Documenting Athens

Sunday, October 25th, we got up at the crack of dawn to catch four different buses that would end in us making it to the airport in order to fly to Athens. The airport was packed and we were all tired and hungry. It didn't really make for a good start to the day but we managed once we got off the metro in Athens. Now I must note that we were hoping for amazing weather in Greece but it rained for most of our stay. It has barely rained in Dublin, at least not nearly as much as we had expected and London turned out to be beautiful, but Greece well it rained a lot.
The map and directions that we were given to get to the penthouse were horrible and we walked around Athens for about three hours before finally hailing a taxi to take us to our destination. Along the way we asked a pizza restaurant owner for directions along with a five star hotel doorman and finally a guy who was on holiday by himself from the Netherlands. We passed Hadrian's Arch and the Temple of Olympian Zeus but it was pouring rain so I didn't get pictures of them. Our friend from the Netherlands was originally supposed to go to California because his friends live there but he ended up deciding on Greece. He told us he likes to travel alone because you get more of an experience that way, having to put yourself out there instead of just hanging out with the people you came with. If it weren't for the fact that I have no sense of direction and also as a safety precaution I wouldn't mind traveling by myself, I did come to this country alone and it's been the greatest experience of my life. I love meeting people who are extremely independent like that, we have a few in our program and it's fun to hear about their trips.
After our friend couldn't read our map either he helped us hail a taxi on one of the busiest roads I've ever seen in my life and we bade him farewell. We made it to the penthouse at about 6:30 pm and we were starved. Laverne, Chris and Charity's International Studies Director, greeted us and gave us food to tie us over until it was time to go to dinner. She had been concerned with our whereabouts since she of course had been expecting us at least an hour or so after our flight had arrived. We ended up at a T.G.I. Friday's across the street for dinner, it wouldn't have been my choice for eats out in Greece but we were tired and hungry so that's what we did. When we got back I used the free international calling on the phone to call home and talk to my dad and sister which was really nice. I rather enjoyed calling them from Greece and even saying so.
Monday I was bound and determined to document as much of Athens as possible with my camera. Chris, Charity, and I set off through town toward the Acropolis. Modern Athens itself is exactly as I imagined it to be with crazy traffic and buildings crammed in everywhere. It's such a cool thing to see a place be the way you expected it to be when you're seeing it for the first time. I enjoyed seeing all of the signs in Greek as well along with stumbling upon ancient ruins. There is just something seriously cool about seeing ruins of the past in amongst modern day living. When we got near the Acropolis the Acropolis Museum appeared first but it was closed like most museums are on Mondays which was a bit of a bummer. Next we decided to make the trek up to the Acropolis and I must note that there were a ton of dogs roaming about, but mostly just lying around napping. The Theatre of Dionysus was the first thing we came upon and from the top of it you could see out over the city. The Parthenon itself was quite breathtaking, but it's under restoration as well so there was tons of scaffolding on it. I really enjoyed just trying to picture how the area was in it's prime in contrast to how it is now.
After our stroll through the ruins we decided to find the marketplace to find lunch. We ended up in a souvenir shop first which had a ton of different things in it from pottery and statues to chess boards and jewelry. All three of us ended up doing our only shopping in Athens there and we chatted with the store owners for quite a bit. It had started pouring down rain once we got down from the Acropolis and one of the store owners told us we had brought it from Dublin with us. Once we left the shop we stumbled upon a gelato shop which of course we had to go into. So we had our dessert before we found a cafe to actually eat lunch at. We had gyros at a restaurant called Ioakh barbeque. The owner waited on us and he was extremely nice and funny. First of all he made us all sit side by side in a booth with Chris in the middle that way he could see all of us because we were “good looking”. Then he teased Chris by saying that he was a lucky man to be out with two girls. He asked us which states we were from and when Charity and I told him Pennsylvania he said, “I used to live 2 hours and 46 minutes from your home”. Turns out he lived in NYC for a while before returning to Greece to live. I'm not sure how long or what the circumstances were surrounding his time in the States but that was pretty cool. We weren't entirely sure what to order but we knew we wanted gyros so he just brought us two big plates, one with vegetables and the other with meat, to share and save us money. The restaurant was such a great find, I loved it.
Once we were fed and the rain had let up we decided to try to get to the Mediterranean Sea, which we did but we just ended up at ports and not necessarily near a beach. We decided to head back to the penthouse after a couple of failed attempts. That night we went to a restaurant and were served authentic Greek food which was really cool. The waiter brought us a ton of samples mainly in the form of appetizers and then we chose three different main dishes for dinner. He was going to bring us 6 plates to share between the 11 of us but through a miscommunication on our end we ended up only ordering 3 plates. Dessert was a delicious chocolate pudding type of dish though so it made up for our mistake.
Tuesday we made our venture back to Dublin which was tiring but it was nice to be home. I didn't realize how much I had missed Dublin until I was on the bus and then in the taxi home from the airport. Just seeing familiar places gave me a real sense of home and I was just super excited to be back. Once I got to the house I just walked around the kitchen and dining room for a while revelling in the feel of my second home (although it's probably more of my third home as Clarion is my second). Next on the agenda is Northern Ireland, Belfast and Derry, November 5th-8th. It's another group trip like Galway was so I'm really excited just to be with everyone in the same place again.

