St Paddy's Day!

So another update.

I am finishing up my last two weeks of classes. I cannot believe how fast the courses flew by. I have two papers that I have finally been assigned so I am hoping to finish them up before April when I am backpacking through Europe. I had my last Physiology lab yesterday which was absolutely ridiculous. We didn’t even do half of the lab, because apparently they don’t have enough equipment? So we just sat in a lecture hall as the professor talked us through it. Compared to 3 hour Quinnipiac Anatomy labs where we are completely hands on, these are a joke.

St Paddy’s Day was on Tuesday! We had the day off over here :) They had a big parade down in Cork. All the Irish really talked it down, saying ours in the states were better. But I loved it! It was absolutely packed downtown. We got there late and couldn’t really see much but they had a few big blow up floats, like a dragon and robot. So we saw those! The rest was student and kids marching. Everyone was green with all sorts of Irish St Paddy’s day accessories. A group of us came back to the apartment and sat outside all day in the beautiful weather. It was like a summer day! We walked down to the fields and watched a few soccer games too. We went out later at night to hit up the pubs and everything was packed! It was a great day though! :)

I have finally finished planning my backpacking trip for April. So many planes and trains and hostels! I am sticking around in Cork this weekend, hoping to get some essays written. 

The Ring of Kerry

I went on a school trip this past weekend to the Ring of Kerry in County Kerry on the south-west coast of Ireland. The Ring of Kerry is a 170 km circular road all along the coast starting and ending in Killarney. Marion, one of the professors who teaches Irish organized the trip as she is from the area. She had a whole set schedule for us packed full of events. The trip was a decent price and included food, transportation, events, sightseeing, admissions and the hotel.

We left on Friday around 3:00. There were about fifty kids on the trip, all international students. It was an hour and a half to Killarney, where we stopped at a bus stop and picked up a few more students then we traveled another hour or so to the Ring of Kerry Hotel in a town called Cahersiveen. We stopped for our first photo op seeing a beautiful rainbow. It was a bit foggy out, but a beautiful view of the mountains and ocean. It is so strange of me to see the mountains here, as they are all rock and grass. I am used to the Appalachian covered in trees, so when I see the ones here they look more like hills to me.

The hotel was nice; I shared a room with my travel buddies, Kristina, Julia and Brianne. It was definitely a step up from the hostels we are used to! Dinner was delicious! We had a whole room to ourselves for our three course dinner. There were about five options to choose from, I opted for a Turkey/ham dish complete with mash and veggies. After the meal along with salad and rolls I was stuffed when they brought out pastries for desert! After dinner we had a speaker native to Cahersiveen tell us about his life living out in Kerry. He had some interesting stories. After the speaker the whole group met up downstairs in the hall for a traditional Irish Ceili; where we learned Irish dancing. Marion had a little band play including a guitar, drum and accordion and used the mike to call out the steps to us all. We learned the Siege of Ennis, Stack of Barley, and Waltz of Limerick to name a few. It was a blast, and after a few wrong steps everyone caught on.

On Saturday we were up early for a buffet breakfast that we all filled up on. Then we hopped on the bus heading to Valentia Island right off the coast linked by a bridge to the mainland. Over 600 people live on the island. Our first stop was on Foilhommerum Cliff which is the site of the first transatlantic cable from Newfoundland to Valentia in 1857. The view was absolutely amazing from here; be sure to take a look at the photos I have up. Next we went to the Skellig Experience, a heritage center that opened just for us. Marion arranged quite a few stops that are usually closed until tourist season starts in April. The center was about the Skellig Rocks, two islands out off the coast which are sea bird colonies (home of the Puffins!) and the site of Christian Monastic architecture. You can take boats out to them but only in good weather in the summer. We made an unplanned stop next, to hike up Geokaun Mountain and Fogher Cliffs, the highest mountain on the Island that goes right up through a farm. We saw hundreds of sheep on our way up, and many lambs, some only an hour old! The top was another amazing view of the ocean and islands. The next stop was Valentia Slate Quarry where slate has been sent out all over the world. It has been used for the British Houses of Parliament and Paris’s Opera House to name a few. The whole time Marion gave us her catchy narratives about the land and views. She would always ask Tommy, our bus driver for his input. He was an amazing driver, taking the coach bus all over the island down windy one lane roads with Marion going “hmm we probably shouldn’t be going down here.”

