So today is my last day in Ireland. I decided that today I would do all the things I have not done yet. Among those were see Howth (the coast of Ireland) and St. Stephen’s Green. I also figured that I would attend Palm Sunday Church while I was there. I first headed out to the Church where I would be going to make sure I knew where it was. It was only around the block from my hotel room so it wasn’t that hard. It was St. Mary’s Pro-Cathedral. It was very pretty inside. Nothing like in Rome but still different than many of the Churches back home. It was pretty similar to the older Chicago Churches like St. Mary’s and Holy Trinity.
After I picked up a few last souvenirs for people and dropped them off at the room, I went to the DART station for a trip out to Howth.
I guess I should do some explaining. I should have done it a couple days back but better now than never. Luas is the tram service in Dublin. There are two lines. A red and a green. I traveled on the red line. It can be likened to The L in Chicago. DART is similar to the Metra back home. There is a Greyhound like bus service (which I took to Blarney from Cork) but it is a lot nicer than Greyhound. The train that took me to Cork and Kildare is like the Amtrak service.
Ok so I took the DART all the way to Howth. I got out and started looking at the coast line. It was really beautiful. I couldn’t find the cliff walk so I didn’t do that. I am glad I didn’t because it was really super windy. I would be blown of the cliff. No joke. I was walking along this harbor area and I was almost blown over. It was pretty fun.
At the harbor there were some harbor seals there. They just sat there in the water and stared at us. It was actually pretty funny. I laughed when I saw them because they were just sitting there. I think they were looking for food. Later some people were feeding them some fish. It was so funny though seeing them bobbing in the water staring up at us. After that I went and looked off over the Irish Sea from this high wall. It was really cool. You could see the coast of Ireland plus Ireland’s Eye (an island off the coast). There were some sailors out there. It was so windy, I was surprised that their boats didn’t tip over. In the inner harbor, there was a sailing class happening for kids. It was cute to see the little boats navigating around bobbing orange balls. Later, the class went out into the Irish Sea where the waves were a little more choppy.
I walked along a loop harbor and took some really neat shots. There were some fishing boats in the water and one really far out. Also, a helicopter flew around the cliff and came in close. THAT was really awesome.
After my last shot I went to put my lens cap back onto my lens. It was my Sigma f/2.8 so the cap was a 72 mm (that is a big cap). A gust of wind blew the cap out of my hand. Well circle things roll and this thing rolled across the harbor and down the slope right into the sea. I watched it as it landed in the sea weed and rocks. Although I considered it, I wasn’t going to go after it. Chances are, I would never make it back up. I looked at my camera and decided to keep the lens hood on to protect the lens somewhat from things hitting it. I could always wipe dust off of it. And it had a UV filter on it so I could replace that if it got scratched. I headed back to the station to catch the train back to Dublin. It was really really windy. I couldn’t believe how windy it was.
Dublin was not as windy. It was a chilly day but it was not as windy as at Howth. I had some time before church so I went to Stephen’s Green. It was very pretty there. There were ducks and sea gulls and swans in a pond there. There were also a lot of beautiful flowers.
That is one thing I found interesting about Ireland. It was the same time of year and it was still chilly yet, there were flowers and trees blooming all over the place. It was very pretty. Oh and everything was green, but I guess you know that by now.
That night I decided to splurge since it was my last night in Ireland. I went to that same Quay’s Restaurant and had dessert. Yes, that is splurging for me. Eating dessert. But it was worth it. I asked my waitress how the staff all is able to serve everyone without actually knowing the order of the table. She said that the staff has to memorize each table number. Then everything is put out by that number. I thought it was an awesome concept.
I decided that I should get a drink at Temple Bar since that is what made the place famous so I did but it was too crowded there so I went to Oliver Gogarty again to hear some music and drink there. It was really awesome like before and the girl knew what I wanted to drink. Pretty cool. I was a regular.
I listened until 11 pm before I headed back to my hotel to pack and hit the hay.
Back in the states tomorrow!
Meg
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Friday, April 3, 2009
Kildare
So today was Kildare day. The night before I was out a bit late so I ended up being late for my train by one minute. That was ok. I could take a later train. This actually saved me money because I could eat breakfast at the hotel which was included in my room fee. I also was able to get some postcards done. Well I aimed then for the 1110 train and hit the 1130 train or something like that. It was about an hour ride to Kildare from Dublin.
I don’t think any of my family was from Kildare. I only wanted to go there because my Grandma lived on Kildare St. in Chicago. I thought it would be cool to visit the place which my grandma’s street was named after for the 23 years of my life. After researching the city I realized that Kildare held the Irish National Stud Farm. This is the place where race horse winner are kept and bred. Seeing as I am a horse person I HAD to go there now.
Once I got there I wasn’t sure where I needed to go. I could see St. Brigid’s Cathedral which I knew was in about the opposite direction of the Stud Farm. So I started heading towards the opposite direction. I started heading over a bridge that led over the train tracks to the neighborhood part of town. Somehow I knew this was not the right way. So I headed back towards the train station. Luckily, there was a lady pushing a baby stroller so I figured that she was safe to talk to.
“Excuse me,” I asked, “Can you tell me how to get to the National Stud?”
“Sure, head into town and there will be signs posted to tell you where to go.” She replied.
“Ok, Thank you very much.” I answered.
“Your welcome dear.”
Ha…she called me dear! Awesome.
So off I went towards the center of Kildare Town. I finally saw some signs posted and started walking towards the National Stud. I walked. And walked. I walked through the town. Over a highway. Through a country. Though a farm. Through another farm. Until….NATIONAL STUD. JAPANESE GARDEN. Horray. I finally made it after about 2 miles of walking. People must of thought I was nuts. Oh well they will never see me again.
I went into the grounds and handed my ticket to the lady. I had prepaid for it over the Internet back at home. She looked at it and said, “Is this all you have?” I said, “Yes. This was my email. I printed it off.” She said, “oh….I thought that you would have more.” I said, “Is there a problem? Do you need to see identification?” She pulled out a binder and TADA there was the email with my name on it. They also had a record of it. I thought that it was so cool. I was in Ireland before I even knew it. She gave me a map and pointed me towards the different directions.
I decided out of the two gardens and the horse farm to start with the Japanese Gardens. It was suppose to be about a man’s journey through life. It had a guide so I walked through it first with the guide without taking any photos. Then I decided that a good project would be to go through the gardens and try to portray the story’s concept in my photos. I think in the end I did a pretty good job. We’ll see when others judge it.