London Calling

October 22, 2009 I officially landed in London at Gatwick Airport at approximately 9:20 am. I have been dreaming about going to London since I was 15 and I finally made it. Chris, Charity, and I took a bus and then the tube to our hotel so that we could squeeze in an afternoon nap before heading to Piccadilly Circus for the evening. Once there we walked through the theatre district and China Town before deciding that we were extremely hungry. We settled on a Turkish restaurant and the food was absolutely delicious, it definitely hit the spot after a long day of travel. Chris and I are Potter fans so we ended up a King's Cross Station that night so we could go to Platform 9 ¾. We first went to the one that was built to have half of a trolley cart coming out of it and then we went to platform 4 which was actually used in the films.
Friday, October 23 Chris and Charity went to the British Museum but I had other plans in mind so I split off for a couple of hours so I could go check out Charing Cross Road. The road itself has a ton of book stores on it, mainly second hand and antiquarian. There was also a side road off of it that was nothing but book stores. I took a few pictures and then headed into Quinto Bookshop which carried antiquarian books on the first floor and second hand books in the basement. I perused the shelves upstairs and picked up an absolutely gorgeous book which had hand painted inside covers and came in at a pricey £60. After reluctantly putting it back on the shelf I walked past the locked glass case that held the most valuable books and I dropped my bag at the front counter so I could go explore the basement. The reason for this is because upstairs they had CCTV cameras but the basement was not equipped with them. They had clothes pins to identify bags with and they were labeled with a famous author's name, I got Keats. The basement was divided into tiny rooms that were packed with books and I could even hear the tube running overhead as I looked through the wide selection. It was a perfect experience but I was in desparate need of a book so I left and went to a new release bookstore that was more within my price range.
I soon got a text from Charity and I hopped back on the tube to meet her and Chris at Tottenham Court Road. We ended up down the street at a little cafe for lunch where I officially had my first cup of tea in London and I ordered an English Breakfast which was delicious. It was time to go see the major landmarks so we took the tube to Westminster where we exited to see the London Eye and Big Ben. I was completely ecstatic and I could hardly contain myself, the whole experience was better than Christmas morning. I took a ton of pictures of Big Ben and Parliament so that I would be sure to have a least one that I liked. We walked past Westminster Abbey and stood by the Thames for a bit before heading to Buckingham Palace. Once at the palace we met up with a friend of Chris and Charity's from school who is studying in London this semester. We went back to her place and made pizza for dinner before heading back to the tube.
Saturday Chris wanted to take a solo trip to Abbey Road Studios, he actually ended up going with a girl we had met the night before, so Charity and I decided to meet up with him later. Charity entertained me and went with me to the Oxford Circus station where we got off and went to Carnaby Street to the Gola store. Gola is a British shoe brand and I of course had to buy a pair while I was in London. It was then time to meet up with Chris and after a bit of confusion and frustration due to a lack of communication we got to him. The Tower of London was the major stop on our list that day so we took a tour and saw the crown jewels along with climbing up through the cramped towers. Afterwards we saw Tower Bridge and then walked along the Thames trail for a quite a while before getting exhausted when we realized we would never make it to the Millennium Bridge before dinner. Finally we found a train station and got off near Monument Station where we crossed the unexciting London Bridge. Chris and I got way ahead of Charity and when we turned around we couldn't see her. Soon enough she came into sight with a couple of guys from Argentina who had asked her directions to St. Paul's Cathedral. We talked to them for a bit and as it turns out they are studying law in Spain this semester. When we reached the cathedral we took pictures of it and then headed to Millennium Bridge which is right across the road from it. The bridge itself is a pedestrian bridge and Chris informed us that when it was first built it had to be closed down for a year to further construction on it because it swayed way too much. It's another destination for Potter fans who have seen the 6th installment as it's the bridge that is destroyed in the opening scene of the movie. We ended up at a little pub near the cathedral for dinner where I got fish and chips and it was absolutely delicious.
I love London and I can see myself living and working there some day even if it's just for a couple of years so I can fully experience the culture of the city. There is so much to do in London that you could live there your whole life and probably not experience it all. I really enjoyed the tube and it was extremely convenient in getting us to where we needed to be. I loved being surrounded by the British accent and there is just an amazing sense of pride about the British people. I really hope I can go back.

