The Northern Expedition

A few weekends ago, we took our second excursion of the trip. Remember, the first one was to Southern Ireland, where we saw Cork, Tralee, Kilarney, the Dingle Peninsula, the Ring of Derry, and the Cliffs of Moher. This time around, it was off to Northern Ireland!

Before I describe what we were doing, I'm going to give you a bit of background on Northern Ireland. I'm sure some of you don't realize this, but technically Northern Ireland is NOT part of the Republic of Ireland. It's part of the U.K. Go figure. There's lots of history behind this whole situation, going back to the 1600s and beyond, but I'm pretty positive you'd just stop reading if I started writing about that. Better to just say that there were some very strong tensions for quite some time, and these tensions still haven't been relieved yet. It's not just tension between two countries, but also tension between the Catholics and Protestants. Before we left, we were warned to avoid wearing any school apparel or anything else that might say SAINT John's or Ben's. That's how extreme it is still.

We started our trip from the Park Lodge Wednesday afternoon. After a short jaunt (or maybe just a two hour bus ride), we stopped just outside of Sligo at William Yeat's grave. If nothing else, this was a great chance for us to stretch our legs. Sligo is towards the Northwestern coast of Ireland, just before we get into Northern Ireland. Sure enough, just about 45 minutes later, we cross a river and all of the sudden, all the speed limit signs were in MPH (not KPH)! Also, in the matter of ten feet, we stopped going to Derry and started going to Londonderry. Odd. The most noticeable difference was the quality of the roads. As soon as we crossed into Northern Ireland, everything was much more organized and much smoother. I guess the British ARE good for something!

Upon arriving in Derry, we found the town completely shut down. This is strange, since it was only 6:00, but apparently there is hardly anything left open past 5:00. First thing on the agenda: Supper. We went as a group to a nearby restaurant and enjoyed some delicious beefy Guinness Stew, mashed potatoes, veggies, and cheesecake. Afterwards, we did a bit of relaxing, then hit some pubs, but not for long. After all, we had to cheer on our Minnesota Twins in game 1 against the Yankees! Too bad staying awake 'til 5:00 am didn't pay off...

Derry from the old city walls.

Waking up 3 hours later, we left again for a Ring Fort just outside of Derry. I'll let the pictures describe it:

Coming back from the ring fort, we had a few hours of free time: LUNCH. A bunch of the guys went to this all-you-can-eat Chinese Buffet: CLUTCH. That was the best lunch I've had in a looooooong time! Afterwards, we met up with the rest of the group at the Museum of Free Derry. This commemorated the victims of Bloody Sunday, the massacre of 16 peaceful protesters by the British army. The museum was run by volunteers, but it may have been one of the best museums I've seen. It was outstanding.

We finished up the day with a walking tour of Derry, where we looked at the murals painted by the IRA and other citizens of Derry. Every mural had a story, and our guide told them all phenomenally. We walked the city walls and got some great insight of the city. If you're ever in Derry, I'd definitely recommend this tour.

This building is actually a historical monument now. People are allowed to paint on it for festivals and other events, but they are REQUIRED to leave the words on it.

After watching the Twins lose again, we took off the next morning for Belfast. Along the way we stopped in the city of Bushmill (home of Bushmill's Distillery!!) and took a tour of the distillery. AWESOME. It smelled great, too! Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to use electronic devices because the air was so saturated in alcohol...

After a quick lunch and several samples, we bounced on over to the Giant's Causeway. This is quite possibly the strangest geological phenomena I've seen in my life... Again, the pictures will do it better justice.

Arriving in Belfast, the first move was again dinner. This time, four of us went to a Kebab shop right across from our hostel. Hands down, this is the best kebab I've had. We hung around the hostel for a while, then went to explore the nightlife. Belfast is substantially larger than Derry was, but since we really didn't know anything about the city yet, we mainly hung out near to the hostel.

Yum...