I then headed out towards the Stallion Paddocks. I stopped at the museum where I learned a couple of new things about horses and horse racing. I use to not be a big fan of horse racing. I have heard too many stories of horses being abused because of horse racing. However the museum and farm saw the horse and racer as a team. They respected both the horse and the racer. It was actually pretty neat to read on. The museum was not only informative but hands on. You could put a bridle on a “horse” (a plastic horse head). You could weigh yourself and see if you were jockey material (sometime I chose to skip out on). And you could watch some of the National Stud winning horses in their glory.
After the museum, I headed out to see the winners themselves. The one that stuck out in my head the most was Vintage Crop. He won a race right in the straightaway. It was amazing to watch on the tv. He was maybe 5th or 6th (I’ll look it up to be sure) and he pulled in the 1st within the last few seconds of the race. Amazing. So there he was. Standing in his paddock. One hoof folded back and his ears lazily laid back on his neck. I had to laugh a little because it was like an old football player done with his prime days. Now he was just sittin’ back relaxing on his couch watching his reruns. Only the horse was napping.
I also saw the mares and foals. One was a tiny fellow in Nursery One. I figured that he must be relatively new since he was still in a nursery with his mom alone. The other ones were in a paddock of maybe 5 moms and babies. I have pictures so check it out. One of the moms brought the baby pretty close to the fence where I was standing. It was kinda funny because all of the foals pretty much stayed with their moms. Anywhere their moms went they went. This one foal that was close by would wander a little bit farther away from his mom. His mom would look up from her grazing to check on him every so often. He actually came up close to the fence where I stood. It was pretty cool.
Next to the mare and foal paddock was the miniature horse paddock. There was a horse in there by the name of Marge. So I took a picture of her and said that we shared a name. We also seem to share a hairdo considering hers was a mess…so was mine I think.
It started to rain a bit so I headed back to the main office. I forgot my raincoat for my camera and didn’t want to get my camera soaked. I stopped in the second garden to take some photos before headed back totally. By the time I got to the main office it was pouring. I didn’t know what to do because I had to head back to the train station. I didn’t care about me necessarily. I had a raincoat. It was my camera I was more concerned about. I went into the gift shop to see if they had a poncho or a plastic sheet or something. Luckily there was a cheap plastic poncho so I bought it and covered my camera and camera bag with it. I then started on my 2 mile in the pouring rain back to the train station. I am sure that everyone looked at this idiot foreigner walking through Ireland’s countryside with soaked pants in the pouring rain. Once I got to town I was going to skip St. Brigid’s Cathedral but figured, you’re only in Ireland once…go for it. So up I went. I didn’t take any pictures because my camera was tucked safely away in its plastic and it was still pouring. After walking the small grounds of the church I headed to the train station. It was about 30 minutes before I got onto the train and headed back to Dublin. I was cold and wet. I probably looked like an idiot. But that is ok.
I called mom and the fam and then headed back to the hotel and then to eat. Another night of drinking and sleeping.
Till tomorrow…
Meg
I don’t think any of my family was from Kildare. I only wanted to go there because my Grandma lived on Kildare St. in Chicago. I thought it would be cool to visit the place which my grandma’s street was named after for the 23 years of my life. After researching the city I realized that Kildare held the Irish National Stud Farm. This is the place where race horse winner are kept and bred. Seeing as I am a horse person I HAD to go there now.
Once I got there I wasn’t sure where I needed to go. I could see St. Brigid’s Cathedral which I knew was in about the opposite direction of the Stud Farm. So I started heading towards the opposite direction. I started heading over a bridge that led over the train tracks to the neighborhood part of town. Somehow I knew this was not the right way. So I headed back towards the train station. Luckily, there was a lady pushing a baby stroller so I figured that she was safe to talk to.
“Excuse me,” I asked, “Can you tell me how to get to the National Stud?”
“Sure, head into town and there will be signs posted to tell you where to go.” She replied.
“Ok, Thank you very much.” I answered.
“Your welcome dear.”
Ha…she called me dear! Awesome.
So off I went towards the center of Kildare Town. I finally saw some signs posted and started walking towards the National Stud. I walked. And walked. I walked through the town. Over a highway. Through a country. Though a farm. Through another farm. Until….NATIONAL STUD. JAPANESE GARDEN. Horray. I finally made it after about 2 miles of walking. People must of thought I was nuts. Oh well they will never see me again.
I went into the grounds and handed my ticket to the lady. I had prepaid for it over the Internet back at home. She looked at it and said, “Is this all you have?” I said, “Yes. This was my email. I printed it off.” She said, “oh….I thought that you would have more.” I said, “Is there a problem? Do you need to see identification?” She pulled out a binder and TADA there was the email with my name on it. They also had a record of it. I thought that it was so cool. I was in Ireland before I even knew it. She gave me a map and pointed me towards the different directions.
I decided out of the two gardens and the horse farm to start with the Japanese Gardens. It was suppose to be about a man’s journey through life. It had a guide so I walked through it first with the guide without taking any photos. Then I decided that a good project would be to go through the gardens and try to portray the story’s concept in my photos. I think in the end I did a pretty good job. We’ll see when others judge it.
I then headed out towards the Stallion Paddocks. I stopped at the museum where I learned a couple of new things about horses and horse racing. I use to not be a big fan of horse racing. I have heard too many stories of horses being abused because of horse racing. However the museum and farm saw the horse and racer as a team. They respected both the horse and the racer. It was actually pretty neat to read on. The museum was not only informative but hands on. You could put a bridle on a “horse” (a plastic horse head). You could weigh yourself and see if you were jockey material (sometime I chose to skip out on). And you could watch some of the National Stud winning horses in their glory.
After the museum, I headed out to see the winners themselves. The one that stuck out in my head the most was Vintage Crop. He won a race right in the straightaway. It was amazing to watch on the tv. He was maybe 5th or 6th (I’ll look it up to be sure) and he pulled in the 1st within the last few seconds of the race. Amazing. So there he was. Standing in his paddock. One hoof folded back and his ears lazily laid back on his neck. I had to laugh a little because it was like an old football player done with his prime days. Now he was just sittin’ back relaxing on his couch watching his reruns. Only the horse was napping.
