(no subject)
And now - recap of my Ireland trip (the same entry as in my xanga site - just a warning):
I got back from Ireland Monday night. Ireland was awesome! Absolutely gorgeous. I took so many pictures. Paige and I left the campus as soon as humanly possible Thursday evening to catch our plane to Dublin. We hopped on a bus in Liverpool to the airport and took a plane (fly Ryanair - super cheap!) to Dublin. We ended up getting to the Liverpool airport pretty early and waited around for quite sometime in the airport - but I'd definitely rather wait around than have to rush to catch a train or plane or whatever last minute. The flight was great...saw Liverpool at night from the sky - beautiful. The flight was really short and we just managed to catch the very last bus out of Dublin Airport to the bus station near our hostel. The hostel was nice except for the fact that there was no hot water. Showers are overrated anyway . Our bus tour left at 8am and we made it on time and got a good seat up front. Our tour guide/bus driver, Eric, was fantastic and so much fun. I also found out later that he has met U2 on several occassions !!! He actually used to give bus tours around the docks in Dublin and passed the studio U2 recorded their new album at - apparently this bus he drove was a huge piece of shit and it broke down a lot - once in front of the studios while U2 were actually there! They all came out and asked Eric if he needed any help or wanted to use the phone or whatever...apparently they are super nice! Eric said that they are so down to earth and friendly. That made my life after he told me all that...I didn't want to hear any stories that went against what I prefer to assume they are like. I met an immediate link to U2...I missed out on one in Cleveland during the band trip way back when...but now I know one. That makes me way too happy.
Anyway, Monday we drove through Dublin and saw some sights (including the Guinness factory - Brendan you would no doubt enjoy a tour in there eh?) We went through the enormous Phoenix Park ("The People's Park") and saw the private residences of the U.S. Ambassador and the President of Ireland and lots of reindeer!!! After we left Dublin we headed to Clonmacnoise near the center of Ireland where there is a large monastery founded by St. Ciaran in the 6th century. After Clonmacnoise we stopped at the small town of Ferbane for lunch and also stopped at a church there. In the church is this large wooden sculpture of an angel. The "angel" was found in a bog in the exact form that it now stands - never changed in any way...freaky stuff. It was really fascinating but a bit eerie for some reason. I discovered at lunch (good stew) that there was one guy, Jesse, who is actually from Rochester. Small world isn't it?
We headed to Galway (thought of you Kate when I saw the coastline near Galway!) which was a beautiful and lively city. We stayed there for the night in a nice hostel (and it had hot water!!!) and had dinner at an excellent pub where I finally had my first real Guinness.
Saturday morning we headed out and passed through Kinvara which is a town with the most thatched roofs in Ireland according to Eric our guide/driver. It was an adorable place! We also stopped at the Fairy Wishing Well where we could make wishes - you throw a coin over your left shoulder into the well and if it hits the water then your wish comes true. And if you miss the water, well...I guess the fairies hate you and won't grant you your wish. Too bad...I missed. But in passing thought, I suppose my wish came true because I wished for money and tossed my coin. The coin hit the wall and came right back to the ground next to me. I wished for money and I got it! Well kind of.
We went to The Burren - this huge (rocky) area where pre-historic remains have been found. You apparently build pyramids with the small stones found at The Burren for good luck. So Paige and I made our very own stone pyramids. Come ooooooon good luck!
After that we headed to the Cliffs of Moher which were absolutely gorgeous! I loved it! Wow...what a sight!!! I actually jumped the stone wall/fence and inched to the edge because I am extremely stupid and have a death wish. And God knows I can't stand heights but I decided to peak over the edge. Hello...my name is Lauren and I am insane. But I suppose I figured that this would be my only chance to do that since it isn't everyday I make it to Ireland. But still...I am insane. Ugh...heights.
Stopped at the town of Lohinch for lunch afterwards and it was quite the sight to see a huge group of people surfing...in Ireland...in mid October...in the extreme cold. Apparently, Lohinch has some good surfing and is really well known for it.
We caught a ferry to continue on our way to Killarney where we stayed Saturday night in a great hostel. Killarney is the most adorable town! It was so pretty and the people there were so friendly! We went on a carriage ride (led by Tom the horse) through Killarney National Park and had the greatest tour guide, Mike. He was hilarious and had the best Irish accent. He also gave good advice to the carriage full of females..."make sure you ladies watch the drink...you don't want to go home with one certain Irish souvenir if you know what I mean. That would be bringing too much Irish back with you." Niiiiiiiiiiiiiice.
Sunday began pretty early but it was worth the early wake-up call. We got to see the lakes of Killarney at sunrise. *Sigh* Talk about a beautiful thing to get the chance to see. There was a beautiful and light mist over the lakes and town and the mountains in the background...wow. Just stunning.
