Edinburgh

Seeing as it's now almost the end of July, I've decided that it's probably time to finish posting some pictures from the last few places I visited. It feels pretty strange to be sitting on the couch in Branford instead of precariously perched at my desk at UL (I regularly bruised my shins from curling my legs up between the chair and the desk), but I suppose it will work.

Annnnyyyyyway, Reading Week is a specially set aside week at the end of the semester for students to catch up on all of the reading and revising (studying) they should have spent the entire semester doing. Clearly the best use of my time involved traveling for at least half the week (my first exam was Irish Folklore - during our first tutorial, we made St. Brigid's Crosses out of reeds. That should give you a good idea of how challenging this class was).

So my friend Katrina and I took off for Edinburgh, which, despite spending only one full day in due to the limiting plane schedule, became one of my favorite cities in Europe. We arrived late Wednesday evening and had an interesting time finding the hostel since I only caught every two words out of three when I called to get directions (you can only ask someone to repeat something so many times...). Along the way we got to see either a TV show or movie being filmed in a courtyard and lost count of the number of hills we climbed. The effort we put into finding the hostel paid off when we walked into what was hands-down-no-one-else-even-came-close the BEST hostel I stayed in the entire semester. The Castle Rock Hostel was situated at the bottom of the hill that Edinburgh Castle sits on. Each room has a theme, and each bed in the room has a name (we stayed in Mr. Men and our beds were called Mr. Skinny and Mr. Bouncy, if I remember correctly).

The entire place is covered in kitschy but awesome castle memorabilia and bright paintings. We spent the rest of the evening drinking tea in a small sitting room making a plan of attack for the next day.

One of the several knights in almost-shining armor:

We woke up the next morning to a bright, clear sky and set off for Edinburgh Castle immediately after a quick and delicious breakfast. Since we got there before the place even opened to the public, we had some time to take a few pictures.

The view of the city is amazing:

The castle complex is built into the top of the hill, and the main road winds and twists its way up to the top:

We took a short guided tour from a cheerful woman in tartan pants. Our first stop was the dog cemetery where the faithful companions of the soldiers who guarded the castle were put to rest (note all the little headstones lining the wall):

We spent an hour or two going through all of the buildings and displays. One of my favorite parts was an exhibit about prisoners that were held in the castle during various wars. At one point in time there was a large contingent of American soldiers (perhaps during the American Revolution? I can't quite remember), and a wooden door with their carvings of names, ships, and flags was on display. It was really interesting.

As we left the castle and headed towards the main shopping and eating streets, we noticed these two on the street corner:

It doesn't get much more Scottish than that. While the piper may have been part of the massive amounts of catering to tourists that we came across, it appeared as if the other man was just going about some errands. Either way, it made our day.

That afternoon, we went on a three hour free walking tour that was highly recommended by some friends who visited Edinburgh earlier in the semester. The tour totally surpassed our expectations: the guide was hysterical, and we probably saw almost the entire city (or at least, all the places of note) in a few short hours. Plus there's just nothing like seeing a place on foot - totally beats a bus tour any day.

We walked up and down streets that looked as if you could turn into Diagon Ally at any moment:

Our guide pointed out all the important sights, including the window of The Elephant House cafe that J.K. Rowling sat in while penning the first chapters of Harry Potter:

There was also the graveyard that contained many names found in Harry Potter, including Thomas Riddle (except I don't think Riddle was spelled properly now that I look at the grave stone again...):

For the life of me, I can't remember why this dog was important, but I do know that his name is Bobby:

We finished the tour in a park that supposedly contains the best view of the castle in the entire city. The gathering clouds certainly added to the air of intrigue and antique-ness that covered Edinburgh:

We had just enough time to check out the National Museum of Scotland before it closed for the day to say hello to Dolly the Sheep:

We had a bit of fun in the hands-on exhibit hall, but unfortunately the computers and monitors with the games were all shut off. We settled for a quick photo shoot instead:

That car is famous for some reason or another, but I didn't really pay that much attention, to be honest. I think it may be a reproduction of a very successful Formula 1 driver's car.