I also saw the mares and foals. One was a tiny fellow in Nursery One. I figured that he must be relatively new since he was still in a nursery with his mom alone. The other ones were in a paddock of maybe 5 moms and babies. I have pictures so check it out. One of the moms brought the baby pretty close to the fence where I was standing. It was kinda funny because all of the foals pretty much stayed with their moms. Anywhere their moms went they went. This one foal that was close by would wander a little bit farther away from his mom. His mom would look up from her grazing to check on him every so often. He actually came up close to the fence where I stood. It was pretty cool.
Next to the mare and foal paddock was the miniature horse paddock. There was a horse in there by the name of Marge. So I took a picture of her and said that we shared a name. We also seem to share a hairdo considering hers was a mess…so was mine I think.
It started to rain a bit so I headed back to the main office. I forgot my raincoat for my camera and didn’t want to get my camera soaked. I stopped in the second garden to take some photos before headed back totally. By the time I got to the main office it was pouring. I didn’t know what to do because I had to head back to the train station. I didn’t care about me necessarily. I had a raincoat. It was my camera I was more concerned about. I went into the gift shop to see if they had a poncho or a plastic sheet or something. Luckily there was a cheap plastic poncho so I bought it and covered my camera and camera bag with it. I then started on my 2 mile in the pouring rain back to the train station. I am sure that everyone looked at this idiot foreigner walking through Ireland’s countryside with soaked pants in the pouring rain. Once I got to town I was going to skip St. Brigid’s Cathedral but figured, you’re only in Ireland once…go for it. So up I went. I didn’t take any pictures because my camera was tucked safely away in its plastic and it was still pouring. After walking the small grounds of the church I headed to the train station. It was about 30 minutes before I got onto the train and headed back to Dublin. I was cold and wet. I probably looked like an idiot. But that is ok.
I called mom and the fam and then headed back to the hotel and then to eat. Another night of drinking and sleeping.
Till tomorrow…
Meg
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Enniskerry
So today I got up and ate some breakfast before heading out. I mailed out some post cards so I hope that you all get them soon. Chances are you'll get them while I am already back. This is most likely always the case. I got the bus 44 to Enniskerry. I ran into a bit of a problem though. I had 5 Euro but needed 2,20 Euro exact change. I had everything but that. So the bus driver helped me out and some of the people came up with change for me. Thank goodness because I would have just gotten off the bus and been another hour late. Then came my other problem. The bus driver doesn't tell you the stops. So I had to be on the lookout and then ring the bell to get off. I don't really use the bus system at home so this was all quite new to me. I usually take the trains and such. Trains/trams, I have no problem with. It is the buses that I seem to have an issue with.
So the ride there was nice. Once I got there it was about a 2 mile hike up a hill and through a driveway to get to Powerscourt. Now the only reason I came to this area is to see Ireland's highest waterfall. No where on the websites that I researched said that I needed to use a car to get from the estate to the waterfall. However, I purchased my ticket and figured that the waterfall was in the estate gardens. The ticket was only for the estate house and garden. The waterfall was separate. So I went to the ticket lady and asked her where I pay for the waterfall. She said, “The waterfall is separate. You have to drive there.” I said, “Oh…I don’t have a car. Alright then, thanks.” So off I went to look at the gardens.
Oh my gosh. For an old time estate this place was huge. The gardens were all over the place. I am so glad that the gardens at home are small over a small area. I have trouble keeping up with my one side lot garden than with all whatever acres this one was. Amazing. It was very pretty though. I saw some birds from the area which was nice. This one bird would not let me take its picture. It kept flying around. Just as I was about to shoot it, it would move to another spot. The spot was not far from his last one. Almost like a tease. So for about 20 minutes this one bird was teasing me until I said heck with it. Then it landed on a stump covered in moss and stood there while I took several photos of it. Good bird.
Like I said, the gardens were massive. The went all over the place. And when you got to the back of the estate, you could see Ireland’s countryside. It was really awesome. For those of you who know me, I tend to have a bathroom problem. Not one that requires me to find a bathroom quickly but one that I accidentally go into the wrong bathroom. So at this Powerscourt Estate, I used the bathroom. Upon exiting I saw the urinals. “Oh Lord, please tell me I didn’t do this again.” I prayed as shooted out of the bathroom. As I, hurriedly walked out of the estate, I shot a look around to see if anyone had seen me. Then I realized what had happened. The man on the wall outside the bathroom had an ivy leave in front of it so at first glance it looked like a girl and not a guy. I just can’t escape it. Luckily no one saw me. After that stint, I caught the 44 Bus back to Dublin.
This bus ride was like riding a bull. No kidding. Even someone from Ireland thought it was. It wasn’t just me being foreign. This time I rode on the top of the bus. I thought, I might only be able to do this once so up I went. I thought that maybe it was because I was on the second floor that things were crazy but things were crazy even on the first floor.
I got back to the hotel and I got a little nap in before I went out to eat and drink. I ate at Quay’s Restaurant which was a traditional Irish Restaurant above the bar. What I really found impressive about this place was the team work that went into the serving. It wasn’t 1 waiter/waitress for a table, it was the whole place that served. It was really neat to see. After that I went to the bar attached and had a pint of Cider and talked with some of the people from the area. The people I talked to were from the Irish army so that was pretty interesting.
Then I went back to the hotel to get some sleep. Fun times,
Meg
So the ride there was nice. Once I got there it was about a 2 mile hike up a hill and through a driveway to get to Powerscourt. Now the only reason I came to this area is to see Ireland's highest waterfall. No where on the websites that I researched said that I needed to use a car to get from the estate to the waterfall. However, I purchased my ticket and figured that the waterfall was in the estate gardens. The ticket was only for the estate house and garden. The waterfall was separate. So I went to the ticket lady and asked her where I pay for the waterfall. She said, “The waterfall is separate. You have to drive there.” I said, “Oh…I don’t have a car. Alright then, thanks.” So off I went to look at the gardens.
Oh my gosh. For an old time estate this place was huge. The gardens were all over the place. I am so glad that the gardens at home are small over a small area. I have trouble keeping up with my one side lot garden than with all whatever acres this one was. Amazing. It was very pretty though. I saw some birds from the area which was nice. This one bird would not let me take its picture. It kept flying around. Just as I was about to shoot it, it would move to another spot. The spot was not far from his last one. Almost like a tease. So for about 20 minutes this one bird was teasing me until I said heck with it. Then it landed on a stump covered in moss and stood there while I took several photos of it. Good bird.