Saturday morning, we took a city bus tour and then were given the rest of the day to ourselves to explore the town. Of the bus tour, I think the peace wall was the coolest thing. It's amazing to think that the wall was so necessary to preserve a way of life... Later, I ended up taking a free tour of the city hall, learning a bit about local politics (strange, to say the least). After some church, I ended up at that same kebab place for some more dinner. Twins played again, but no one really had the heart to pay 10 pounds to watch them play at 1 am again...

Peace wall in Belfast.

Our hostel was about four or five blocks away from Queens.

Sunday, we left Belfast for Strokestown, about halfway between Belfast and Galway. We toured the famine museum (heart-lifting, eh?) and learned about the potato blight. It was an okay museum; I don't think I'd go again, but it was worth seeing, I guess. I think I was more interested in just getting back to the Park Lodge by that point. Sure enough, a few hours later, we see the familiar sight of home!

Three weeks later...

I know it's been quite some time since all of this happened, and I apologize for that. Actually, I don't, because it'll still be fun to tell you about it. I hope you bear with me, as this'll be a fairly substantial post.

From Wednesday the 16th through Sunday the 20th, we went on our first group excursion. About once a month, the group goes on a longer trip to a different region of Ireland. September was the month for Southern Ireland, October will be in Northern Ireland, including Belfast and Derry, and November will be Eastern Ireland, mainly in Dublin. But more on October and November later.

We left Wednesday morning, and after a drive of about 45 minutes, we stopped at the house of William Yeats, the Irish author and playwright. We met the literature professor there, and he did some poetry reading for the group. It was pretty cool, but I don't think we were supposed to be there.... it was closed for the season. Oops.

The house of William Yeats, complete with a

medieval tower.

From Yeats' house, we had our next stop at Coole Park, a 1000-acre property owned by Lady Gregory until the late 1920s. She hosted many prominent authors and playwrights, including Yeats, so we took this opportunity again to do some more poetry. We took a walk out to the vanishing lake (literally, the lake drains itself and refills itself with different amounts of rainfall) and listened to the Yeats poem depicting the lake.

After this, we proceeded to Cork, our home for the night. We had the opportunity to stop by the university in Cork (another CSB/SJU program sends students there in the Spring) before checking into our hostel. The University is impressive. Built just ten years before St. John's, it has a beautiful campus. I wouldn't mind going to school there.

University of Cork, AKA Hogwarts.

The following day, we struck out towards Killarney, making three stops along the way. The first stop was Blarney Castle. Of course, the highlight of this site was the kissing of the Blarney Stone, which is rumored to provide anyone who kisses it much eloquence in speech. Aside from the eloquence, the view from the top of the castle is well worth the stop!

Blarney Castle. Feeling eloquent yet?

Second on our list for the day was a memorial for Michael Collins, one of the leaders of the Irish rebellion in the 1920s. He and his party were ambushed while driving to Killarney, and during the fight, he was killed. At the site of the ambush, a cross was built in memory of Collins. We stayed just long enough to get a brief history/how-to speech on guerrilla warfare, given by the one and only Dave "the Hutch" Hutcheson. That in itself is not something to be missed!

Finally, we stopped at the Ross castle, a renovated castle from the 1500s. We got a tour of the castle and a brief history of the region. As with any tour of old buildings, we weren't allowed to take pictures, which is a bummer. The castle was pretty cool.

After spending the night in Killarney, we went on Friday to the Muckross House, the mansion owned by the Muckross family, who hosted prominent guests like Queen Victoria. Again, we got a tour of the house and some time to explore the property. Impressive, to say the least. We didn't have nearly enough time to wander the trails, which is probably the biggest regret about the place, especially since we spent the rest of the day on the bus, driving around the ring of Kerry. It was a spectacle, but a very cramped bus detracted from the experience.

I told ya the Muckross estate was pretty sweet!

This is the view from the back porch.

