Ireland Part Three: Limerick!

And now for the last post of this three part journey, our final destination: Limerick. Early Wednesday morning, Sarah and I traveled to Limerick, Ireland. The bus left us a little outside the city center and it took us a little while to get to the tourist office to ask where our hotel was. Yes, you read that right. In this third and final town, we stayed in a hotel! Honestly, we stayed there because there were no hostels in the area. But it was so nice to be able to have our own room and bathroom.

I'm tiny in comparison to King John's Castle

That morning we started by walking to St. Mary's Cathedral. It was actually a tad disappointing because it is currently under renovations. It was still beautiful but I can only imagine how it'll look when they are done! From there, we headed to King John's Castle. You might be familiar with this guy too. He was the villain in the wonderful Robin Hood stories! However, this castle portrays him in a more favorable light. I loved visiting this castle. The museum was interactive, it told the history of the castle and of the terrible siege that took place there in 1642. If you ever visit Limerick, I highly recommend it! Sarah and I spent around two hours there before making our way across town to a local art gallery. Their exhibit featured pieces of wood and I didn't quite understand it. But the gallery was very lovely all the same.

The next day was a day that Sarah had been looking forward to the whole trip (I was looking forward to it too but it was number one on Sarah's list of things to do). We were taking a tour to Bunratty Castle and the Cliffs of Moher. Our trip was actually booked with a tour guide company and we were apparently supposed to hitch a city bus to our tour bus. This was a surprise to us and the ladies at the tourist office who helped us book the trip. As a result, we missed the bus. Luckily, the ladies in the tourist office were incredible and they took care of us. An hour later, we were on the bus and ready to go!

A medieval bedroom

They used to use turtle
shells as pots!

Bunratty Castle was the first stop on our tour. This castle is "the most complete and authentic medieval fortress in Ireland."And it was truly amazing! They had the rooms decorated like they would have been when people lived there. Again, I was impressed by the inhabitants of the castle and all the history that took place right where I was standing.

Part of the castle grounds include a 19th century village. Sarah and I had a blast walking around and seeing the animals. They had ponies, donkeys, and pigs. There were actually some others, but those were my favorites. The village also included some houses that reminded me of Pride and Prejudice. All it needed was Colin Firth and I could have been on the movie set!

Our next stop was the one we'd been waiting for: the Cliffs of Moher, aka the Cliffs of Insanity (Princess Bride, anyone?). Words cannot properly express the cliffs. They were breath-taking, gorgeous, extraordinary, etc. Honestly, it was probably the most beautiful place I've ever been.

We started our third day out with a traditional Irish breakfast. Exceptionally delicious, but I definitely miss pancakes and french toast. Sarah and I decided to divide and conquer that day. Sarah wanted to visit a small, neighboring town and I wanted to visit a couple museums. So we parted ways and I made my way over to the Hunt museum. This museum holds pieces of art by Renoir and Picasso, weapons and tools from the Celtic time period, a cross worn by Mary Queen of Scotts, and a coin that was possibly one of the thirty pieces of silver given Judas to betray Jesus. I also visited the Limerick Museum that day. As soon as I walked in, I was greeted by a man who was there to figure of the time period of some very old pictures he had. The beginning of the museum consisted entirely of old photographs and he was comparing his photos to the ones on display.

That night Sarah and I left Limerick for Dublin. We had a 6am flight the next morning so we stayed in the airport that night. Thankfully I can sleep practically anywhere. The next morning we said goodbye for now to Ireland and headed back to France and our own beds.

Ireland Part Two: Cork!

The second city Sarah and I visited in Ireland was Cork City. We traveled there by bus and were lucky to see the beautiful countryside outside our windows. Just like in the movies! We arrived in Cork and headed to our home for the next two nights: Sheila's Hostel. A quaint building with perhaps the most friendly front desk person I've ever come across.