Like I said, the gardens were massive. The went all over the place. And when you got to the back of the estate, you could see Ireland’s countryside. It was really awesome. For those of you who know me, I tend to have a bathroom problem. Not one that requires me to find a bathroom quickly but one that I accidentally go into the wrong bathroom. So at this Powerscourt Estate, I used the bathroom. Upon exiting I saw the urinals. “Oh Lord, please tell me I didn’t do this again.” I prayed as shooted out of the bathroom. As I, hurriedly walked out of the estate, I shot a look around to see if anyone had seen me. Then I realized what had happened. The man on the wall outside the bathroom had an ivy leave in front of it so at first glance it looked like a girl and not a guy. I just can’t escape it. Luckily no one saw me. After that stint, I caught the 44 Bus back to Dublin.
This bus ride was like riding a bull. No kidding. Even someone from Ireland thought it was. It wasn’t just me being foreign. This time I rode on the top of the bus. I thought, I might only be able to do this once so up I went. I thought that maybe it was because I was on the second floor that things were crazy but things were crazy even on the first floor.
I got back to the hotel and I got a little nap in before I went out to eat and drink. I ate at Quay’s Restaurant which was a traditional Irish Restaurant above the bar. What I really found impressive about this place was the team work that went into the serving. It wasn’t 1 waiter/waitress for a table, it was the whole place that served. It was really neat to see. After that I went to the bar attached and had a pint of Cider and talked with some of the people from the area. The people I talked to were from the Irish army so that was pretty interesting.
Then I went back to the hotel to get some sleep. Fun times,
Meg
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Glendalough and the Wicklow Mountains
Today I ended up waking up late. Not too late, more like just in time but late enough that I wanted to get up earlier. I decided that instead of going to Enniskerry today I would go to Glendalough. I would take the 1130 bus (St. Kevin's Bus Service) into the town and then hike the mountain park.
So I wanted to wake up at 0700 but ended up waking up at 0900. I hurried up and got to some breakfast before making my way out at 1000. I wanted to make sure I got to the bus stop in time. I wanted to walk the way and it would take a 15-20 walk depending on how many pictures I stopped to take on the way.
I made it early so I decided to get some coffee. Finally the bus and I got on. The sights getting there were beautiful. I went through Bray, Roundwood and finally Glendalough. Let me tell you. Glendalough is beautiful. If you go to Ireland and you have a chance to visit the place you must do so. Hiking through the mountains was like walking through a scene from Lord of the Rings. It was absolutely beautiful. There were different paths so even if you aren't up for a heavy hike, you can just walk around like you are walking through a garden.
The first thing I did was visit St. Kevin's Monastery. It is the ruins of the 600 century monastery built by St. Kevin. It also had a cemetery in the back that had old and new gravestones. It was really neat to see a gravestone marked 1998 next to one that was marked 1888. It was just neat. Also, Robert, I saw your sheep...up close and personal. As I went up to the gate because they were right by the cemetery, two little lambs jumped up and ran away. They were so tiny and cute. They ran to one of the mom's on the field and also played with the other lambs.
After touring the monastery sites I went for a hike along the two lakes. Glendalough has two lakes. I saw one of the two. I also saw a waterfall. Like I said, this place looked like something out of Lord of the Rings. It was amazing.
I have to tell this one funny story though. As I was walking back to where the bus would pick us up, there were two boys about 7 and 10 maybe and they were climbing up the side of the terrain while their moms were walking on the path.
"Mom! MOM! There is a dead deer up here!" They shouted as the stopped dead in their tracks.
"What? What are you talking about? A dead deer?"
"Yeah, mom! A dead deer!" 1o year old boy
"AND IT'S MISSING IT'S EYE!!!!" 7 year old boy
"What are you talking about...?" the mom started to climb the side of the hill in flare jeans and heels.
"Mom? Are you in heels?"
"Yes, don't worry about it. I have to see what you are talking about."
Sure enough it was something dead. It was a dead goat. After they left I decided to check it out. Sure enough it was a dead goat. Fur all intact but it was missing an eye.
The ride back was fine. I fell asleep for most of it. Before you all think I sleep a lot, just know that while it is late here...it is early there. And I walk pretty much everywhere I go. So I really don't do a lot of sitting around.
When I got back, I downloaded the massive amounts of photos I had and went out for some dinner, drinks and music. I was going to go to The Porterhouse because I heard that it was good. However, when I got in there it was really crowded. So I went to Oliver St. John Gogarty Bar. The first floor was crowded so I went to the second floor where there was only a small group of people. I ate some food while listening to the music. The people left and I was the only one sitting there while the second band set up. Then they started to play. Again, I was the only one in there. I was kinda happy because it was cool. Then people started pouring in. By the time I left the second floor was crowded. I had Traditional Irish Coddle, a pint of Guinness (of course) and a pint of cider.
Now I am going to do my 8 minute abs and head off to bead. Good night all!
Sláinte
Meg
So I wanted to wake up at 0700 but ended up waking up at 0900. I hurried up and got to some breakfast before making my way out at 1000. I wanted to make sure I got to the bus stop in time. I wanted to walk the way and it would take a 15-20 walk depending on how many pictures I stopped to take on the way.
I made it early so I decided to get some coffee. Finally the bus and I got on. The sights getting there were beautiful. I went through Bray, Roundwood and finally Glendalough. Let me tell you. Glendalough is beautiful. If you go to Ireland and you have a chance to visit the place you must do so. Hiking through the mountains was like walking through a scene from Lord of the Rings. It was absolutely beautiful. There were different paths so even if you aren't up for a heavy hike, you can just walk around like you are walking through a garden.
The first thing I did was visit St. Kevin's Monastery. It is the ruins of the 600 century monastery built by St. Kevin. It also had a cemetery in the back that had old and new gravestones. It was really neat to see a gravestone marked 1998 next to one that was marked 1888. It was just neat. Also, Robert, I saw your sheep...up close and personal. As I went up to the gate because they were right by the cemetery, two little lambs jumped up and ran away. They were so tiny and cute. They ran to one of the mom's on the field and also played with the other lambs.
After touring the monastery sites I went for a hike along the two lakes. Glendalough has two lakes. I saw one of the two. I also saw a waterfall. Like I said, this place looked like something out of Lord of the Rings. It was amazing.
I have to tell this one funny story though. As I was walking back to where the bus would pick us up, there were two boys about 7 and 10 maybe and they were climbing up the side of the terrain while their moms were walking on the path.