Comhaltas

Monday evening a big group of us ventured to Dalkey with the intention of climbing Killiney hill. Andy, Brady, and I fell behind what with trying to take pictures and all. We ended up on a path going around the hill, seems to be my trend as of late, and then we asked some locals for directions back into town. Once in town we met up with the rest of the group and it took about half an hour of indecisiveness before we decided to eat at an Italian restaurant. The majority of us headed back home but some of them stayed to go to a pub.


This past Friday a group of us was going to get on the DART and go to Greystones today. It ended up pouring down rain and Casey and I were the only
ones who made it, or so we thought at the time. We waited around the
station for a little bit thinking maybe Toby would show up, but as he
doesn't have a cell phone we weren't sure if he was coming or not.

We ended up running through the rain and then walking through the small
town area in it until we found a coffee shop where we sat and talked
for about two hours. Mainly we discussed home and friends but we spent
a good chunk of time discussing people here.

Once it stopped raining so Casey and I decided to go for a walk
along the beach and it was absolutely gorgeous. It is just amazing to me how close we are to the
Irish Sea and I love it so much. The beaches here are obviously a lot
different than back home, but I kind of like them better. They are the
type you put on a raincoat and hat to go walk along, dogs are frequent
as are parents with cameras. We saw a guy fishing with a huge pole; I
took a picture of him it made my day at that particular point in time.

After a bit we wandered back into the town to catch the DART to Dalkey
where Charity lives. We drank hot chocolate and talked to her host
family for a bit. A girl from Clarion named Constance came over about
a year and a half ago and they hosted her, so we had fun talking about
how amazing she is. After watching a couple episodes of The Office the
three of us headed to the DART station. We incidentally met Toby there
who was in fact in Greystones today and didn't believe that Casey and I
had been there until I threatened to show him pictures.

Aside from that, we took the train to Monkstown where we went to a club
I guess you could call it? There was a pub area and then a dance floor
where they teach you how to do Irish dances. A bunch of European kids and the few Americans
there, we were all tripping over each other but it was a blast. I only
danced two as we got there late and I wanted to get back into the city
before it got too late. The music was wonderful though and I really
wish I had the money to buy an Irish flute. So after sweating to death
dancing, I ate my complementary scone and left to make my way back to
the station.

I, with my mother's keen sense of direction (sarcasm implied), got
terribly lost by going in the opposite direction of the station, mind
you this is at 10:30pm. I asked a couple for directions and after
speed walking so far, I knew I was never going to make it to the
station in time to get back to catch my bus. I hailed a taxi and paid
the 4.80 euro to get to the station.

Once on the train typical me kicked in and I kept checking the time
knowing that the last bus would be around 11:30 and it was 11:07.
I managed to get into Tara St Station at 11:22 and I ran the two blocks
down to my bus stop. I'm sure I looked ridiculous but I didn't want to
have to pay a taxi the 12 euro it costs to get out of city centre. I
managed to catch the bus, many prayers brought me to that moment
because I started praying as soon as I left Comhaltas (the pub/club?).