Stained glass window in St. Anne's

As we did in Dublin, Sarah and I decided to walk around the city for our first day. This time though, we did it without a guide. The lovely front desk lady showed us the best way to hit all the major things to see and we were off. Our first stop was a charming Anglican Church, St. Anne's Church Shandon. There, one can ring the famous Shandon Bells. Sarah and I opted not to, as there was already a couple up there ringing them. As we left, it started sprinkling and we started up a large hill to the Cork City Gaol (prison). Because we had just toured a prison, we both decided to just see the prison from the outside and take in the incredible scenery. We proceeded to get lost after attempting to head down the large hill. We were told of a bridge that would take us to our next destination but it probably took us about an hour to find said bridge. And by this time it was pouring rain. We decided to stop at a cafe, hoping that the rain would let up a smidge so we could sightsee a bit more. I had a delicious caramel chai tea latte, however, the rain did not let up. Sadly, we couldn't stay in the adorable, warm cafe all day, so we faced the rain and hurried to a nearby, indoor market. The market was exactly what you'd expect: fresh meat and fish, pastries, and crafts. It was a perfect respite from the rain.

We had a couple other places we wanted to see but, because of the downpour, Sarah and I decided to have a pizza and movie night in our hostel instead. And it was just what we needed! We watched the slightly silly Coyote Ugly and feasted on cheese pizza and chicken fingers. My favorites!

Kissing the Stone!

The next morning, we made the trek to Blarney Castle. It's a six hundred year old castle set in the middle of the most beautiful grounds. It also happens to be the home of the Blarney Stone. You may have heard of kissing the Blarney Stone? Well, people flock to this site to kiss the stone and receive, as the legend tells us, the gift of eloquence. One of the great things about visiting castles, in opinion, is imagining how people lived 600 years ago. I often wonder how what it would be like to be the daughter of a lord or a servant in one of these, huge ancient castles. Sarah and I climbed through the castle, pondering this until we made it to the top. We stopped at the Blarney Stone. Leading up to it there are quite a few little cartoons about the history of the stone and why people visit it but nothing really prepared me for the kissing. As you can see in the picture, I was held by a man as I lied on my back and stretched to reach the stone (you can't tell in the picture, but the stone looks different than the ones surrounding it and you really have to stretch to reach it). It was a slightly terrifying experience! There were bars preventing me from falling to my death but I was scared nonetheless! However, I now have the gift of eloquence, so keep that in mind next time you speak to me!

Another marvelous thing about the Castle are the other things to see on the grounds. One of these being the Poison Gardens. Most of the plants weren't blooming during our visit (it being February and all) but we got to see a marijuana plant and a couple of the plants mentioned in the Harry Potter books/movies: the Mandrake plant and Wolfsbane. Being an avid Harry Potter fan, I thought this was one of the coolest things we saw!

After spending a couple hours at the Castle, we journeyed back to Cork city. We had sightseeing to finish! Luckily the weather was perfect for walking around. The first site we visited was the Red Abbey. From what I had read before traveling, I thought that it was the ruins of an old abbey. And it is, but there is only a wall left, not an entire building, as I had thought. We also visited St. Fin Barr's Cathedral. And it was ginormous! Unfortunately, it was closed by the time we got there.

Sarah and I spent the rest of the day walking around and trying to decide where to eat (an extremely difficult decision!). Then we headed back to the hostel to prepare to voyage to our third and final destination, Limerick.

Blarney Castle

Ireland Part One: Dublin!

I have always wanted to go to Ireland, partly because some of my family emigrated from County Cork, Ireland and partly because I grew up watching movies like The Quiet Man. So this February I decided to travel there with my friend Sarah. We chose to spend nine days in Ireland, visiting three cities. I've divided the trip into three blogs to save your eyes a little bit. Instead of having to sit reading for an hour (I hope they're not that long), you can read one and come back later (hopefully they're interesting enough to come back to!). Our first destination and thus my first post was/is Dublin!