"Mom! MOM! There is a dead deer up here!" They shouted as the stopped dead in their tracks.
"What? What are you talking about? A dead deer?"
"Yeah, mom! A dead deer!" 1o year old boy
"AND IT'S MISSING IT'S EYE!!!!" 7 year old boy
"What are you talking about...?" the mom started to climb the side of the hill in flare jeans and heels.
"Mom? Are you in heels?"
"Yes, don't worry about it. I have to see what you are talking about."
Sure enough it was something dead. It was a dead goat. After they left I decided to check it out. Sure enough it was a dead goat. Fur all intact but it was missing an eye.
The ride back was fine. I fell asleep for most of it. Before you all think I sleep a lot, just know that while it is late here...it is early there. And I walk pretty much everywhere I go. So I really don't do a lot of sitting around.
When I got back, I downloaded the massive amounts of photos I had and went out for some dinner, drinks and music. I was going to go to The Porterhouse because I heard that it was good. However, when I got in there it was really crowded. So I went to Oliver St. John Gogarty Bar. The first floor was crowded so I went to the second floor where there was only a small group of people. I ate some food while listening to the music. The people left and I was the only one sitting there while the second band set up. Then they started to play. Again, I was the only one in there. I was kinda happy because it was cool. Then people started pouring in. By the time I left the second floor was crowded. I had Traditional Irish Coddle, a pint of Guinness (of course) and a pint of cider.
Now I am going to do my 8 minute abs and head off to bead. Good night all!
Sláinte
Meg
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Cork City and Blarney
For some reason I was not able to sleep again. It was frustrating. I woke up early at around 0545 in order to get to Heuston Station on time for my 0700 train ride to Cork City. The Luas took me to the station.
It was really neat to see the scenery change as I left Dublin. It was really pretty to finally see some countryside of Ireland. There are a lot of farms with horses, cows and sheep. They all had babies too. After a couple of minutes I fell asleep. I woke up to a couple sitting across from me. I fell back asleep and then woke up to see more country. There were mountains in the background and everything was just so green. All in all it took 3.5 hours to get to Cork.
When I arrived at Cork I was amazed at how freezing cold it was compared to Dublin. It was also drizzling. It was at that moment that it hit me as I stared at the pubs across the street. I forgot my itinerary back at the hotel. I had no idea where to go. I had the directions written on the paper. So I went back inside and asked the man behind the ticket window where I go to catch the bus to blarney. He told me to go to the bus station by taking Bus 5 which was right outside the station. I went to the station and realized I had just missed that bus and needed to wait another 20 (I think it was) to get the next one. I wasn't going to wait that. So I decided just to walk towards what looked like the center of town. Soon signs told me where to go to get to the bus station. Awesome. I finally made it and then picked up a timetable to figure out when the Blarney bus was leaving and I had to buy a ticket. I had no clue what I was doing so again I asked for help. The machine was not taking my credit card so I used some of my Euros I brought with. I then went to the bus and found that I had an hour to kill before the bus came around.
To kill time, I decided to explore a little bit. I found St. Patrick's St. which is the main shopping area. I needed to get some coffee in me so I started searching. What did I find but a Gloria Jean's Coffee! Awesome. Now I could order something and not look half stupid when doing so. Not that I do anyway but it was familiar. I then found the English Marketplace. The English Marketplace is kinda like a tunnel. There is a doorway from St. Patrick's St. and leads you inside the building. That is one of three entrances. The other two are on Princes St. and Grand Parade. It is a covered market. When you get to the center it opens up to the ceiling. There, several different meat shops are around you. They had a ton of fresh meat. There were other shops there as well for fruit, wines, etc. A cafe was on the second floor.
I left that area through a different exit that when I came in (Grand Parade). To my luck, there was a tourist information shop where I was able to pick up another map. I walked around some more and then headed to the bus stop to get to Blarney.
The bus left at around 1130 and only took about 20 minutes to get to Blarney. From there I walked to the castle. Another stroke of luck, the lady gave me the student discount to get in rather than the adult saving me 2 Euro. Awesome. As I walked along the path that lead to the castle, I couldn't help but think about all the stories I heard about Blarney Castle and kissing the Blarney stone and all that jazz. I remember looking at pictures and thinking about how cool it would be to go there. Now, here I was, standing at Blarney Castle gardens. It was awesome. Alongside my right was a little river running. You could hear the water running as it went over the rocks and all. To my right was a lawn of green grass with some flowers and trees here and there. Along with the water, you could hear birds. These birds aren't like the ones back home either. They were very song like. In front of me was the castle on a slight hill.
Throughout the path to and through the castle, there were boards telling the history and guiding you through what you were seeing. I learned a lot from these. Blarney Castle was one of the strongest fortress there was. The English had a hard time taking it on. One time they tried to come up to the castle as guests in order to get inside. However, the house rule was if the Master of the House was not home, no guests were allowed. At the time the English came calling, the Master was not around. The English were refused entrance and the Lord of Blarney at the time managed to escape.
The Blarney stone story is interesting too. Not that the stone has anything to do with it. Actually I do not know the story of the actual stone. Just of the word "blarney". Queen Elizabeth I wanted the Lord of Blarney at the time to give Blarney to the crown. The Lord refused but not outright. More a less he complimented her and flattered her and smooth talked her. Every time she'd ask, he do the same. Finally, exasperated, Queen Elizabeth said, "All that is a bunch of Blarney...it is getting us no where." And thus the birth of a new word.
The castle was very neat to explore. It kind of reminded me of an adult's jungle gym. You could climb and peek in where ever you wanted. It was really fun. I went into the dungeon area but decided to stop because it was slippery, wet and really really dark. Everything was really damp inside the castle. I was afraid that I was going to slip down the stairs that spiraled up to the top of the castle. Every so often, there would be a room to go into. Some gave explanations as to what they were. Others did not. Some looked like they were just there. Again, I went everywhere in that castle. I don't know if some of the areas were off limits. I figured that if they didn't want people going in a certain area, they would rope it off. I finally made it to the top....time to kiss the Blarney stone.