On Saturday, we drove a short distance to the city of Tralee, home of the Kerry County Museum. This museum claimed the award for the best Museum in Ireland in 2008 (I think), so it was of no surprise that it was such a good exhibit. The display was on medieval Tralee, with a life-sized recreation of the city from the 1400s. Afterwards, we drove across the Dingle Peninsula, returning to Tralee for the night. After having a delicious Philly cheese steak, we celebrated Taylor's 21st birthday with style!

Last, and definitely not least, we drove through the Burren to the Cliffs of Moehr. With cliffs soaring over two-hundred feet above the waves, we had a spectacular site to behold. After adventuring the peaks of the cliffs for an hour or two, we struck out towards home. I'll let the pictures tell the stories!

Of course we followed the rules...

That's what a 210 foot cliff looks like.

Hurling and Soccer and Birthday!

Since last post, we've been really busy. That weekend, we took a trip to Tipperary for the U-21 National Hurling Championship between Galway and Tipperary! Hurling is potentially the coolest sport I've ever watched in my life. Pretty much, it's a cross between rugby, lacrosse, gaelic football, and golf. With constant movement (and tackling), it's a game to enjoy.

Since our host town, Galway, was playing in the championship, we definitely took the opportunity to receive some very Irish culture. Sadly, Galway got creamed, but we had a blast regardless!

Hurling = Awesome

After the hurling match, we just hung around the cottages for a little while. On Monday, we decided to do some birthday celebrating! After some phenomenally exciting classes, a bunch of us booked a bus into Galway to go catch a soccer match. Unfortunately, the Irish weather was not really cooperating:

Our rain-faces

Because it was so cold and rainy and windy, it turned out that only a few of us went to the match, but I can definitely say that it was a TON of fun, an experience I am SO glad I did. The teams playing, Galway United and Sligo, are each middle-of-the-pack in the premier league of Ireland. Fans were passionate, players were good, and the company was great!

The match ended in a 2-2 draw, but Sligo was

definitely the better team that night.

After a cold soccer game, what better way to celebrate than get some birthday drinks?!? Yep, definitely hit up a few pubs in Galway, enjoyed some live jazz, and ended up having a great evening!

More to come about our weekend excursion to Southern Ireland!

Home sweet home

Five guys living here for the next three months. It's bigger than it seems...

Well, maybe it's not, but it's not too terrible.

The extent of our kitchen. And our chef.

We got the bedroom with the sink. Score.

Aaaand best of all, we've got a playground right next to us!

One thing I forgot to mention...

I love Irish pubs.

They rock in so many ways.

That's it.

"With gifts like these I'd live at ease, were I near Galway Bay."

Well, I've been in Galway for about a week now, but I haven't really gotten around to typing a whole ton. Well, now's my chance. Lets start with the first few days:

We flew into Spiddal last Saturday from London, and just spent the evening driving to Galway and getting settled into the hotel. After a meal of fish and chips, we called it a night. Sunday morning found us in the Galway cathedral for an 11:15 mass. First of all, the cathedral is BEAUTIFUL. I don't even know what the architectural style is or anything, but it was great. Almost every color was represented in the three main windows, and they looked phenomenal.

After mass, we walked the streets of Galway. After about an hour, my mom and I stopped at a sweets shop for a panini lunch. I met one of the waiters there and got talking with him. His name is Dave, and he plays in a big band in one of the pubs every Thursday night. We talked about that for a bit, and we found out that we each play trumpet! So he invited me to come listen to them and he said I'd be able to PLAY with the band if I want! AWESOME!

We also got to adventure and explore Spiddal. It's a nice little town, with a gas station, a grocery store, two schools, a few restaurants, and three pubs (I've thoroughly explored all of those, I promise). The Spiddal experience ended with a walk along the seashore.

One place that I really enjoyed was the Connemara region in county Galway to see the Kylemore Abbey. That's a cool looking place. Built in the middle of the woods and on a lake, it's a picturesque site, one that draws plenty of tourists. Invariably, I was one of them.