Statue of Justice

We landed in Dublin around 1am and immediately headed to the hostel we would be staying at for the next three nights. After getting a tad lost, we arrived at Four Courts Hostel and at once went to bed. For our first day we decided to go on a three hour walking tour of the city. Our tour guide: an attractive, "struggling" actor. Perfect! The first stop was Dublin Castle and after every traveling student got exciting group pictures of people they'd never see again, the tour officially got started. Dublin Castle is not your stereotypical castle, no turrets or moat (there is one remain tower but it is barely visible from the inside courtyard). The castle is, however, one place where we saw a symbol of the oppression that the Irish people faced under British rule. There, the statue of Justice has her back to the outside of the castle, turning her back on the people of Dublin. She is also supposed to be blind-folded, symbolizing her being blind to discrimination. As you can see, she is not. From there we walked to Trinity College, something like an ivy league in Ireland. Apparently some scenes from Harry Potter were filmed in the buildings there. Another highlight was St Stephen's Green, a beautiful park in the middle city. The birds there were huge and James Joyce used to write there. And, according to my older sister, a bridge in the park was in the movie Leap Year. Those were just the highlights because if I gave you a more in depth description you'd never need to visit yourself!

Bridge in St Stephen's Green

From there we headed to the Guinness Storehouse and let me tell you, it's ginormous! There are seven flours, shaped like a pint of Guinness. Each floor details a different part of the Guinness making process, ending at a bar in which one can learn to pour the perfect pint. So, with enormous amounts of concentration, I pulled a perfect pint (not to toot my own horn or anything!). Then Sarah and I were able to enjoy the Guinnesses we poured, or pretend to enjoy it as was the case for me. Guinness isn't really my cup of tea.  

Kilmainham Gaol

Sarah and I began the next day by visiting an adorable farmers' market and partaking in fresh made smoothies. Next on the agenda was the Old Jameson Distillery, which, in my opinion, is the better of the two alcohol tasting tours. We participated in a guided tour with a choice of Jameson neat or Jameson ginger and lime. I chose the latter and highly recommend it!

Fun fact about me, I love prisons. So, after we finished our beverages, Sarah and I visited the Kilmainham Gaol, an old prison from the 1780s to the 1920s. The tour started with a museum, detailing the history of the prison. Many people were incarcerated there during The Famine and through the many revolutions. We then got to go into the prison. Our guide told us that many movies, including Shawshank Redemption, have been filmed there.

Our third day in Ireland was a Sunday and I decided to head to Christ Church Cathedral, an anglican church, for eucharist. I was thrilled to be able to attend a church so similar to my own. And the choir was fantastic!

When church let out, Sarah and I met up for a traditional Irish breakfast: eggs, sausage, hash browns, beans, "bacon," mushrooms, and black and white pudding. I wasn't a big fan of the puddings. It's a texture thing.

After that delicious breakfast, we made our way to the National Leprechaun Museum. It was really geared more towards children, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. We snuck under the giant's causeway into a giant's hut. Luckily the giant didn't show up! We walked through a rainbow to find a pot of gold. And we stopped in an enchanted forest, all the while learning about Irish folklore. 

That night we packed our backpacks and got ready to travel to Cork the next morning! 

Sarah and I at the Guinness Storehouse

Just Another Day in Paris

Our day started yesterday at Blé Sucré, an adorable French bakery with croissants rated the best in Paris! Just before arriving at the bakery I met up with a friend, Chrissy, who is spending a couple weeks in Paris. I actually wasn't hungry at the time (I ate on the train) but Chrissy insisted on buying me a pain au choclat (chocolate croissant) to save and eat later. We continued on to Marché d'Aligre, both an open air and covered market. It was crowed to say the least! It was easy to see why with the vendors selling everything from cheese to flowers to exotic fruit. You can't imagine the colors and smells! The vendors would cut open some of their fruit to offer to potential buyers and as I walked through my nose was greeted with the smells of fresh oranges and mangos and grapefruit. There was also the not as pleasant smells of fresh seafood and cut red meat. While walking around, we also stopped at a chocolate shop to pick up some ganache. I decide to try a pear, a cherry, and a red fruit ganache. Probably some of the best chocolate I've ever had!

Most of our day, though, was spent at Père Lachaise. I am embarrassed to admit I didn't know what Père Lachaise was at first. I soon learned that it is a beautiful cemetery in Paris. It is also HUGE (over 100 acres). Luckily Chrissy had been there before and had an app showing where people's graves are located. If not for her and her app, I could have wandered around this cemetery and never found anything. As you walk in you are greeted by the momument entitled Aux Morts (The Dead). We both remarked on the fact that this cemetery, while beautiful, is also quiet depressing. The graves are adorning with weeping women, like there is no life after death. This monument is no exception to this fact.