However, I heard some rumors about the stone. I heard that locals would urinate on the stone and then laugh at the tourists who kissed it. I heard this from two separate people. So on the way to the stone I debated. To kiss or not to kiss. Along the way they had more signs telling tourists about the people who kissed the stone and stories about the stone itself. I got to the stone and looked at it. "Next please." the guy said at the stone. "I don't think I want to do it." I said, "But I'll take a picture." "Sure, take all the pictures you want." I then took a picture and sat on top of the castle. I watched everyone else kiss that stone. I tried to reconcile it in my brain. I finally decided that I could pseudo kiss the stone. I'll go through the motions but not actually kiss it...actually I can Eskimo kiss the stone. That would do the trick. So I went down to the main room of the castle where I could climb back up. I got to the top and said, "I decided I'll do it." "That's a lovely lady," the guy said. I reached down and touched my nose to the stone and got back up. TA DA! Did it without doing it....alright.
I made my way back down and did some walks around the garden. As I was walking I realized that I now lost my timetable for the bus ride back home. Luckily, Ireland has the timetable pretty much written on all of the bus stops. So I was ok. I continued on my walk. I decided to take the wooded area around the gardens because they had several paths. It was really neat. It wasn't like the forests back home. The trees were different. Some had different root structures, but all of them had a lot of moss growing on it.
After my walk I decided to head back to Blarney to find out when the bus left. I ended up just missing the bus again. I had another hour to kill in Blarney. Up the hill from the bus station was a church so I decided to check it out. It was the Church of the Immaculate Conception. After spending some time shooting there, I headed back down to the bus station and down the street. There was another church on the other side which was the Church of the Resurrection. Here there was a cemetery so I did some shooting there. Then it was time to take the bus back to Cork City.
Once I got back to Cork City I stopped in the English Market to eat at that cafe. It was really good food. After shooting some photos there, I started my walk up to St. Finnbarre's Cathedral. Another stroke of luck, they were closing in 5 minutes so they let me in free. I managed to take the photos I wanted and then left. I headed back to the City Centre to decide what to do next. I sat down for a bit in a Burger King while I looked at the map. I decided that I should check out University of Cork.
UCC is actually the Irish National University. It was about a mile from the City Centre. I actually took the long way there that had a lot of hills to climb but in the process I saw more of the residential Cork. The university was beautiful! It had old buildings next to new buildings, flowering trees, another little river running through it and the typical university atmosphere. I really liked it there. I sat down for a bit before heading back to my train to get back to Dublin.
Another 3.5 hour train ride and I was finally back in Dublin. When I got back to the Heuston Station, the Garda were talking to a group of kids. They had gotten in trouble about something. The one girl just kept laughing. Maybe she was nervous but I wouldn't have been laughing if I were here. I jumped on the Luas for the ride home.
It was a long day with a lot of walking. I hope I burned a lot of calories today because I feel sore. But I saw so much stuff. Blarney was definitely the highlight of the day. I will never forget that place and everything about it. It was really and awesome place.
Meg
It was really neat to see the scenery change as I left Dublin. It was really pretty to finally see some countryside of Ireland. There are a lot of farms with horses, cows and sheep. They all had babies too. After a couple of minutes I fell asleep. I woke up to a couple sitting across from me. I fell back asleep and then woke up to see more country. There were mountains in the background and everything was just so green. All in all it took 3.5 hours to get to Cork.
When I arrived at Cork I was amazed at how freezing cold it was compared to Dublin. It was also drizzling. It was at that moment that it hit me as I stared at the pubs across the street. I forgot my itinerary back at the hotel. I had no idea where to go. I had the directions written on the paper. So I went back inside and asked the man behind the ticket window where I go to catch the bus to blarney. He told me to go to the bus station by taking Bus 5 which was right outside the station. I went to the station and realized I had just missed that bus and needed to wait another 20 (I think it was) to get the next one. I wasn't going to wait that. So I decided just to walk towards what looked like the center of town. Soon signs told me where to go to get to the bus station. Awesome. I finally made it and then picked up a timetable to figure out when the Blarney bus was leaving and I had to buy a ticket. I had no clue what I was doing so again I asked for help. The machine was not taking my credit card so I used some of my Euros I brought with. I then went to the bus and found that I had an hour to kill before the bus came around.
To kill time, I decided to explore a little bit. I found St. Patrick's St. which is the main shopping area. I needed to get some coffee in me so I started searching. What did I find but a Gloria Jean's Coffee! Awesome. Now I could order something and not look half stupid when doing so. Not that I do anyway but it was familiar. I then found the English Marketplace. The English Marketplace is kinda like a tunnel. There is a doorway from St. Patrick's St. and leads you inside the building. That is one of three entrances. The other two are on Princes St. and Grand Parade. It is a covered market. When you get to the center it opens up to the ceiling. There, several different meat shops are around you. They had a ton of fresh meat. There were other shops there as well for fruit, wines, etc. A cafe was on the second floor.
I left that area through a different exit that when I came in (Grand Parade). To my luck, there was a tourist information shop where I was able to pick up another map. I walked around some more and then headed to the bus stop to get to Blarney.
The bus left at around 1130 and only took about 20 minutes to get to Blarney. From there I walked to the castle. Another stroke of luck, the lady gave me the student discount to get in rather than the adult saving me 2 Euro. Awesome. As I walked along the path that lead to the castle, I couldn't help but think about all the stories I heard about Blarney Castle and kissing the Blarney stone and all that jazz. I remember looking at pictures and thinking about how cool it would be to go there. Now, here I was, standing at Blarney Castle gardens. It was awesome. Alongside my right was a little river running. You could hear the water running as it went over the rocks and all. To my right was a lawn of green grass with some flowers and trees here and there. Along with the water, you could hear birds. These birds aren't like the ones back home either. They were very song like. In front of me was the castle on a slight hill.
Throughout the path to and through the castle, there were boards telling the history and guiding you through what you were seeing. I learned a lot from these. Blarney Castle was one of the strongest fortress there was. The English had a hard time taking it on. One time they tried to come up to the castle as guests in order to get inside. However, the house rule was if the Master of the House was not home, no guests were allowed. At the time the English came calling, the Master was not around. The English were refused entrance and the Lord of Blarney at the time managed to escape.
The Blarney stone story is interesting too. Not that the stone has anything to do with it. Actually I do not know the story of the actual stone. Just of the word "blarney". Queen Elizabeth I wanted the Lord of Blarney at the time to give Blarney to the crown. The Lord refused but not outright. More a less he complimented her and flattered her and smooth talked her. Every time she'd ask, he do the same. Finally, exasperated, Queen Elizabeth said, "All that is a bunch of Blarney...it is getting us no where." And thus the birth of a new word.
