've spent the night on trains and in airports before, but it's definitely not ideal. Bus tickets in Ireland seem to be pretty cheap, but train tickets are NOT, and for certains legs (like Westport to Cork) train is really the only choice, so it looks like I'll be getting the more expensive pass that's just under 200 that will give my eight days of travel on buses and trains. Meh. I'll see what the train station guys have to say when I get there. I think going to an English-speaking country is giving me a false sense of relief.
Well, so that's my planning at the moment. I've got lists of things to see and do in each place. I'm really digging this whole guidebook thing.
Anyways, so today. Went to Yoder for breakfast this morning, but we got there too late to eat breakfast, so had lunch and PIE. Why have I been craving pie so much lately? I usually hate pie. But so Yoder is an Amish town. My big amusement of the day was when, waiting for Mom, Jerry, and Aunt Brenda to come out of a store, I saw an Amish guy pull up on his tractor to try and go to the hardware store, which was closed. He was quite handsome. Seeing a guy try to go to a store that's closed is such a human thing, and then there's just something so appealing about knowing that this guy (about my age, by my guess) is probably twice as mature as most others kids our age. He's probably been helping out on the farm since he was a kid and is now looking for a wife, ready to start farming his own land. Maybe I'm wrong. This was all my dream, though. I had a dream crush on an Amish guy --or at least my stereotyped impression of him.
Went to a museum this afternoon that's full of all this super weird stuff. I LOVED the first floor, full of sarcophogi (sp?) and ancient texts and heiroglypics and pottery and weapons and shrunken heads. The other floors were kinda bland, but I was enthralled with all the ancient artifacts. Greece and Egypt have both been scooted up on my Places to Visit list.
Tonight was the family dinner. Mom and Jerry got the time wrong and found out it was six, not 6:30, so they came running over at 6:10 to wake me. I completely changed in three minutes and we sprinted over there, then had to sit at a table with strangers and eat just remnants. Once we ate, though, things improved, and then we moved back to the table with Grandmarie and Aunt Brenda and Uncle Guy. I got the read the questions during the family trivia game, and then was dubbed official photographer --all of which I found ironic since it's not even my family. It's my stepdad's family. I loved all the stories, though, and really feel like in the next few years I'll be writing a book heavily inspired by the eleven Shoenecker children.
And now I'm chilling in my room. Cleaning off my computer and putting my itinerary down on paper. Part of me is ecstatically looking forward to my trip and the other part is overwhelmed and anxious. I'm always like this before I travel, and I know I'm going to have to get better at dealing with it since this is my LIFE --this is what I'll be doing as my career hopefully. I hide it really well. People think I'm all cool and collected and don't get anxious at all about traveling. Well of course I do. I guess just less than most people, because I don't fear things going wrong. That's what makes teh trips memorable, right? I mean, fun things are great and all, but it's the rain and nights spent on trains and blisters and accidents with locals that make the great stories for later.
Now I'm going to go get another cup of coffee, fill in a few more things for my itinerary, then relax the rest of the night. I feel bad I haven't updated my writing site in over a week now, but I'm just mentally focused entirely on my trip. uh well. Sorry, Phantom Reality --and EthneEyes and Blakefans.net, if we're going to be honest. I promise when I get home from Ireland, I'll focus more on you and get everything up to date! In the meantime, I did finally update my photography site (link to the right) with some pictures I even took as recently as today.
And now, ta! Next time I write, I'll be packing. EEK!!!