Top: Jim Morrison, Chopin, Gertrude Stein Bottom: Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf 

We continued on the grave of Jim Morrison. Unlike the graves surrounding his tombstone, Jim Morrison's resting place is enclosed my a fence. And both the fence and the grave are adorned with mementos left by fans and admirers. To the point that the cemetery has thought of expelling him because of these disruptions. For now, a fence is protecting the tombstone. We then headed to see Oscar Wilde's burial sight. His tombstone also had to be protected from adoring fans. Instead of a fence, though, Wilde's tomb is surrounded by plexiglass to prevent people from putting on lipstick and kissing his grave. From there we decided to try to find the resting place of Gertrude Stein. After walking around the area in which we were supposed to find her, we found an unofficial guide leading a couple to the correct spot. While the guide was an incredibly strange man, he taught us that Alice B Toklas, Stein's lover, is buried with Gertrude Stein but because both names were not allowed on the front, Alice's name appears on the back of the headstone. While admiring the sculptures on people's graves, we walked to find the famous French musician Edith Piaf. All we really had to do to find her was to look were a large group was crowded and we found her. She is buried with her last husband and her father. 

Hungry from all the walking, Chrissy and I made our way to Le Dôme cafe. A restaurant once frequented by F Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemmingway and Henry Miller. Being a fan of these authors and a lover of the 1920s, I was ecstatic to eat in the same place as a few of my literary heros. And of course I imagined that I was sitting in the exact place as some of the Greats.

The Best Kind of Prize is a Surprise!

So I should have written and posted this at least a week ago. But I am terrible at remembering to write on here and so I am doing it now. Better late than never, right? One thing I'm going to work on this year is posting blogs more regularly. Meaning, I need to find more interesting things to do that are worthy of posts! Challenge accepted.

Surprise! This winter break I went back to the US to spend Christmas and New Year with my family. And no one, except for my dad, knew about it. It was definitely one of the best surprises that I have ever been a part of.

To be honest, the original plan was for me to come home for the break. Back in July, when I was looking over my schedule for the year, I saw that there was a two week break in December/January and I wanted to come home for it. I have never missed Christmas at home before and I didn't want to start this Christmas. So my dad and I started looking at round-trip plane tickets. To France in September and back in December. My limit was a thousand dollars, and I didn't really want to even go that high. We looked and looked and looked. My dad found a couple well priced tickets but they always sold before we could buy them. I realized it wasn't meant to be and we started looking at one-way tickets. Around the end of July/early August, we bought a one-way ticket to France. I was disappointed but there was no way I could afford two thousand something dollar tickets. My family was incredibly disappointed as well but accepted it because that was just the way it had to be.

About a week or two later, I was home for the last time to go to the doctor and dentist (I needed to get those out of the way before leaving). And my dad calls me over to his office. He told me to bring him a book, any book. "Okaayyy?" I thought before grabbing one and walking over. When I got there he said, "do you still want to come home for Christmas?" And my answer was like duh, of course I want to come home for Christmas. He had found a round-trip that was in our price range and we decided to make it a surprise. That was in August.

Fast forward four months. Thanks to my dad and I being pretty decent secret-keepers and my dad's fabulous acting skills, our surprise was still a surprise. I was so anxious. I thought that somehow, in the home stretch, I would blab. And I was counting down the days, I couldn't wait to be home.

I travelled all day on the 19th. The problem with that was I didn't talk to my older sister all day and that NEVER happens. So she was growing suspicious. She voiced her thoughts to my mom and other sisters but they all told her not to get her hopes up. She did anyway.

My dad picked me up in Chicago. "They have no idea," he assured me. I was getting nervous. I so badly wanted this to be the greatest surprise ever! Three hours later we got home. I tried to sneak inside but my suspicious sisters were looking for dad out the window. (He should have dropped me off around the corner or something). They saw my hair and knew I was home. I walk in to shouts of "I KNEW IT. I KNEW YOU WERE COMING HOME!" Not exactly a surprise, but we couldn't be happier.