The castle was very neat to explore. It kind of reminded me of an adult's jungle gym. You could climb and peek in where ever you wanted. It was really fun. I went into the dungeon area but decided to stop because it was slippery, wet and really really dark. Everything was really damp inside the castle. I was afraid that I was going to slip down the stairs that spiraled up to the top of the castle. Every so often, there would be a room to go into. Some gave explanations as to what they were. Others did not. Some looked like they were just there. Again, I went everywhere in that castle. I don't know if some of the areas were off limits. I figured that if they didn't want people going in a certain area, they would rope it off. I finally made it to the top....time to kiss the Blarney stone.
However, I heard some rumors about the stone. I heard that locals would urinate on the stone and then laugh at the tourists who kissed it. I heard this from two separate people. So on the way to the stone I debated. To kiss or not to kiss. Along the way they had more signs telling tourists about the people who kissed the stone and stories about the stone itself. I got to the stone and looked at it. "Next please." the guy said at the stone. "I don't think I want to do it." I said, "But I'll take a picture." "Sure, take all the pictures you want." I then took a picture and sat on top of the castle. I watched everyone else kiss that stone. I tried to reconcile it in my brain. I finally decided that I could pseudo kiss the stone. I'll go through the motions but not actually kiss it...actually I can Eskimo kiss the stone. That would do the trick. So I went down to the main room of the castle where I could climb back up. I got to the top and said, "I decided I'll do it." "That's a lovely lady," the guy said. I reached down and touched my nose to the stone and got back up. TA DA! Did it without doing it....alright.
I made my way back down and did some walks around the garden. As I was walking I realized that I now lost my timetable for the bus ride back home. Luckily, Ireland has the timetable pretty much written on all of the bus stops. So I was ok. I continued on my walk. I decided to take the wooded area around the gardens because they had several paths. It was really neat. It wasn't like the forests back home. The trees were different. Some had different root structures, but all of them had a lot of moss growing on it.
After my walk I decided to head back to Blarney to find out when the bus left. I ended up just missing the bus again. I had another hour to kill in Blarney. Up the hill from the bus station was a church so I decided to check it out. It was the Church of the Immaculate Conception. After spending some time shooting there, I headed back down to the bus station and down the street. There was another church on the other side which was the Church of the Resurrection. Here there was a cemetery so I did some shooting there. Then it was time to take the bus back to Cork City.
Once I got back to Cork City I stopped in the English Market to eat at that cafe. It was really good food. After shooting some photos there, I started my walk up to St. Finnbarre's Cathedral. Another stroke of luck, they were closing in 5 minutes so they let me in free. I managed to take the photos I wanted and then left. I headed back to the City Centre to decide what to do next. I sat down for a bit in a Burger King while I looked at the map. I decided that I should check out University of Cork.
UCC is actually the Irish National University. It was about a mile from the City Centre. I actually took the long way there that had a lot of hills to climb but in the process I saw more of the residential Cork. The university was beautiful! It had old buildings next to new buildings, flowering trees, another little river running through it and the typical university atmosphere. I really liked it there. I sat down for a bit before heading back to my train to get back to Dublin.
Another 3.5 hour train ride and I was finally back in Dublin. When I got back to the Heuston Station, the Garda were talking to a group of kids. They had gotten in trouble about something. The one girl just kept laughing. Maybe she was nervous but I wouldn't have been laughing if I were here. I jumped on the Luas for the ride home.
It was a long day with a lot of walking. I hope I burned a lot of calories today because I feel sore. But I saw so much stuff. Blarney was definitely the highlight of the day. I will never forget that place and everything about it. It was really and awesome place.
Meg
Monday, March 30, 2009
Dublin
Let me tell you about my night because it was kinda funny. I fell asleep pretty fast and then woke up and it was silent. Then later after falling asleep I woke up again to people talking really loudly outside. I thought, "Shoot...it is morning already." I started psyching myself up to getting up and taking a shower and stuff until I looked at my clock. It was only 0200. I just found that kinda funny because I would still be sleeping.
I decided today to stay in Dublin and see the what's up around. After getting up I ate some breakfast from the hotel. My first mission was to pick up my train tickets in Heuston. I used the Luas which is my new favorite thing in Dublin. It is only about 15 min from Connolly Train Station to Heuston so it is a good deal. After I picked up my tickets I figured it wouldn't hurt to take the Luas all the way to the end. The end being Tallaght. There were some pretty awesome things I saw along the way. One was the prison. The barbed wire at the top really wasn't barbed wire but metal pieces with points at the end. Still looked painful...if not worse than the ones back home. Another was a creek or whatever they call that over here...channel? It had locks so I decided on the way back that I wanted to do some photography of it. I also saw some of the countryside way far off in the distance.
When I arrived in Tallaght, I did some walking around. There was a shopping mall there so I headed in that direction because I figured there were more people there. As it turns out, over a bridge across a highway there was a park (named Sean Walsh Park) so I walked around that and shot some pictures before heading back to the Luas.
I rode the Luas back to Black Horse where I shot some photos by those lock things and then rode back all the way to Abbey St. From there I started making my way to the Guinness Brewery and Storehouse. I kinda got lost but found some more things that way to look at later. I finally made it to the St. James Gate. It was awesome. The factory was good too. They showed the process and the difference in preparing Guinness stout vs a regular stout. A few things that were particularly interesting was that Arthur Guinness made his own kind of yeast. There was some stored in a safe somewhere in the brewery just in case something happened to all the rest of the yeast. They also use water from the Wicklow Mountains (which I will be visiting in a few days) rather from the river (which is where the water is rumored to come from). At the end we got a complimentary pint with a 360 degree view of Dublin. I was kind of shocked that people would not finish there Guinness. After taking that whole tour and seeing how much time and effort it takes to make it, they just dump it? It just didn't make sense why you would come to see how it was made and not finish it. Maybe I should have offered to finish it for them.