Thursday was the day where I saw my mom off from the Shannon airport and met up with my classmates for the next semester. We got checked into our cottages around 2:00 on Thursday and took the next few hours to figure out how we're going to fit everything into the place. Fortunately, it all worked out, and by the time dinner was served to us by the hotel staff (chicken, potatoes, veggies, fruit dessert, and tea), we were just about settled in.

We spent Friday in Galway getting acquainted to the city and picking up groceries for the next week. We've got some GREAT meals planned. So far, we've had sausage pizza (more or less homemade) and grilled chicken, both phenomenal meals, courtesy of our designated cottage cook, Bobby.

Finally, we spent the day on the Aran Islands today. After taking the 10:30 ferry (45' ride), we spent the next 4 hours biking around the island, seeing different places. It's been about three years since I last went biking, so I'm expecting to be a bit sore tomorrow. But best of all, I got a chance to buy a much-coveted Aran Island sweater. Pictures to come...

(I apologize for the length of this entry... I'll try to cut it down in the future)

A bit of cultured London

Since Monday, we've had a few busy days. Being tourists, of course we would go to the London Eye. If you aren't familiar with that, it's pretty much a gigantic ferris wheel (135 meters tall!!) rising up above the Thames, giving a full panorama of London. We actually got fairly lucky; it was a clear day, no rain, and the visibility was very good. It definitely showed London in a bit of a different light than what we were used to seeing!

Another place we had the opportunity to see was Westminster Abbey (oh, the joys of a student discount). Think of the most ornate church you've seen. Well, this is at least as ornate, possibly even more so. A massive Gothic structure, Westminster Abbey really is a building deserving of all of the traditions incorporated with it. The only place I've seen that can come close to matching the high altar of Westminster is the chapel at Golgotha in the Holy Sepulcher.

While we were planning for this trip, my mom found a tour service that would take us to various sites in the UK, so on Wednesday we embarked on a bus tour, taking us to Stonehenge, Salisbury, and Bath. Of the three places, Stonehenge was by far the coolest (to me), but the ruined Roman baths at Aquae Sulis (Roman name... the modern name of the place is Bath) were pretty neat too. At the end of our time there, we had the opportunity to taste some of the water that had come from the baths. Oddly enough, it tasted like the water from the drinking fountain at Silver Lake pool...

One great thing about London (maybe the whole UK?) is that admission to museums is FREE! We figured we'd take advantage of that and check out the British Museum. Not surprisingly, with free admission comes huge crowds. There were times when it was difficult to keep yourself from moving BACKWARDS, so dense the crowd was. It was a constant fight to see the exhibits, a fight not really worth undertaking. After seeing the exhibits on Greece, Rome, and Egypt, we ended up leaving. Later that night, however, we took the underground to the Victoria Apollo Theater to see Wicked. Although not my first time seeing it, it was by far the highlight of the day. The performance was superb, and it was pretty interesting to see how the British actresses changed the style ever so slightly from how the Chicago actresses performed it. All in all, a good night.

Yesterday was probably my favorite day in London. We started the day off by travelling via the underground to the Tower of London. Awesome. For a fan of medieval history, this was the perfect place to go. The stories of what happened there were slightly chilling (good), the buildings were very intact (better), and the exhibits they had throughout the site were extraordinarily relevant to their placement and well organized (best).

After the Tower, we headed over to the Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament. Because Parliament was not in session, tours of the Houses were being offered(again, yay for a student discount!). We got a fantastic tour guide, and she did a great job at explaining the building, the British government, and the history of Britain. That tour alone may cause me to switch my emphasis to more of a comparative political approach when I return to SJU.

So now we've reached the end of our time in London. If you're one of those lucky people coming over here to study either this semester or next, I'm jealous. But not THAT jealous, because now it's time to go to Ireland! Next time you hear from me will be from the Emerald Isle!

"Westminster Palace" aka Houses of Parliament

Stonehenge, as strange as can be...

Guess.