The Last Intellectual Day

Today was the last intellectual day of our trip. We went to Blarney Castle, Charles Fort and a small coastal town not far from Cork. Blarney Castle was amazing, it was everything I thought it would be. I was surprised at the extremely narrow stairway leading up to the Blarney Stone. As we went up the steps themselves began to get smaller and we had to turn our feet to match the length of the steps and walk almost sideways at points so we wouldn't slip. The view from the top was really awesome. I enjoyed the view, it looked at the town of Blarney and the property surrounding the castle. There was a river which was moving really fast and lots of open spaces and trees. Yes, I did kiss the Blarney Stone and now SUPPOSEDLY I'll have the gift of gab for the next 7 years or something along those lines. After exiting the castle I noticed a cave under the castle along another path. I walked in it a little ways and it got narrower and the ceiling got much lower. I wish I would've had a flash light and more time so I could've walked in the cave farther and explored where it went. Maybe I should find a torch and go back so I can pretend I am someone of importance living in the castle in the middle ages!

We then went to the Blarney Wool store and people looked at sweaters and hats. Then we stopped by Charles Fort. It was built in the late 1500's and used in a battle in 1601 when the Irish first attempted to gain their independence from England. During the American Revolution it was used by Britain as a place to keep their POWs. Next we drove to the town on the coast (I can't remember the name of the town). It was nice, we arrived when there was a low tide and by the time we left, an hour and half later, the tide was coming in prettty quick. The streets were very narrow which is typical of many medieval towns we were told by our bus driver.

Depending on time and Euros, I think this may be my last entry before I arrive back in the states. Tonight we are going back out to listen to some more traditional music at the place we went to last night. Tomorrow we leave the appartments at 9 to return back to Dublin. When we get back to Dublin we have our FREE farewell dinner in the evening then we can go explore and listen to music at the pubs. Dublin is having a city wide music festival which we are all really excited for. I might go back to this one pub where I met one of the bands who will be playing tomorrow night. Those guys were really fun to talk to. Friday we have to leave our hotel at 8 to head to the airport. We fly to Copenhagen then head for Chicago around 3pm. We'll be getting back to Chicago around 6pm and back to Luther aroun 1 am on Saturday.

This trip has been a blast for me. It has felt like an extension of Christmas break. Although I'm sad about leaving I am glad to be returning home and to Luther. It will be nice to start my next semester and get it done with. I will be seeing most of you all very soon, take care!

Three Lectures= A long Day

Today we went to the University College Cork and attended three lectures today. The first one was on viking settlements on the Faroe Islands the next one was on viking remains in Dublin. The last one was about the vikings coming to Ireland and the people here before them. The lectures all kinda blurred together today because I was really tired and the first two were back to back. The last one was interesting because the guy was a historian and knew so much about the vikings, it was incredible. He knew the Old Norse and Old Irish languages. When I saw Old Irish I mean really really old. We had almost two hours between the 2nd and 3rd lectures, so we all went to the student center and had some lunch and some of us played Hearts. After the thrid lecture we all went our seperate ways, some went to the markets and some went back to the apartments. We really didn't do much of anything today, just the lectrues.

Tomorrow we go to Blarney Castle, I'm really looking forward to that. Yesterday we went to Cobh (pronounced Cove. Cobh is the old Irish spelling) and saw the museum for all the Irish who emmigrated from Ireland. They also had sections for the Titanic and Lusitania, since Cobh was the last port of departure for the two liners. It was really interesting and the weather was great. It rained at first but then the sun came out and when it bounced off the water is was blinding. We also saw a memorial for the victims of the Lusitania at a cemetary just outside of town. It was a sad thing to see and the rain added to the mood of the event. Before leaving Cobh we stopped by St. Coleman's Cathedral. It was very interesting, but seemed like all the other churches I've seen while on the trip.