Marion is from Bellinskellig, so on our bus tour over in that area she pointed out all her families houses next to the sea. We went to Ballinskellig Beach and walked out to McCarthy castle, well what was left of it. We had to walk across a stream from the tide so it was lots of rock hopping to avoid being soaked. We went back to the hotel for soup, and sandwiches then had the afternoon free. A few of us walked down through the town of Cahersiveen looking at all the shops and found a pub to watch the Rugby match. Ireland was playing Scotland in their second to last Six Nations Game, and continued to be undefeated as they won 22-15. Dinner was another delicious meal, where I had tortellini and cheesecake. After Marion set up a table quiz for us, which are very popular in pubs over here. You have a group of five or so and there are a few rounds of ten random questions. Some questions included were; What is the capital of Pakistan? What is the hardest substance of the human body? What is a baby turkey called? How many pieces are on a chess board? My group thought we did so great, and were really excited for the final score to see who won the prize. Marion gave the first place team, and second and we urged her to continue for the third and then fourth. It turns out we came in second to last! The only reason we did that well was because the last place team didn’t complete the game and left half way through! Ha. And we thought we did so well! That night in the hotel was a big function as the Junior Gaelic football team had won the finals. So the whole town had up Red and green flags for Cahersiveen and Kerry’s colors of gold and green too. So the hotel was full of activity.

On Sunday, the group did a walking tour of Cahersiveen and wondered up around the coast to the Stone Forts. The forts were circular with hundreds of steps all over to the top which was grass. Beautiful sights on the top and we had a blast climbing all over. After we headed back for a quick lunch we packed up and continued on the rest of the Ring of Kerry. We went to Derrynane House, the home of Daniel O’Connell, an Irish political leader who gained the Catholics the right to vote. We were back on the bus forever, with a quick stop at Cahar Daniel, a scenic outlook. It was a bit windy but an amazing view. We also drove into Killarney National Park which was absolutely amazing. Be sure to check out the photos I put up on flickr, although they don’t do the Park justice. We finished up the Ring of Kerry back in Killarney and then headed back to Cork.

The Ring of Kerry is one of Ireland’s most popular spots; the view of the Atlantic is beautiful as you follow the coast along. The trip was great, and it was nice not to plan something for a change! Pictures are up!    http://www.flickr.com/photos/mjhastie/sets/72157615377402120/

Buses, Trains and Planes to Scotland!

I jetted off to Scotland last week. Had a wonderful time; I think Scotland is my favorite trip yet. The country is right over the Irish Sea, but it took us buses, and trains and planes to reach our destination of Edinburgh; a bit too much traveling for my liking.

We originally bought tickets to Glasgow for a ridiculously cheap price; flying out Thursday night and back Saturday night. Then when I met a few Scottish people, everyone’s advice was to visit Edinburgh. There is a frequent train in between so the plan was to fly into Glasgow and take the train to Edinburgh.

I spent most of Thursday traveling. I left my flat around noon and after missing the first bus by seconds (and the buses in Ireland are never on time!) we waited an hour and caught a bus to Shannon Airport, about two hours away. After seeing a beautiful rainbow in Shannon we flew to Glasgow Airport. It was a short flight, about forty minutes. We got to Glasgow and the second we touched down Brianne was in love with the country. She went on and on about how much she loved Scotland- and we hadn’t even stepped foot off the plane! While waiting for the flight attendents to let us off we chatted with a few Scots who taught us to pronounce Edinburgh as “Edin-butta.” After visiting the information booth at the airport we found that we needed to take a train from the airport into Glasgow city center. We had just missed this train (what luck!) so we waited an hour for the next. While I waited, Brianne and I hit up the Irn-Bru vending machine! A Scottish friend introduced us to the soda in London and Brianne and I drank more Irn-Bru than I can count throughout the weekend. I don’t know how to explain the taste… but it is delicious! [it reminds me of something you would like Jer].

