10 Days

Hello, everyone!

I have returned from my 10-day mid-semester break! It is so hard to believe that I am over halfway done with this program and that I will be returning to Minnesota in just over a month and a half. Time is absolutely flying over here.

As many of you may know, my parents came to visit me for the first part of my break. I met them in Eyre Square in Galway on Friday, October 17 and showed them around my little corner of Ireland. We took a bus tour of The Burren and visited the Cliffs of Moher. It was so much fun to see their reaction to those legendary landmarks! My Dad could not stop talking about "The Burn" as he called it for the rest of the trip. He also got his obligatory shot of the Cliffs, which are simply breathtaking - even the second time you visit them! I realized just how lucky I am to have visited the Cliffs of Moher period, let alone twice in one trip!

After our bus tour, we braved the wild roadways of Ireland and rented a car for a little country exploration. Let's just say that we are all very grateful we still had a car in (almost) one piece to return to the Budget Rental place. If any of you know anything about travel with the Tate family, you can probably imagine how well driving on the wrong side of the road went in a tiny red car my Dad likened to "driving an empty pop can." On our first day, we took off for Coole Park and Bunratty Castle and Folk Park (which was awesome!) and lost a hubcap about a half an hour into the trip. Yeah.... Both of my parents took turns driving, and I was the officially appointed navigator. While a bit bumpy at times, the road was nonetheless a fun adventure! :)

The highlight of the trip was probably visiting Blarney Castle and kissing the Blarney Stone. I don't know if you are familiar with Blarney Castle, but the Blarney Stone is located at the very top. You have to climb a lot of very narrow stone steps to get up there, and the safety equipment is limited at best. The fence on top of the castle comes up to about your knees! There is very little keeping you from falling right down - but it keeps things authentic, right? In order to actually kiss the Blarney Stone, you have to lay on your back and lean out over the edge of the castle wall as a man working there holds onto you and tells you when to kiss the stone. All three of us did it! My Mom kept saying how "magical" she thought the whole place was. We decided that Grandpa Murray would have loved it.

That night, we took off for Killarney, one of my very favorite towns in Ireland. It was a very relaxed night. We stumbled upon this AWESOME B&B and wanted to just spend our time there! (The night before - aka The Night From Hell - was spent in Limerick at a dive of a hotel. We were grateful for a nice bathroom and clean sheets!) The next day, we road tripped back to Spiddal and I showed them around my little area of Ireland. They liked that part the best.

We ate lots of great Irish food, did some serious gift shopping, met some fun people at different pubs and B&Bs, and got to tool around Ireland's country side for a few days. All in all, it was a very successful trip, and I am so glad they were able to come and share part of this experience with me. Thanks, Mom and Dad! :)

On Wednesday, October 22, I left my parents and headed to London where I met up with my friends Katelin and Lindsay. I could write for days about my experiences in London, so I will try and keep it brief. As you may be able to imagine, I LOVED IT. It is my very favorite city. On Thursday, we met up with my friend Jen and roommate from school Ashley at Big Ben and walked around the city all day with them. Jen is studying in London for the semester, so we got to see her flat and eat dinner there - that saved us some sterling! It was so much fun to meet up with some familiar faces in such a fun city.

I saw Big Ben, Parliament, the Globe, walked around the Tate Modern and the British Museum, went to Evensong in Westminster Abbey, walked across Abbey Road, saw "Avenue Q," "Six Characters in Search of an Author," and "Rain Man" in London's famous West End, visited the National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery and the Natural History Museum, watched the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, had lunch in Hyde Park, strolled through Kensington Gardens, bartered with street vendors at Portobello Market in Notting Hill, saw the Travel Bookshop, mastered the Tube, visited Platform 9 3/4, saw lots of Double-Deckers, fell in love with theTower Bridge, visited the Tower of London, and took a picture inside one of those famous phone booths.

All in all, I cannot wait to go back.