From here I dropped some stuff off at my room before heading back on the Luas to the Jameson Distillery. I really liked this tour. It was really interesting and the tour guide was fantastic. They had really good presentations and ways to help you understand the process that makes Jameson's whiskey. I volunteered (which is something that I am pretty good at) to be a whiskey taste tester. I am glad I did. Like the Guinness Storehouse, we received a complimentary shot at the end. However, the whiskey taste testers were able to compare whiskeys. So I tried scotch, Jack Daniels and Jameson. Scotch tasted smokey just like the said it would. They use smokey woods to dry their barley and Jameson does not. They also use a different barrel I believe. Jack Daniels tasted weak. They are aged less and they use new barrels for every time they age their whiskey. I definitely like Jameson the best out of all three. I gave my scotch to some person across from me. I also got another shot of Jameson (the complimentary one). I am now an official Whiskey Tester as evidence by the degree I received from the factory. I think I will frame it and put it up next to my Nursing License. I learned a lot from those two places and am glad that I visited it.
Tonight I had dinner at a Traditional Irish Restaurant and had some Murphy stew which was good. Their Irish Soda Bread is very different than the ones back in the states. I was thinking that it would be similar to the one that we have from Great Grandma but theirs is not very sweet at all. In fact you taste more soda than anything else. And the one I had did not have raisins in it. Anyway, got to wake up early for my 0700 train tomorrow. I go to Cork for the day!
Margaret
I decided today to stay in Dublin and see the what's up around. After getting up I ate some breakfast from the hotel. My first mission was to pick up my train tickets in Heuston. I used the Luas which is my new favorite thing in Dublin. It is only about 15 min from Connolly Train Station to Heuston so it is a good deal. After I picked up my tickets I figured it wouldn't hurt to take the Luas all the way to the end. The end being Tallaght. There were some pretty awesome things I saw along the way. One was the prison. The barbed wire at the top really wasn't barbed wire but metal pieces with points at the end. Still looked painful...if not worse than the ones back home. Another was a creek or whatever they call that over here...channel? It had locks so I decided on the way back that I wanted to do some photography of it. I also saw some of the countryside way far off in the distance.
When I arrived in Tallaght, I did some walking around. There was a shopping mall there so I headed in that direction because I figured there were more people there. As it turns out, over a bridge across a highway there was a park (named Sean Walsh Park) so I walked around that and shot some pictures before heading back to the Luas.
I rode the Luas back to Black Horse where I shot some photos by those lock things and then rode back all the way to Abbey St. From there I started making my way to the Guinness Brewery and Storehouse. I kinda got lost but found some more things that way to look at later. I finally made it to the St. James Gate. It was awesome. The factory was good too. They showed the process and the difference in preparing Guinness stout vs a regular stout. A few things that were particularly interesting was that Arthur Guinness made his own kind of yeast. There was some stored in a safe somewhere in the brewery just in case something happened to all the rest of the yeast. They also use water from the Wicklow Mountains (which I will be visiting in a few days) rather from the river (which is where the water is rumored to come from). At the end we got a complimentary pint with a 360 degree view of Dublin. I was kind of shocked that people would not finish there Guinness. After taking that whole tour and seeing how much time and effort it takes to make it, they just dump it? It just didn't make sense why you would come to see how it was made and not finish it. Maybe I should have offered to finish it for them.
From here I dropped some stuff off at my room before heading back on the Luas to the Jameson Distillery. I really liked this tour. It was really interesting and the tour guide was fantastic. They had really good presentations and ways to help you understand the process that makes Jameson's whiskey. I volunteered (which is something that I am pretty good at) to be a whiskey taste tester. I am glad I did. Like the Guinness Storehouse, we received a complimentary shot at the end. However, the whiskey taste testers were able to compare whiskeys. So I tried scotch, Jack Daniels and Jameson. Scotch tasted smokey just like the said it would. They use smokey woods to dry their barley and Jameson does not. They also use a different barrel I believe. Jack Daniels tasted weak. They are aged less and they use new barrels for every time they age their whiskey. I definitely like Jameson the best out of all three. I gave my scotch to some person across from me. I also got another shot of Jameson (the complimentary one). I am now an official Whiskey Tester as evidence by the degree I received from the factory. I think I will frame it and put it up next to my Nursing License. I learned a lot from those two places and am glad that I visited it.
Tonight I had dinner at a Traditional Irish Restaurant and had some Murphy stew which was good. Their Irish Soda Bread is very different than the ones back in the states. I was thinking that it would be similar to the one that we have from Great Grandma but theirs is not very sweet at all. In fact you taste more soda than anything else. And the one I had did not have raisins in it. Anyway, got to wake up early for my 0700 train tomorrow. I go to Cork for the day!
Margaret
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Made it
So I made it to Dublin in one piece. This keyboard is weird. Some of the buttons are out of place. The plane ride was a little rocky but fun for me. Thanks to Ambien I slept most of the plane ride. I sat next to someone from Ireland (what a coincidence) and I got a lot of interesting tips from her. I ended up not taking a cab from the airport but instead took a bus. It was cheaper. It would have helped for me to get off at the right stop. But I managed to get to my hotel and all that jazz.
It was too early for me to check in by the time I got to the hotel so I dropped off my luggage and did some walking. I got to Church at St. Francis Xavier which is more commonly known as Gardiner Parish (at least that is what I gathered). They had a bunch of little girls who were getting ready to start their First Communion Classes so they had a special celebration for that. After that I headed back to the Center of Town and walked around a bit just to figure out where everything was. Finally when it was 1400 I headed back to the hotel where I checked in and crashed for a few hours. I figured that it would be better than being tired the rest of the trip.
When I woke up I headed to the Temple Bar area to see what was up. I ended up going into a pub called Legends. I heard some Irish music so I walked in. It was pretty cool. I kinda felt like I was at Ballydoyle's at home only everyone had a Brogue and they were more into the Irish Music than back at home. I guess that is an obvious though.
Alrighty, talk to you all soon. Time to get some sleep.
It was too early for me to check in by the time I got to the hotel so I dropped off my luggage and did some walking. I got to Church at St. Francis Xavier which is more commonly known as Gardiner Parish (at least that is what I gathered). They had a bunch of little girls who were getting ready to start their First Communion Classes so they had a special celebration for that. After that I headed back to the Center of Town and walked around a bit just to figure out where everything was. Finally when it was 1400 I headed back to the hotel where I checked in and crashed for a few hours. I figured that it would be better than being tired the rest of the trip.
When I woke up I headed to the Temple Bar area to see what was up. I ended up going into a pub called Legends. I heard some Irish music so I walked in. It was pretty cool. I kinda felt like I was at Ballydoyle's at home only everyone had a Brogue and they were more into the Irish Music than back at home. I guess that is an obvious though.
Alrighty, talk to you all soon. Time to get some sleep.
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