But one person was still in the dark. My brother was at work when all of this occurred. And he suspected nothing. An hour or so later, my dad went to pick him up. Meanwhile, I hid in his room. My brother was talking to dad when he walked into his room. It was dark and I jumped up and yelled "BOO!" He knew that someone was there but at first he thought it was a sister's friend or something. He still had no idea, silly brother. A second later he realized it was me. "What are you doing here?" He was the only one who was 100% surprised.

Even though my sisters had their doubts that I was staying away for the holidays, it was probably the best Christmas ever! I miss them so much already but I am so grateful that I was able to make it home.

THANKSGIVING!

One of my favorite holidays is Thanksgiving. My family always celebrates with my dad's side of the family and we gather for the extended weekend. On Thanksgiving Day we wake up, eat a wonderful breakfast, and watch the parade. While some cooking has already been done, most of THE meal preparation starts now. We (and I mean practically everyone but me) cook all day and the house couldn't small more incredible. When everything is ready, we give thanks and dig in. Definitely one of the best meals of the year.

I love Thanksgiving because it means two things: family and food, but mostly family. Of course, this year was a little different for me. I wasn't home with my family and I didn't exactly have the traditional feast. It was definitely strange because Thanksgiving Day wasn't really Thanksgiving Day for me. I read about and saw quite a few delicious dinners, but it was just a regular day. It was the weirdest feeling knowing that it was Thanksgiving but not celebrating it at the time.

Instead, Saturday was my Thanksgiving. Another American student and I, along with a Canadian student decided that we wanted to have a dinner. We decided to invite other foreign students and make as traditional of a meal as we could manage. They made a list and checked it twice (oops, wrong holiday) and on Friday we shopped for our Thanksgiving extravaganza. Now this was harder than you might think because France doesn't exactly have everything that we typically use for our holiday meal. For example, there isn't any yams or marshmallows for candied sweet potatoes, no onion crunchy thingies for green bean casserole, and no cranberries for cranberry sauce. At least, not in the store by us. Also no traditional turkey or pumpkins. But, we bought the turkey available to us and a gourd/squash for our pie.

Friday night I had a wonderful time baking an apple pie and a pseudo pumpkin pie with these ladies. And yes mom and dad, I DID help.

Me, Sarah, and Rachel with our pumpkin pie!

Saturday was the big meal.The three of us prepped and cooked from 4 to 7 with the help of another American girl and another girl from Czech Republic. Together we made turkey, colorful carrots, brussels sprouts, salad (with craisins, mandarin oranges, and pecans), mashed potatoes, and homemade apple cider. A pretty impressive feast for never having made a Thanksgiving dinner before. And everything was delicious! We had twelve students come from all over the world (Latvia, Scotland, Canada, Germany, and Norway). Together we spent the evening chatting and stuffing our faces. Two of my favorite things!

Our fabulous meal

It was an extremely different Thanksgiving for me. But it was also a huge success. I couldn't be more thankful for these people that I shared one of my favorite meals with and this incredible time that I get to spend in France. I am truly blessed.

Complain, Whine, Grumble

A little over a year ago, I was sitting at a campfire with my friend Zac. I said something like I'm hungry or I'm cold (statements that often come out of my mouth) and he turned to me and said, not at all judgmentally, "you know, you kinda complain a lot." I thought for a second and realized he was right. I do complain a lot. Its been over a year now and I'm still thinking about his comment.

So what does this have to do with my trip to France? Why am I even writing about it? Well, I had to jump through a lot of hoops to get here. And I still am jumping through hoops even though I've been here for a month. Notice the hint of a whine? Yeah, me too. I've realized that I have grumbled too much about all of this. Of course, some of them are reasonable complaints. But I'm in France! I get to live and study here for a year! I get to take whichever classes I want because they will be excepted no matter what and I'm ahead in my degree requirements. I'm slowly learning a second language. I've met students from all over the world. I have been to Paris and Brussels, and in a few weeks I'm going to London! And after I turn in one more piece of paper (cross your fingers) my immigration will be complete and official. What is there to really complain about?! Sure there have been bumps and changes of plans and tolls along the way. But this experience will all be worth it because, as they say, the ends justify the means.