Glendalough, Bray, Maynooth

Wednesday, September 30 I attended a play that was part of the Dublin Theatre Festival. The play was Chekov’s Three Sisters and it was performed in Russian with subtitles projected onto screens above and beside the stage. It was hard to follow both the translation and the action on stage but I managed and was greatly exhausted afterward. It was a play where the audience, if it is performed correctly, feels empathetic toward every character at some point. The sisters themselves all had dreams about working and love, but nothing turned out for them in the way they had hoped. It was by no means a happy ending, but more of a realistic one.
Friday the school hosted a free trip to Glendalough which a few of us Americans took advantage of while the rest of the tour group was filled by European students. The ruins of the monastery were quite impressive, but our tour guide was speaking so the European students could understand her so it was hard to completely appreciate the tour. It’s not that she was talking slower but more of the fact that she sounded like a pre-school teacher. After a quick lunch by the lake, eight of us headed up a trail, six of them went up a mountain but I wasn’t feeling too great so I stayed behind and Laura joined me. Kyle came back down after a bit and we waited for Chris so we could head back to the bus. At this point it was 1:30pm and the bus was to leave at 2:00pm. We hoofed it back and saw the bus leaving the parking lot at 2:10pm so we were stranded; apparently no one noticed that eight Americans were missing. The rest of the group caught up to us about 10 minutes later and we went into the tourist office where we learned there is only one bus that heads back into Dublin and it wouldn’t be around until 4:30pm.
Most everyone was accepting of the fact that we were left behind. As Patrick and I said at least we were altogether. It definitely made for an adventure that none of us has planned on, which I feel most of this trip has been like that anyway. We ended up walking into the nearest town, Laragh, where we found tea rooms in the downstairs of someone’s house. It was a very laid back atmosphere and definitely a place you read about stumbling across in a tour book. The bus for Glendalough actually left from Laragh so we managed to get on it for 13 Euro each back into the city. There weren’t too many people on the bus; one man did bring his dog though.
Once back in Dublin I didn’t feel like going home so I went back to the apartments with Patrick, Abby, and Kyle. Patrick and I had scraped together some of our change, and I’m not kidding we counted it twice to make sure we had enough, to buy pasta and sauce. Patrick made dinner and Kyle and I partook in eating a ton of pasta with him while Abby ate some food she had made in her own apartment. After dinner Patrick and I did dishes and discussed an array of topics from religion to awkward conversations at dinner in Galway to why all the men in his family drink black coffee. We then joined Abby, Katie, Casey, and Teri on a venture to a true local Irish pub called The Cobblestone. The pub itself is quite small and packs a ton of Irish locals into it along with traditional music played by whoever feels they want to play that night. I didn’t get anything to drink as I had to catch the bus within the hour, but I stood with Casey and watched the band play. I have fallen in love with the Irish flute and that is all I’m going to say on the matter as I will want one even more if I go on about it. More people joined our group so it got quite crowded in our corner, they themselves had been playing beer pong. Patrick walked me to the bus stop and gave me a history lesson on the architecture of the churches in the area, as he himself if a history major.
Saturday I got up and met Abby and Katie so we could catch the DART into Bray. The weather didn’t look promising and we were caught in a downpour about a block from Tara St. Station. Once in Bray the weather was quite lovely and we met up with Erin and Jeff. We stepped into a pub called Katie Gallagher’s complete with a fireplace so we could decide what we were going to do. Maps laid out on the table, Jeff, Katie, and Erin decided to climb Bray Head while Abby and I decided on the cliff walk aka the trail around the mountain. Abby and I didn’t make it around but we explored some ruins and then sat on the stone wall overlooking the Irish Sea and had a really nice conversation. We met back up with the other three in the pub after they completed their hike before splitting off again to explore the town. Once back in Dublin, Katie, Abby, and I all napped and then woke up for a late dinner during which we met Toby’s twin sister Gwen, who is studying at Oxford this semester. We then attempted to find room at The Brazen Head and The Cobblestone before settling on the Glimmerman as there was such a big group of us. I drank a Kopparberg pear cider and spent most of the night in a booth talking to Patrick and Brady. After leaving the pub we all went back to the apartments where I spent the night on Casey and Teri’s couch.
Sunday morning, I woke up and headed out of the apartment complex toward the bus stop. I was stopped by a little old woman who asked me the time, it was 9:45am and her watch was reading 3:20. I find it nice how for being a big city, people act like it’s a small town. When I finally got home I met Mary’s sister Anne who had come to visit for the weekend. We then made a trip to Maynooth with is where their brother Joe and his family live. Lunch consisted of chicken, ham, potatoes, and vegetables followed by apple tart and raspberry swirl ice cream for dessert. They then took me down to Maynooth College and gave me a tour of the campus. It was an absolutely beautiful campus but I forgot my camera so I didn’t get any pictures of it unfortunately.