We headed off to Cork where we got some breakfast (yummmm...croissants) and from Cork we went to Blarney Castle! It was fabulous! Paige was so excited to be there - she has a picture of her grandmother kissing the Blarney Stone so she has always wanted to get a picture of her kissing it. It was a bit of a dream come true for her really. We went up the longest spiral staircase to reach the Blarney Stone...again with the heights. I was shaking the whole time up there because I couldn't help but look down and realize how high I was. Ugh...I literally kissed the ground when I got down. But I managed to suck it up and I kissed the Blarney Stone! When we got down from the top of the castle (and after I kissed the ground and just waited for my legs to stop shaking!) Paige and I explored the grounds of Blarney Castle. Fantastic! So pretty full of lots of little caves and streams and trees. We felt like we were in the Shire (as Paige put it - "It's like we're freaking hobbits or something...only with much nicer feet.") or in Wonderland. I was just waiting for the plants to come alive or something. It was awesome! We saw The Wishing Steps and the Druids Cave...very cool place.
We drove awhile after Blarney to the Rock of Cashel - it was huge and had been used as a fortress. It had a huge cathedral and chapel and tons of graves (apparently a lot of people who died from The Plague were buried in the grounds). A good place to be haunted. Kind of scary really but very neat.
Kilkenny was our last stop before heading off to Dublin. We ate dinner at Kilkenny and I got a quick look of Kilkenny Castle. We headed off for a long drive back to Dublin then and when we finally got back, Eric showed us the older streets of Dublin and we saw the last remaining piece of the wall that had surrounded "old" Dublin. The tour ended then and Paige and I headed off to Issac's hostel where we stayed for Sunday night. It was a pretty nice place.
Monday morning, Paige and I headed off to do some touristy shopping and then I dragged poor Paige around Dublin to find U2 sites. We saw The Clarence Hotel which is owned by U2 and The Dockers - a bar that U2 used to go to when they recorded at a nearby studio. I heard a rumor that Bono was in Dublin that weekend...I kept a look out for him...didn't see him unfortunately.
We ended up walking forever to catch our ferry out of Dublin to Liverpool. Ugh...longest walk ever! We were really cheap and didn't want to spend money on a bus or taxi. Yeah, Phil is right when he said that I am now cheaper than him. We took the ferry back (the ferry was super nice) and got back to Liverpool where we caught the train back to Ormskirk. I was wiped out by then...traveling really takes it out of you. But it is definitely worth it. I had such a great time in Ireland...so much fun!!!
I got back from Ireland Monday night. Ireland was awesome! Absolutely gorgeous. I took so many pictures. Paige and I left the campus as soon as humanly possible Thursday evening to catch our plane to Dublin. We hopped on a bus in Liverpool to the airport and took a plane (fly Ryanair - super cheap!) to Dublin. We ended up getting to the Liverpool airport pretty early and waited around for quite sometime in the airport - but I'd definitely rather wait around than have to rush to catch a train or plane or whatever last minute. The flight was great...saw Liverpool at night from the sky - beautiful. The flight was really short and we just managed to catch the very last bus out of Dublin Airport to the bus station near our hostel. The hostel was nice except for the fact that there was no hot water. Showers are overrated anyway . Our bus tour left at 8am and we made it on time and got a good seat up front. Our tour guide/bus driver, Eric, was fantastic and so much fun. I also found out later that he has met U2 on several occassions !!! He actually used to give bus tours around the docks in Dublin and passed the studio U2 recorded their new album at - apparently this bus he drove was a huge piece of shit and it broke down a lot - once in front of the studios while U2 were actually there! They all came out and asked Eric if he needed any help or wanted to use the phone or whatever...apparently they are super nice! Eric said that they are so down to earth and friendly. That made my life after he told me all that...I didn't want to hear any stories that went against what I prefer to assume they are like. I met an immediate link to U2...I missed out on one in Cleveland during the band trip way back when...but now I know one. That makes me way too happy.
Anyway, Monday we drove through Dublin and saw some sights (including the Guinness factory - Brendan you would no doubt enjoy a tour in there eh?) We went through the enormous Phoenix Park ("The People's Park") and saw the private residences of the U.S. Ambassador and the President of Ireland and lots of reindeer!!! After we left Dublin we headed to Clonmacnoise near the center of Ireland where there is a large monastery founded by St. Ciaran in the 6th century. After Clonmacnoise we stopped at the small town of Ferbane for lunch and also stopped at a church there. In the church is this large wooden sculpture of an angel. The "angel" was found in a bog in the exact form that it now stands - never changed in any way...freaky stuff. It was really fascinating but a bit eerie for some reason. I discovered at lunch (good stew) that there was one guy, Jesse, who is actually from Rochester. Small world isn't it?