We had dinner in a cozy pub in order to accomplish an item on Katrina's to-do list: try haggis. For anyone who hasn't been introduced to the culinary masterpiece that is haggis, it is a traditional Scotting dish containing sheep's heart, liver, and lungs minced together with onions, spices, oatmeal, and suet (fat). The mixture is then stuffed into the empty stomach and simmered for a few hours (although according to Wikipedia, most commercial preparations are now prepared in a casing instead of a stomach). The haggis is taken back out and served with neeps and tatties, aka mashed turnips and potatoes. It looks perfectly presentable on the plate: there are definitely no signs of its fairly questionable origins. (Thanks to Katrina for the photo)

While I know that no one who knows me will actually believe this, I DID try a bite of the haggis (Katrina can back me up, she actually witnessed it). Even more unbelievable: I actually ENJOYED it. The texture was like any other casserole, and the combination of flavors was the perfect comfort food for a chilly day. There were several places advertising vegetarian haggis, which I'm definitely going to attempt once the weather here gets a bit colder.

After a cup of tea at the hostel, we headed out to another walking tour once the sun set- this time a so-called ghost tour. We were all given little torch (flash light) key chains at the start. I mistakenly thought they added a cute bit of ambience, but I was quite grateful for their light when navigating through a hilly graveyard. The tour was fascinating; the guide was one of the most animated people I have ever come across, and the stories about the dark side of Edinburgh were quite entertaining. Along the way, we saw a group of people practicing for the Bealtaine festival the next night. To celebrate the beginning of spring (or summer? I can't remember), the nighttime festival involves lots of dancing and fire, and Edinburgh hosts the world's premier festival. We were pretty disappointed that we weren't going to be in town to go ourselves.

The next morning we were up at some obscene hour in order to catch the shuttle to the airport, thus ending our whirlwind tour of Edinburgh.

One final photo - this is the view from our window at the hostel:

Supposedly the building in the middle (that looks a bit like a castle) is the school that Hogwarts is based on.

Cork!

Last week my friend Meg and I took advantage of being finished with classes to spend the day in Cork. We had a ton of fun wandering the city and exploring the huge variety of shops. Like many of the cities I've been to in Ireland, Cork is cut down the middle by a river:

We got some lunch from the English Market, which feels like a farmers market that got moved inside. It's filled with meats, cheeses, exotic spices, and all sorts of food oddities.

We found a beautiful little park that would have been awesome to picnic in if it was just a tiny bit warmer. We just took a self-portrait instead and kept walking:

Midway through the afternoon, we decided to stop into one of the many cafes / bars for a snack. A delicious piece of carrot cake and a pot of tea hit the spot. I'm definitely going to have to start using a tea pot at home...it tastes different and keeps the tea hot! And it's just fun.

We even came across a mini-waterfall hidden down a tiny side street:

I've spent most of the weekend resting, reading, and walking around Limerick, so now it's time to actually do some revising (studying) for my Irish Folklore exam tomorrow. I've never taken an entirely essay based exam before, so this could be interesting. Good thing I'm starting with one of my easiest classes!

Munster Rugby and Tin Whistles

Last weekend I crossed one more item off of my to-do list by going to a rugby match. I've accepted that I'm not going to master all of the rules before I leave here, but even without always understanding what was going on, the evening was still really fun. Unfortunately the weather wasn't spectacular, but the real rain held off until the match ended.

We had tickets for the stands, meaning we stood on wide steps right behind the end zone (no idea if that's what it's actually called or not). We had an amazing view - the field was feet in front of us.

Thomond Park is big, with a capacity of over 25,000, and it seemed to be almost full when I was there. However, the entire place goes absolutely silent whenever the kicker sets up. It feels like a weird interjection of golf or tennis into football.

Watching guys get thrown up in the air in order to catch the ball from the sidelines is a bit funny.

Despite being within feet of getting a try (similar to a touchdown) that would have won them the match, Munster was unable to get the ball over the line and fell short of victory.

In completely unrelated news, as part of my traditional music class, my tin whistle group performed in our end of the year recital. Imagine somewhere between 100 and 200 college students taking part in a complete beginners recital featuring whistles, dancing, bodhran (drum), and singing. It was a pretty entertaining sight. (Thanks to Lindsay for the picture!)

A Quick Tour of the University of Limerick

On the weekends, the majority of UL students head home, leaving the campus extraordinarily quiet and empty. I took advantage of that the other week to take some pictures of the place I've spent most of my time these last few months.

I live in Dromroe Village, one of 5 or 6 villages students can live in on campus.

Each building in Dromroe is named for a different tree. I live in Ash House.

I walk across this little bridge to get from the village into campus:

Then through the car park...