Inis Mor

Saturday, September 26 was by far the best day I have had here in Ireland. We took the bus an hour to the dock where a ferry then took us out to Inis Mor, one of the Aran Islands. Charity, Brady, Patrick, Toby, Nicky, Laura, and I didn’t last five minutes sitting inside before we were out on the deck of the ferry with the wind blowing in our faces. It was absolutely incredible and my hair was a complete mess by the end, but I loved every second of it. The overhead hanging above us had condensation on it which was dripping onto Patrick and Nicky which caused them to make some pretty hilarious faces in addition to all the sea spray we were enduring. Patrick was all about pretending that he was in the Coast Guard and kept us all amused with his ridiculous antics. Once on the island we were split into four vans that then drove us up to the fort. The terrain on the island is extremely rocky and the island itself is covered with thousands of miles of rock walls. The rocky terrain made it extremely difficult for farming but I don’t know much else about the history of the island. Gaelic or Irish is the first language on the island, English being the second, so quite a bit of culture has been preserved. There were a few sweater shops as well where Aran Island sweaters were sold, they are typically the type of sweater you think about when you think of the Irish, but most of us weren’t willing to part with the €80 that a lot of them cost. I ended up buying myself a scarf which was a bit more affordable at €18.
Back to the fort now…so our group headed to the center to pay our one euro to get up to the fort and as usual with big groups people were reading the history or just dawdling around and I wanted to go up immediately to see the fort and the cliffs. Brady was feeling the same way so we set off up the trail. We made it up far ahead of the rest of the group even with the gravel trail and slowpokes in front of us along with stops for pictures; Brady and Toby are the major photographers of the group. The far end of the fort overlooks the Atlantic Ocean and there are cliffs down below. I went over and laid flat on my stomach to look out over the edge, it was quite a thrilling experience. It was extremely peaceful and beautiful, definitely one of my favorite place on earth, at least the places I’ve visited. We were able to watch the fog descending on us from all sides as well which was breathtaking in both the figurative and literal sense as the wind was blowing it at us. The peacefulness was then interrupted however when the rest of the group came along, but it was good fun pointing out things that we had already admired and basking in the knowledge that we had made it up there first. After a good bit of picture taking I had had my fill (mainly of our cohorts) and decided it was time to head back down to find lunch. I walked away from the group and Brady joined me for the trip back down. We had lunch at a little restaurant that had a thatched roof and the full on Irish feel to it, other than the fact that most of our group was eating there. I had the most delicious tomato & basil soup with a toffee square for dessert.
The vans then took us back to the port where we were left with two hours to explore the island. Everyone headed for the sweater shop where after finding a scarf for my sister, I was ready to walk around the island. I had been with Nicky, Patrick, and Brady so I asked them to wait for me while I paid. Brady was off however, as he usually is, before I could ask them to wait. I must note here that he and Toby not only share the photographer gene but the “wander off on my own and don’t tell anyone where I’m going in addition to the fact that I don’t have a cell phone to get in contact with anyone” gene as well. So Nicky, Patrick, and I set off down a road that was above the ocean only soon to see Brady on the beach in the distance taking pictures, so we all busted out our cameras to take pictures of Brady taking pictures. Patrick, being Patrick, took off running across the beach at Brady who pretended to run away from him, while Nicky and I sauntered