We headed to Galway (thought of you Kate when I saw the coastline near Galway!) which was a beautiful and lively city. We stayed there for the night in a nice hostel (and it had hot water!!!) and had dinner at an excellent pub where I finally had my first real Guinness.
Saturday morning we headed out and passed through Kinvara which is a town with the most thatched roofs in Ireland according to Eric our guide/driver. It was an adorable place! We also stopped at the Fairy Wishing Well where we could make wishes - you throw a coin over your left shoulder into the well and if it hits the water then your wish comes true. And if you miss the water, well...I guess the fairies hate you and won't grant you your wish. Too bad...I missed. But in passing thought, I suppose my wish came true because I wished for money and tossed my coin. The coin hit the wall and came right back to the ground next to me. I wished for money and I got it! Well kind of.
We went to The Burren - this huge (rocky) area where pre-historic remains have been found. You apparently build pyramids with the small stones found at The Burren for good luck. So Paige and I made our very own stone pyramids. Come ooooooon good luck!
After that we headed to the Cliffs of Moher which were absolutely gorgeous! I loved it! Wow...what a sight!!! I actually jumped the stone wall/fence and inched to the edge because I am extremely stupid and have a death wish. And God knows I can't stand heights but I decided to peak over the edge. Hello...my name is Lauren and I am insane. But I suppose I figured that this would be my only chance to do that since it isn't everyday I make it to Ireland. But still...I am insane. Ugh...heights.
Stopped at the town of Lohinch for lunch afterwards and it was quite the sight to see a huge group of people surfing...in Ireland...in mid October...in the extreme cold. Apparently, Lohinch has some good surfing and is really well known for it.
We caught a ferry to continue on our way to Killarney where we stayed Saturday night in a great hostel. Killarney is the most adorable town! It was so pretty and the people there were so friendly! We went on a carriage ride (led by Tom the horse) through Killarney National Park and had the greatest tour guide, Mike. He was hilarious and had the best Irish accent. He also gave good advice to the carriage full of females..."make sure you ladies watch the drink...you don't want to go home with one certain Irish souvenir if you know what I mean. That would be bringing too much Irish back with you." Niiiiiiiiiiiiiice.
Sunday began pretty early but it was worth the early wake-up call. We got to see the lakes of Killarney at sunrise. *Sigh* Talk about a beautiful thing to get the chance to see. There was a beautiful and light mist over the lakes and town and the mountains in the background...wow. Just stunning.
We headed off to Cork where we got some breakfast (yummmm...croissants) and from Cork we went to Blarney Castle! It was fabulous! Paige was so excited to be there - she has a picture of her grandmother kissing the Blarney Stone so she has always wanted to get a picture of her kissing it. It was a bit of a dream come true for her really. We went up the longest spiral staircase to reach the Blarney Stone...again with the heights. I was shaking the whole time up there because I couldn't help but look down and realize how high I was. Ugh...I literally kissed the ground when I got down. But I managed to suck it up and I kissed the Blarney Stone! When we got down from the top of the castle (and after I kissed the ground and just waited for my legs to stop shaking!) Paige and I explored the grounds of Blarney Castle. Fantastic! So pretty full of lots of little caves and streams and trees. We felt like we were in the Shire (as Paige put it - "It's like we're freaking hobbits or something...only with much nicer feet.") or in Wonderland. I was just waiting for the plants to come alive or something. It was awesome! We saw The Wishing Steps and the Druids Cave...very cool place.
We drove awhile after Blarney to the Rock of Cashel - it was huge and had been used as a fortress. It had a huge cathedral and chapel and tons of graves (apparently a lot of people who died from The Plague were buried in the grounds). A good place to be haunted. Kind of scary really but very neat.
Kilkenny was our last stop before heading off to Dublin. We ate dinner at Kilkenny and I got a quick look of Kilkenny Castle. We headed off for a long drive back to Dublin then and when we finally got back, Eric showed us the older streets of Dublin and we saw the last remaining piece of the wall that had surrounded "old" Dublin. The tour ended then and Paige and I headed off to Issac's hostel where we stayed for Sunday night. It was a pretty nice place.
Monday morning, Paige and I headed off to do some touristy shopping and then I dragged poor Paige around Dublin to find U2 sites. We saw The Clarence Hotel which is owned by U2 and The Dockers - a bar that U2 used to go to when they recorded at a nearby studio. I heard a rumor that Bono was in Dublin that weekend...I kept a look out for him...didn't see him unfortunately.
We ended up walking forever to catch our ferry out of Dublin to Liverpool. Ugh...longest walk ever! We were really cheap and didn't want to spend money on a bus or taxi. Yeah, Phil is right when he said that I am now cheaper than him. We took the ferry back (the ferry was super nice) and got back to Liverpool where we caught the train back to Ormskirk. I was wiped out by then...traveling really takes it out of you. But it is definitely worth it. I had such a great time in Ireland...so much fun!!!