...and now, I just have to share my star-struck story. So, we saw "Rain Man," and it just happened to be starring Josh Hartnett. Now, I am not a huge fan, but he is from Minnesota, and he is pretty famous. (I mean, he's worked with Ben Affleck in the major motion picture "Pearl Harbor." Seriously.) So, after the wonderful show, I went to the Stage Door, as I always do. In short, I saw Josh Hartnett in person! We didn't get his autograph because we were too far back in the crowd, but I did get a couple of pictures! We waited around a little longer after Josh left and actually talked to Adam Godley and got his autograph (you may know him from "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and his numerous stage performances). As we turned to corner to return to the Piccadilly Circus line (I love Piccadilly Circus!), we saw these escorts swiftly bringing a disguised Josh Hartnett out a side door to get in his car! He had on big glasses, a ski cap, and a black jacket. They yelled at him to get in the front seat and then they took off. It was all so official and Hollywood! Needless to say, it was a very fun night. :)

All of our flights went well and we made it back to Galway in time to do a little grocery shopping (with all of our luggage that we had to carry across town!) before returning to Spiddal to settle down and relax.

It is good to be back! This is my very first full week at the Park Lodge. So far, classes are going well. It feels good to know I don't have to pack a suitcase for at least a week.

I hope all of you are doing well! It's getting cold here - how about wherever you are? Take care!

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Dublin's Fair City

Once upon a time, a young American girl, 29 of her classmates, her teacher and his wife, and a lovely Irish bus driver went on a magical adventure to the fabled city of Dublin. They left at 7:30 on Thursday morning and everyone slept peacefully the whole way to the city. None of them were used to getting up that early! Their first stop on their weekend adventure in the city was at Kilmainham Gaol - the prison where very famous Irish dissenters were kept after the 1916 Easter Rising, including everyone's hero, Robert Emmet. The whole group took a wonderful tour through the prison and got to see jail cells from as old as 1789. While this certainly was not the most uplifting part of their journey, everyone enjoyed seeing a place where so many of the people they have been learning about stayed.

Once the tour of the prison was over, the goal of the lovely Irish bus driver, whose name just so fittingly happened to be Michael Rooney, was to get the group of hungry 20 students to the Four Courts Hostel right on the River Liffey so they could drop their things off and find some lunch. The hostel was by far the nicest that they had stayed in so far. Each room had its own bathroom and shower, they got free breakfast every morning, and the beds were really clean! Once everyone unpacked a little bit, a group of ten or so of the students and the young girl went in search of food at the food court their archaeology teacher had told them about. After lunch, the students had only one thing on their minds: GUINNESS.

Dublin is a very famous city for lots of different reasons, but the fact that it is home to the Guinness Storehouse tops the list. The young girl and several of her classmates took a tour of the Guinness Storehouse. For only 11 Euro, they took a self-guided tour and got to see how the famous beer is made, learn about the history of the popular drink, see just how much beer is actually made in Dublin each year, and take a trip through time and experience how advertising for the company has changed. The best part, though, was the complimentary pint of Guinness that each tour-taker (over 18) gets at the end of the tour. The young girl and her classmates agreed: the Guinness is best (and strongest!) at St. James's Gate!

Thursday night was the young girl's favorite of her entire trip to Ireland. After tasting fresh Guinness, she and some of her classmates decided to see a play. Luckily, their teacher agreed to reimburse them for up to 15 Euro if they took in a play of some sort. Isn't it great to be a lover of the arts? They all wanted to see a play called "Delirium" at the famous Abbey Theatre, but when they arrived to get tickets, they found out the show was sold out all weekend. Dejectedly, they asked if there were any other shows playing. They decided to see Samuel Beckett's "Happy Days" starring Fiona Shaw. They went to Supermac's for a quick dinner and then wound up getting student rush tickets for only 10 Euro! They play was difficult to understand, since none of them had ever read it and it consisted of one woman standing in a hole up to her waste, performing a monologue the whole time. The actress, however, was incredible! The young girl recognized her right away from one of her very favorite movies as a child: "Three Men and a Little Lady." (She plays the lady who runs the boarding school!) After the show, the young girl and two of her friends decided to wait at the stage door and try to meet the actress. A man came out of the back of the theatre and told them that Ms. Shaw usually goes to the upper level bar after the show. Timidly, the three students made their way upstairs to try and talk to her. After standing around awkwardly for a couple of minutes, they finally worked up the nerve to go and talk to her. She was so nice! She was interested in where specifically in Minnesota the students were from, what they thought of Galway, and how they were liking Ireland. After telling her what a great job she did, the students walked away quickly, unable to contain their excitement. The next morning, they found out that Fiona Shaw is the same woman who plays Aunt Petunia in the "Harry Potter" movies. (That's right - I met Aunt Petunia!) What a magical night at the theatre!