down after them. We ended up taking a forty-five minute walk in which Patrick lead a narration of our “Oregon Trail” expedition, complete with Brady getting bit by the only snake in Ireland after which he died because we sucked out the venom and failed to get it all. Apparently we also foraged for berries which we got six pounds of and went hunting to end up with three hundred and twenty pounds of meat. Aside from the narrative we were walking through sand and water with our pants rolled up, all of us except for Nicky. There was tons of seaweed too and the pods within it would make this popping sound when we stepped on them leading us to call it nature’s bubble wrap. The beach was full of rocky terrain as well and we were running and jumping over it which was a ton of fun. The expedition was full of song singing as well and after I mentioned the fact that I loved that it was just the four of us, Patrick burst out singing, “Just the four of us, we can make it if we try, just the four of us!”. I about died from laughter at that point and then he went on to say that four is the perfect number and set about using the example of a car saying that four is comfortable, five is ok, six you are sharing a seatbelt and it’s just not a good situation for anyone. I loved having time with just the three of them. In the bigger group people tend to get lost and in a smaller group we are more intent to focus on each other. With only forty-five minutes left until the ferry was due to be boarded, we decided to head back into town but not before Patrick did his Neil Armstrong impression on the grey sand, as well as one can be done with the presence of gravity. When we got back into town Elizabeth, our program director, told us to go up the street and get some ice cream as we had fifteen minutes to spare. The four of us went up with the intention of getting ice cream but only Patrick did as the rest of us decided on the Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate bars.
Once back at the hotel I took a quick shower before dinner and went down to eat. After the meal they always serve tea and coffee, so our table sat around and talked in British accents with titles and all. Lord Dewhurst (Toby), Lady Patrick (Charity), Commodore Neves (Nicky), Lady Decant (they left out the h saying Decant sounded more proper), Sir Knight Darity (Brady), and then there was Patrick who we deemed court jester. Once our party broke up we decided to meet in the lobby ten minutes later to go out for drinks. Kyle wanted to go somewhere different from where we had been already but after perusing the town to find a ton of night clubs and overflowing pubs we ended up back at Richardson’s which is where most of us had wanted to go in the first place. I handed my camera over to Toby as I knew I would get it back with a ton of fun pictures that I wouldn’t be able to take, and I was not disappointed, however they are not going on facebook. Just a few entertaining notes, there was a man in at least his 50's if not 60's completely jamming out with the band and dancing amazingly with his wife, also we had an Irish man telling us that Ireland and America are "like that" with the pinky crossing thing and he said something about Coney Island disappearing and replacing it with Ireland. He also told us that if you want to win a war you put the Irish in the front. It was quite a hilarious conversation; he had been talking to Jon and Brady at the bar only moments before he approached all of us. We left the pub at 1:00am as that is when it closed and walked out into the drizzly rain to go back to the hotel. The only thing that was on for today was the journey home in which Charity and I discussed how upsetting it is that we won’t be seeing all of our friends on a regular basis with classes starting tomorrow and the fact that we’ll all be in different ones. Toby said we’ll have to have movie and game nights so we can keep the family together, which would definitely make me feel better. I had an absolutely amazing weekend, I’m just sad it had to end. I have met some amazing people and I have been greatly blessed.