So we caught the train into Glasgow which was a 45 minute ride. Once there we had to walk to the other train station. A few people saw me with a map and were so helpful offering help! The train from Glasgow to Edinburgh was about 45 minutes. We finally made it and our hostel was only a short walk away.

We stayed at Royal Mile Backpackers which is on the Royal Mile. The Royal Mile is about a Scottish mile, and the road runs from Edinburgh Castle, down to the palace where the Queen stays when she visits. It is full of shops, pubs, and historical buildings. Edinburgh Castle is built on top of a volcano, and due to icebergs which carved out most of the land but not the trail right after the castle, the Royal Mile is a high ground compared to the rest of the city. Our hostel was really nice, had a great atmosphere. The rooms and beds each had creative names. We stayed in the room called “Addictions,” my bed was labeled Chocolate and some of the others were Shopping, Alcohol, Gambling, and Smoking. We each had our own locker and safe, which was a first for any hostel I have stayed at. By the time we actually made it to the hostel it was already 9. We decided to be adventurous and headed out to explore the city. At one of the pubs I tried a Brother Cider, which was Toffee Apple flavored, that everyone seemed to be drinking and the next night I tried a Strawberry and Pear. Best drink in Scotland! I wish they had it back in Ireland.   

The next morning we woke up early and grabbed some breakfast. I tried haggis, a must since I was in Scotland. It was interesting, full of spices. It is the sheep’s heart, liver, and lungs all minced up with spices and oats, cooked in the stomach. YUM! Ha- I tried not to think about that when I was eating it. After breakfast we took a free walking tour. We saw a few other groups from Cork who were also in Scotland for the weekend. Everyone was taking advantage of the cheap flights this weekend! The walking tour was great. The tour guide gave us the historical background of the city full of fun facts and stories. We went up the Royal Mile to Edinburgh Castle, which was built on top of volcanic rock. So it has a great defense, as no one can scale up the rock easily. The castle was beautiful. Edinburgh is full of haunting and ghost stories as we learned a few on the tour. It is in Edinburgh that the famous body snatchers Burke and Hare originally stole dead bodies to sell to science for Medical dissection. When they ran out of dead bodies they went on a killing spree. There were also many witch burnings and the site of hangings. The pub across the street is called The Last Drop, as you would go there for your last dram of whiskey before the hanging. We went through Greyfriars Kirkyard, a haunted graveyard where Benjamin Mackenzie spends his time haunting and many people have been hospitalized after visiting. Lots of people were reburied in this graveyard, and it was after seeing so many coffins with scratches inside that wakes became more popular. So people would know for sure that the bodies were dead and didn’t bury anyone else alive. Some of the caskets have these cages built around them to protect the people from body snatching. It was great history and lots of eerie stories. After the tour, we walked up Calton Hill to see the sun set which was beautiful.

I stopped in this heritage center that you can find your tartan and clan of your ancestors. I am part Scottish on both my mother and fathers side so I stopped in and looked up my history. I found out that Hastie, from my father’s side, was a part of the Clan Graham, and Dunbar, from my mom’s side, was a part of the Clan Murray. I bought bookmarks of each with the tartan, crest, and some information on them. It was really neat to look up the history and see where my ancestors came from.

For dinner we stopped in at The Last Drop where they slash the prices in half if you show your hostel card. It was a Friday night and I can’t even count how many Stag and Hen parties I saw all night. Edinburgh is clearly the place to go. We stopped in a pub later for some Scottish music, which was very similar to the Traditional Irish music with the fiddle and flute.

On Saturday we went to the National Museum of Scotland in the morning. I saw Dolly the first cloned sheep, who is stuffed and displayed in the museum. After, we went to the Elephant House for tea and to write some postcards. The Elephant House is the cafe where J.K. Rowling wrote the Harry Potter books. The view from the back is amazing as you can see Edinburgh Castle and also the “original” Hogwarts, a boy’s school out the window. Just looking out you can see where she must have gotten her inspiration from.