Last night we all went to a pub to listen to bluegrass music. It was interesting, until we met some Austrailians....then it got more interesting. The one girl was traveling around Europe and had been here for 6 months already. She was extremely loud and annoying. She was with some of her guy friends traveling around. They were also kind of loud. They were told a few times by the bartender to quiet down or he'd kick them out. We left shortly after the second warning because they were talking with some of us and we didn't want to be associated with them and get kicked out.

Tonight we are going the the same pub and listening to a different type of music, I don't remember what style they have tonight, but I'm looking forward to it.

Cork and a Crappy Space Bar

Today we left Dublin for Cork. It was about a 5 hour trip, but we stopped in Waterford for an hour to see a museum and get some food. The places we are staying at are appartments. They are really nice and the best part is that they come with a washer and dryer!!!! I've never been so excited to do laundry in my life, my clothes were starting to smell!! Waterford was a nice city by the river; it was also the first viking settlement set up in Ireland and it was called Vaterfjord. They didn't deviate much from the old nordic name when they wanted to change it!

The computer I'm typing on has an uber hyper sensitive spacebar and is making typing fairly hard so i apologize if there are large spaces between words and sentences, i'm tired of go ing back every two letters to correct it!

A bunch of us found a grocery story and picked up some food to help us survive the next 4 days here in Cork. Since we are living in appartments we have to provied our own meals for breakfast lunch and dinner . The appartments are very nice and spacious. It makes me feel a lot more comfortable than being in a small hotel room. In a way it reminds me of being in the cluster back at Luther. We didn't do much today because once we arrived in Cork we were on our own so I don't have more to type regarding the trip except the fact that I need to get caught up on my journal entries! I'm about 4 or 5 days behind.

Best wishes to all of you from Ireland!

Chillin in the Country

Yesterday we ent to Kilmanham Jail. It was built in the last 1700s and closed in the 1920s. The jail was very interesting and had a unique presence while we were there. It was really cold and damp and in a was kind of eerie. The jail was used to hold many of the leaders for Irish independence in the early 1900s. We got to see the hanging room, the Victorian Wing (which was amazing and spooky at the same time. In a way it reminded me of a giant birdcage), we saw the stone yard where the prisioners worked, and where the main 14 leaders of the IRA were executed. That part of the trip was very somber for me. There was a light rain while we were at the jail which added to the mood of the whole compound. In the museum part of the jail there was a section called ''Last Words'' which had the last words written down by the 14 leaders of the IRA.

After that we went to the Guinness Storehouse and went on a tour. The tour was self guided and ended up in the 'Gravity Bar' on the 7th floor of the building where you got a free pint of Guinness. mmm-mmm, it was good! Later that night we went on a literary pub craw to three different pubs that were famous for being mentioned in famous Irish works or where famous Irish authors spent their time. It was really fun. The two leaders acted out different parts from different works outside of the pubs. They were really good at what they did.

Today we went to Glendalough out in the country. The scenery there was breath taking. Glendalough is an ancient monastic city by two lakes in a beautiful valley. We went on a tour of the small city then had 45 minutes to walk around the trails. I took so many pictures of the lake and scenery. After that we went on a tour of the country side on our way back to Dublin. We stopped at this one spot at the top of a very very steep cliff that looked out over a lake which was surrounded by mountains. We were very high up. I walked as close to the edge as I could with out slipping to get some nice pics. Some of the girls on the trip really did not like that some of us guys were getting so close to the edge. After looking at the pictures, I think it was worth hearing them yell out that we were going to slip and fall down the side of the mountain.

Tomorrow we leave for Cork and are making a stop at Waterford to look around and rest. Waterford is famous for their crystal. I am glad to say that right now there is no cyber pervert in the cafe trying to meet women, which in a way I am glad for and also wish he was here so I could hear some interesting conversation.