Many of my lectures are in the Main Building, which I suspect is actually a giant maze they use to perform psychological experiments on students instead of using mice in a lab. There are 6 floors, which from bottom to top are labeled G, O, M, 1, 2, and 3, and 5 different sections (A to E). So the room code B1023 means section B, floor 1, room 023. I spent some quality time translating the room codes of all the different places my lectures were in during orientation...

Even though Plassey House, the original building from which the University first started, is connected to the Main Building, I've only been in there once (on a tour during orientation).

Brown Thomas is one name for the odd (and, to be honest, a bit creepy) statue that stands in the center of campus.

The Living Bridge spans the Shannon River and connects several academic buildings and two student villages to the main campus. It sways a bit in the wind and as people walk over it, which led to its name. At night it's lit up with blue, purple, and white lights and looks like an alien landing strip.

My favorite part of campus is the River Walk that runs behind Dromroe. I think I already posted some pictures I took when I first got here, but here are a few more just in case...

I am so close to actually being up to date with this blog! I'm only three posts behind. It's amazing what (procrastinating) studying for exams can lead to...

A last minute addition: as I was walking into town today I got some pictures of the giant flagpoles at the Main Gate:

Family Time!

After a bit of a mix up at the Dublin Airport (which ended with a pleasant taxi ride for a me and a harrowing tour of Dublin for Mom and Dad), I met up with Kyle, Jo Ann, Mom, and Dad at the beautiful Clontarf Hotel in Dublin. As much as I love hostels, it was pretty nice to sleep in a cozy bed, use a huge fluffy towel, and not press a button for shower water every 30 seconds.

The next day we spent wandering around Dublin checking out the different shops and the different statues scattered around the city. It was fun to actually know where I was most of the time, even though navigating from place to place was often a bit circular rather than direct.

We found the hedge maze in the Iveagh Gardens, but Dad and I let Mom, Kyle, and Jo Ann navigate it:

That night we went to a dinner theater show in Howth with traditional music and dancing. It was fun, but don't talk to Dad about the Baileys coffee. He probably still holds a grudge since Mom and I didn't take ours.

The next day we went out to Bru na Boinne, which includes Knowth and Newgrange, massive Neolithic passage graves. It was one of the coolest things I've seen in Ireland, and I definitely thought it was more impressive than Stonehenge. I also enjoyed the many labels they had in front of different trees since it helped my Horticulture project quite a bit (I had to photograph and identify 15 different types of trees or bushes).

Newgrange:

On top of the main mound at Knowth:

In front of a secret escape route (possibly) at Knowth:

Some of the ancient art at Knowth:

Kyle's closed eyes take away from what was a nice picture:

At least closed eyes are better than this face:

Mom and Dad at Newgrange:

Inside the passageway at Newgrange:

The evening we went to Howth, a tiny fishing town outside of Dublin. We walked up to a group of people gathered by the harbor and saw that they were feeding a couple of seals! It was pretty cool to see them outside of an exhibit at an aquarium.

Kyle likes to think she's on Deadliest Catch:

The next day we met Kathy and Noreen and took the scenic route to Limerick so that we could stop in Tipperary.

Jo Ann, Dad, and I played some Tetris to fit everything into the car for the ride to Limerick (mind you, this is just the front seat):

A majority vote meant Dad sat in the backseat:

Despite having 6 backseat drivers, Mom did a fantastic job of ferrying everyone around all week:

We stopped at the Rock of Cashel, the ruins of an old fortress, and took shifts climbing into driving wind to the top of the hill that the castle is on. The view from the top made it clear why they chose that place for a military fortress. You could see for miles!

Some views of the castle itself:

I unfortunately had class for the rest of the time everyone was visiting, so I would go to my lectures in the morning and then meet back up for dinner (eating proper dinners for an entire week was such a treat!). The one day I did have relatively free we went to Bunratty Castle and Folk Park. 

How many Mitchells and Keanes does it take to actually get to the castle? (Dad was looking at a map too, but he was too far away to get in the same frame)

What you can't see in this picture is that Kyle is trying to step on my foot:

If I lived in a castle, I don't think I'd ever get tired of the view. However, I'm not sure how often I'd brave the steep, winding stairs in order to actually see the view.

Mom takes her place on the throne:

I think Kyle's favorite part of the day were the animals:

In her defense, the rooster was a bit intimidating:

Dad and Jo Ann tried to act like natives by ordering Guinness. Kyle had to help them finish it.

And so ended the first of what will hopefully be several trans-Atlantic family vacations!