We caught the train back to Glasgow around noon. There were street performers everywhere! So we listened to some bagpipes and drums on our way to the train station. Next it was the train to the airport, and flight back to Ireland. We landed in Shannon and waited an hour for the “next bus.” It wasn’t until 8:45, after waiting in the rain for a bit, that the bus driver going to Limerick informed us that there were no more buses back to Cork tonight. We found the Bus information desk back inside, but of course no one was there, no one was answering the information phone and all the schedules that we needed were out of reach at the back of the desk. Right as we were debating jumping the desk to get the bus timetables a jolly security guard came over. We explained out dilemma of getting back to Cork and just as he was telling us that we would have to spend the night in the airport the bus driver going to Limerick came running in. He came all the way inside to get us to let us know that we could take his bus to Limerick then take the train back to Cork. We took his advice and hopped on the bus to Limerick. We were not too excited about this, as our Irish roommates always warn us about Limerick because “Limerick is where you get stabbed.” We caught the train at 10:00. Luckily there was one other passenger in the car who got off at Limerick Junction. We asked where she was going and realized we better get off too, or who knows where we would end up. We transferred trains and then on our way to Cork bought our tickets. We asked for student tickets pulling out all our “Student ID’s” as we all have so many cards proving we are students. The conductor then informed us that they only take their student card which you have to buy from them- and you can’t buy it on the train. So we ended up paying an outrageous amount to get back to Cork. By the time we made it back to Cork, we were so mad about spending so much money that we walked all the way home from the train station. For the forty five minute walk we thought about all we could have bought for the price of the train ride. “I could have bought ‘five sandwiches from Hillbillies’ for less than the cost of that train ride.”

Scotland was wonderful! I absolutely loved Edinburgh, and seeing all the historical buildings and cobblestones. The traveling was another story... but we made it to Edinburgh and back to Cork, so in the end it all worked out! 

Pictures!!

Up the Coast

Hello everyone! Thought I would write a quick update before I head off to Scotland for the weekend. It has been a crazy week, and I am getting over being sick again. I wish my body would just adjust to Ireland already! Let’s see, last Wednesday I went out to Bandaoke, which was a lot of fun. It is just like karaoke, but you have a band as back up. We had a blast. I had my last Physics lab last Friday, which is a relief! I dreaded the three hour labs. Physiology lab started up this week, it was very different from what I am used to. We were in a lecture hall and the teacher pretty much did the lab for us on the projector. I am used to hands on small lab groups. It was an easy cardiovascular lab, but in the end we had a “MCQ” twenty question quiz that was pretty difficult. Not sure where he came up with those questions!  

Last Saturday, a group of us went to Kinsale, a town on the coast about a half hour away. It is more of a summer town, but it was full of cute shops and cafes. We walked about a mile and a half up to Charles Fort. It is a star shaped fort built right on the water that was constructed in the late 17^th century. It was huge! We walked all around it, seeing the view from the walls and looking at what was left of the brick buildings. It started to drizzle by the time we made it back to town, so we found a pub called Muddy Mahers, and grabbed some food. The pub is family owned and it seemed like everyone knew everyone. We ended up sticking around as we had perfect seats for the Rugby match so we watched Ireland beat England 14-13. I am getting very into Rugby these days, it is amazing to watch.

My spring break has been planned and flights have been booked! I am backpacking through Europe with three of my friends for the month of April that we have off. The current plan is to start in Greece in Athens, and then move on to two Greek islands, Ios and Santorini. Then fly to Rome, travel up the coast to Florence and Venice, then take a train to Nice on the French Riviera. Next, on to Barcelona and ending in Paris! It will be four weeks :) I have been doing so much research with the travel, flights, and hostels. Earlier this week I booked hostels for the first week in Greece. I still need to book the rest, but just need to find the time!

I am off to Scotland today. I fly out tonight to Glasgow, but am taking a train to Edinburgh. I will be back late Saturday night. Quick trip, but I got great deals on the flights.     

Also, I put pictures up from Northern Ireland http://flickr.com/photos/mjhastie/sets/72157614747372336/ !