A Jolly Old Man

Last night we went to the other National Museum at Collin's Barracks and saw the Sea Stallion (I think I mentioned that in my last entry). It was pretty interesting. Then we attended a lecture about viking ship archeology by a man who headed a big dig in Denmark. We found out the Ambassador of Denmark was there and we met him afterwards. He was a very jolly man with a somewhat high pitched voice and a very large belly, if he had a white beard he could be Santa! Not many of us enjoyed the lecture because we weren't familiar with the region he was talking about.

Today we went to a small interactive museum about Medival Dublin. It was really fun. They had some chainmail to try on your head, a bucket helmet that was very heavy and some other stuff to look at and mess around with. Then we went on a guided tour of Christ Church Cathedrial. That place was very amazing to look at. There was beautiful stained glass and interesting tile work. I saw so many things made out of gold. The whole experience was just amazing. The whole time there was a man playing the organ which was huge. In about 20 minutes we are leaving to look at a jail that I THINK is from the middle ages. After that we have our literary pub crawl and I think everyone is going on a tour of the Guinness Storehouse either tonight or tomorrow.

So the guy three computers down from me is on his phone talking to women and asking them if they can meet up with him. He might be a modeling agent or just a cyber stalker pervert. In the last 20 minutes I've been here he's talked to about 5 women. He has different profiles pulled up and he keeps telling them they have sexy voices and is wanting to know if they can wear something pretty when they meet up with him. Right now he's talking to a girl from Cuba and he's telling her he can speak spanish so now he's talking to her in Spanish. This guy is crazy!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Some of the stuff he's been saying has just been hard for me not to burst out laughing at! I don't think I can take this much longer, I'm gonna start laughing soon! I love the big city!

I think that's enough typing for me for now. I hope everyone is having a good day!

The No Name Entry

Today we went to the Irish Museum of Natural History. We looked at the exhibit on vikings and walked through the treasury. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photographs in the museum. The treasury has The Cross of Kong in it. That thing is very impressive. Supposedly, in the center there is a crystal that holds part of the True Cross which Christ was crucified on. Up until recently, it was considered one of the most important relics in Ireland and maybe the world. In a few hours we are leaving to go to the other Museum of Natural History in Collin's Barracks to see the Sea Stallion then have a lecture. The Sea Stallion is a reconstruction of a viking ship that was found in Roskilde. They built a reconstruction and sailed it from Roskilde, Denmark to Dublin last summer and are going to sail it back to Roskilde next summer.

Last night I tried my first real pint of Guinness, I enjoyed it. It was different than the American beers and much better! In Ireland when someone orders a Guinness they fill it up to an inch below the rim then let it sit for a few minutes to let the nitrogen escape then they top it off. I was able to listen to a few songs by two gentlemen who play traditional Irish music. They were really good and I enjoyed it. Mickey, Marv's wife, asked them to play the song Molly Malone because she thought that we should hear it since it is a very important song to Dubliners. I really liked that song and encourage everyone to find a copy of it and give it a listen.

We leave for Cork on Sunday. We are all really excited to leave the city and see the countryside. After being in Cork for a few days we come back on the 24th to Dublin. That day there is a city wide music festival that will have started on the 23 and goes until the 27th. We are planning on walking around on the 24th and get as much of the music in as we can before we leave the next day.

Well, my time is low and I'm out of stuff to write so I'll wrap this entry up. Hope all is well for everyone!

In Dublin

So I'm in Dublin now. It's raining....surprsise there huh? I only have about 8 minutes left on my time on the computer so this one is going to be brief. We had a lecture this morning on Irish culture which was interesting. In about an hour we are going on a tour of Dublin and get to see some castles and cool churches from what I've heard. It's nice to have people around that naturally speak english and you don't have to ask them 3 times to repeat themselves, haha. Later tonight we are going to a play and I get to see the pub where the guys from U2 usually hang out when they are in Dublin. That would make my trip if I could meet one of them! I think I'll be there quite a bit these few days I'm here! Well, I have other stuff to do in these next few minutes and hopefully I'll be able to make it here every day to update this, but don't count on it.