The young girl was certain that not much could top that, but she was wrong. She, along with a couple other students, went to the Brazen Head for their first (paid for) pint in Dublin. The Brazen Head is Ireland's oldest pub. The atmosphere was phenomenal. They heard the best and most traditional Irish music they had ever heard! They even got to talk to one of the members of the band afterward (and he had funny - though not very nice - things to say about Sarah Palin!). It was a great night of arts, entertainment, music, and great company.

Friday morning, everyone took off for the Hill of Tara and Knowth, both located a little ways outside of the wonderful Dublin City. The Hill of Tara was a disappointing journey for everyone. The visitors' is actually closed from mid-September on, and the fields were wet and full of sheep poop! Everyone walked through the hills very quickly and moved on as fast as possible to Knowth. Knowth is a large megalithic tomb. In her archaeology class, the young girl has spent many hours learning about megalithic tombs, so it was incredible to actually visit one of the sites in person.

Upon their return to Dublin, the young girl and some of her friends went in search of Burdock's, home of the best fish and chips in Ireland. Burdock's has been visited by such famous people as U2, Bruce Springsteen, and Sandra Bullock. They food lived up to the reputation! The young girl ate her whole meal of greasy and authentic fish and chips. The taste was unique and entirely delicious.

On Friday night, the young girl and five of her classmates decided to see another play - "Gerry and the Peace Process" and Andrews Lane. When they set out for the play, it was raining pretty hard. They found the neighborhood where Andrews Lane was supposed to be located, but actually finding the theatre took a half an hour. They kept getting directed down all sorts of back alleys and dark streets. They were beginning to wonder why none of the people they asked knew where this theatre was! Finally, they found Andrews Lane. It was right across from a large car park, and the gate was pulled over the door, so they could not get in. They found out from someone standing nearby that the gate would open at 8pm, so the group of students decided to wait until then. As the crowd of supposed play attendees continued to gather, the young girl and her classmates started to get a little suspicious. These people did not look like they were going to a satirical musical. Finally, everyone "queued" up and one of the girl's classmates asked the people standing behind them what show they were going to see. It turns out that Andrews Lane was actually hosting a bunch of indie rock bands that night! Oops! The young girl and her friends made their way back to the hostel in the rain, confused and a little let down about their almost-theatre experience. Luckily, you can never be bored in the magical city of Dublin, so they spent the rest of their night in the Brazen Head and the Porterhouse, soaking up Dublin's delightful culture.

Saturday was terrific! The young girl and her classmates loaded the bus early in the morning for an all-day tour of Dublin. Their tour guide was a riot! She was a raging feminist, Springsteen enthusiast, and true Dublin lady. She was also about 65 years old, which made the whole experience all the better. The young girl and her classmates got to visit the famous St. Patrick's Cathedral as well as Trinity College where they saw the Book of Kells. She and a couple of her friends walked up and down Grafton Street where U2 got their start and where the film "Once" opens. They also got to tour Dublin Castle, a most regal and presidential building. When the tour was over, the young girl and a few of her history-loving friends went to the National Museum of Ireland. They had only an hour to explore before it closed, but they still got to see many of the archaeological artifacts they had been learning about in class. After the museum, they went to mass at a beautiful Augustinian church and then retreated to the Brazen Head for dinner. Most everyone the young girl was with indulged in Traditional Irish Stew, but she chose instead the seafood chowder and brown bread which turned out to be one of the best meals she had in Ireland. The rest of the evening was fairly low-key for the young girl as she took in her last night in Dublin.

Early Sunday morning, the young girl got up and went for a walk down to O'Connell street. She took a picture of a bar bearing her mother's maiden name as it is the first "Murrays" she had seen in Ireland. It was wonderful to spend a perfectly autumn morning walking down the magical city of Dublin's famous O'Connell street and taking in the atmosphere of the city all by herself.

The ride home was an easy one. The group stopped at just one site on the way back to Spiddal - Clonmacnoise, which is Ireland's earliest monastic settlement.

As always, the young girl felt wonderful to get back to her cozy home in Spiddal. This trip was different, though. Normally, she returns, ready to put the past weekend in her photo album and store all the memories away for another time. The young girl fell completely in love with the city of Dublin. She wants to go back as soon as possible. There is so much more to experience there! She thinks that all of her friends and family need to visit the fabled and fabulous Dublin.

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