Sidenote: Kayla Baker showed me this site called www.mylifeisaverage.com and I felt the need to throw this in. "The other day I climbed up to the fort on Inis Mor with a friend, we left the rest of the group behind. It was incredibly peaceful and beautiful until everyone else arrived at which point my friend turned to me and he said, "I think it's time to go back down, this has become too mainstream". I smiled at the thought of him reading my mind. MLIA"

Galway

Thursday, September 24, 2009 marks the day that the American students at DBS set off for our trip to Galway and the Aran Islands. Once in Galway we walked around the city centre for about two hours before going back to the hotel for dinner. After dinner a group of us went out to find a pub and we settled on Richardson’s which had live music and it was a great atmosphere for sitting with a group of friends and just enjoying each other’s company. I found that my drink of choice is Bulmer’s Cider, which half of us drank while the other half drank Guinness to commemorate Arthur Guinness Day. The group consisted of Brady, Patrick, Laura, Chris, Charity, Nicky, Kyle, Jon, and me. Friday we traveled two hours to Connemara where we got to tour Kylemore Abbey and the gardens down the road from it. The scenery on the way to the Abbey was the Ireland you see in pictures. Absolutely gorgeous mountains and valleys with structure that you can tell the glaciers cut into the earth. I didn’t even know what to do with myself other than sit in my seat feeling complete awe for what I was seeing. Kylemore Abbey was constructed by a man named Mitchell Henry. There is a miniature cathedral built near the Abbey which was constructed in memorial for Mitchell’s wife who died from Nile Virus while on holiday in Egypt. Their mausoleum are even further down the road. There is also a walled garden which I then went to check out and it was absolutely incredible, I really wish my Dad could have been there to see it. I found the experience to be enjoyable but little did I know that our trip to Inis Mor the next day would surpass it by far.
After dinner in the hotel on Friday night most of us went to a Rugby game, Connacht vs Ulster. An explanation of the teams real quickly: Ireland is divided into four provinces Leinster in the east, Munster in the south, Ulster in the North, and Connacht in the west. So being in Galway we should have been supporting Connacht but the Ulster team was staying in our hotel so we were ok with them beating Connacht 30-6. Charity and I actually ran into four of the players in the elevator earlier in the day and she girlishly asked them what time the game was, it was quite hilarious. I must say, even though I’m not a real sports person I was extremely impressed with the skill that the players required and I loved every minute of the game. The atmosphere was something else for sure. We got to the game a few minutes after it started so we ended up in the standing room, but everyone in the stands across the field were chanting “Connacht, Connacht” for the better part of the game. At the one end of the field some primary school rugby teams were the most exuberant observers and at halftime they got to go out on the field and have a go against each other. I didn’t take my camera to the game but I do have a Connacht flag, they were giving them away at the game, and it’s going on my apartment wall when I get back to Clarion.

Flying Solo in Kilkenny

Tuesday September 22 I went to Kilkenny and spent the day exploring while Mary was in meetings. My first stop was the Kilkenny castle which was absolutely amazing. They offer a self tour which I did and it was such a strange feeling to be in a place that was once only inhabited by royalty. It’s funny how time can change a place from one of superiority for its inhabitants to one of common ground for visitors. I wanted to be on my own as much as possible while on the tour so I lingered in rooms longer than I had planned at certain points just letting others pass me by. The dining room had to be my favorite as it had to big windows with doors opening out onto a balcony that overlooked the backyard which contained a fountain. I took quite a bit of time just standing by the roped off windows staring out wondering what it must of felt like to have that be an ordinary everyday site. It was hard not to imagine what it must have been like to live there and wear large uncomfortable dresses.
Once I left the castle I set out to explore the park surrounding it. I walked along the river trying to take as many artsy pictures as possible. If nothing else I’ve learned how to take pictures. I then headed into town and shopped along High Street, where I found my first bookshop before noon and I hadn’t even been in Kilkenny for two hours. I ended up in at least six bookshops that I can remember from yesterday, and I proudly walked out of all of them without dropping a single note. I did return to the first shop however for lunch as there was a café up above it. After finishing my tuna wrap I pulled out my guidebook to look at the map of Kilkenny in it. I ended up wandering around to see what I could find. I actually happened upon a large sundial in the middle of a park by the river and from there I could see Black Abbey and St. Canice’s Cathedral. I sat for a while and pondered how I would get over to them and I ended up crossing a bridge and using the height of the churches for landmarks I happened upon Black Abbey. I took many pictures from the outside, but I didn’t go in as there were a couple of women blocking the doorway and I just didn’t feel right trying to get past them. St. Canice’s Cathedral was another story. As I walked up the road toward it, my breath was taken away, even more so when I stood right beside it and looked up to see the clouds flying past, I had a sensation of vertigo. I went inside and just sat for a while looking at the amazing architecture. All I could think of was how amazing it would be to get married in such a beautiful church. I then made my way back toward the castle where I sat in the park for about an hour reading before heading to the café above the Kilkenny Design Centre to wait for Mary to get off work. I was quite happy with my day in Kilkenny, it's a great town to explore and enjoy.