we'll end up down in mexico

i know that i've been busy and posts have been few and far between.

i'm also about to leave until the 19th for spring break.

there are at least three good blog posts worth of stuff that i have yet to get online, and while i didn't have time to post a real post before i left, i know i'll spend a good amount of time catching up after i get back.

tomorrow i'm off to Portugal.

i'll let you know how that goes.

be happy!

Andy

i see you shine in your way, go on go on go on

i was riding my bike to class this afternoon, and i noticed something. it was spring. now while the "first" day of spring is still two weeks off, and many people i know are sitting under piles of snow, i believe that spring came today in Dublin.

it's not as though its been very cold, in fact the weather over the last two weeks has been great, with quite a bit of sun!

i just knew. i knew because the wind that i biked through had given up on trying to be cold and biting, and instead felt nice as i biked around St. Patricks Cathedral on my way to class.

i know it might be strange to think about, but flowers are blooming here if you look for them.

...well, maybe it's not that strange... i mean.....it's just Ireland right? it's just the greenest place ever. no big deal.

a bad day is when i lay in bed and think of things that might have been

when i arrived in Galway it was raining.

at the train transfer in Athlone it was misting, but by the time we got to Galway it was just straight up raining.

i was having mixed feeling about trekking out into the mountains.

i had about 50 minutes before my bus left for Cliften so walked around in Galway and found some great food to bring with me. went i got back to the bus station the only thing that had changed was that i had become drenched.

i figured that the worst that could happen was that i would stay in a hostel in Cliften and find another adventure.

despite the weather the bus ride was amazing, heading out of Galway into the countryside. there were amazing views and i basically had the bus to myself, so i hopped from one side of the bus to the other depending on where there were mountains or cool lakes.

once we got to Cliften, and the elderly lady at the front of the bus freaked out at the bus driver because he didn't make a personal stop at her house, i decided to get a pint. while at the bar i figured out where i would head to and where i thought might be a good place to spend the night.

when i walked outside, it was SUNNY! and warm for that matter.

i was off!

into the mountains! these are the Connemara Mts. and while i didn't climb up them or camp in them, i did camp in the valley right below them. as you'll see in a second.

after leaving Cliften i was in the country in about 45 seconds and soon found the road towards the lake on my map.

only one car past me very slowly when i was about a half mile out off the main road from town.

about 20 minutes later i saw the car again parked in the driveway of a little house that looked out over this.

two woman were standing by the car talking and i asked if they could tell me anything about getting to this lake. they told me that they where just out there looking at the house and that they really didn't know the area at all yet.

we all then turned and looked at what you see above for about 20 seconds, i then turned and said "i think you should go for it" and walked off down the road.

about five or ten minutes later i walked up to a gate across the road that had a big PRIVATE sign posted. about 100 yards past the gate there was a house. i could see a car and some windows were open, so i opened the gate and walked closer. as i got closer (and i'm not joking) i saw the car was this old-school VW Jetta, and i got this super German vibe. and when i call out "hello?", i was greeted back with "ah hallo!" sure enough there was an old german couple living there in the middle of nowhere Ireland. i explained that i had been the signs and didn't want to go any further than i should, and was told that if i asked that i could go as far as i liked, as long as i shut the gates behind me.

after getting permission i was extra charged to get out there, and my first step after first gate i sank in muck up to my ankle.

luckily i had brought along my new wellies that i picked up in Cork the pervious weekend

bringing them along ended up being a very smart move, seeing that almost everything i stepped on was sitting on a marsh and about 3 inches of water.

there were also sheep, like in the fields with me. lots and lots, and lots of sheep.

some of them followed me. it's a strange feeling getting followed through a pasture by 15 sheep.

the one in the picture below stood in the middle of the path and stared me down till i went out of sight.

over the course of the next 3 or 4 hours i hopped about 25 fences. something i finished the day being really good at, and something that i started the day being less than kinda good at.

now and then there would be one of these. which are to say the least , very helpful.

at one point i saw a body of water and thinking that it was the lake i wanted to camp at started thinking "oh great, i'm making far better time that i thought i would have been, jeeze if i continue at this pace i could probably built a watertight shelter with all the sunlight i'll have left, haHA! this is great!! sunshine! i'm outside!"

then i realized that i was looking at the wrong lake on the map, and that i still had to walk around the ENTIRE MOUNTAIN!

which i happily did, and i must say, it paid off.

also from the camp site.

just up the hill from campsite

the next morning i hiked part of the way out and hitched a ride back into Cliften for the last leg.

i spent the night in Galway watching Scotland vs. Wales rugby and drinking Guinness.

from the bus on the way back to Galway

that weekend was crazy, it left me totally wiped, and it's something i'll never forget, but there's still another blog to come from the N. Ireland trip, which may have been my favorite thing yet.

easily the best pictures.

stay tuned

be happy!

Andy

it's a low low road you've gotta roll down before you find your way my friend

i ended up in Cork on the 3rd. i was on my way to see and stay with my friends Rita and Paul! so after thursday evening's class i took my bike to the bus station, and hopped a bus down south. i stayed Thursday night in the Bru Hostel which came recommended from Rita. Bru as the name suggests is not only a hostel, but a pub as well. i arrived around 9pm and after checking in and getting a pint of White Gypsy(really yummy), i left to check out Cork City.it was a rainy Thursday night and things were pretty slow around town, but i walked around until i heard music. the first place i tried was called The Bodhrán, and it was nice enough but there was an older crowd there that night, and the band was just playing Eric Clapton covers or songs that i knew from back home. i had a Murphy's and moved on. i wandered around a bit more in the rain and just as i started to get discouraged, not to mention very wet, i heard music again. this time i walked into Charlie's. this pub was right up my alley and best of all there was a a trad session taking place.

these guys were awesome! Something that i found really cool, and very fun to watch was how new people would show up and wave to the band, then get a pint, and then pull out their flutes, or fiddles and join in. or how those already playing would just tap out when they felt like it, or when they saw a friend walk in, or that their glass was empty.

the next morning i woke up ready for a bike adventure, but first i had to check out Rita's other recommendation, The Old English Market. i loved this place. there was everything and anything that you could want to eat there, and it all looked good. the best looking meats, fish, and poultry; fruit and veggie vendors, artisan bread, cheesemongers, pastries, eggs, chocolate, gourmet sandwiches, olives and hummus stands, and on and on and on...... . knowing there was a potluck that night at Rita and Paul's i got to shop around for some stuff to bring. i got a tea and browsed the counters. in the end i picked a loaf of sun dried tomato and feta bread, and a super delicious chorizo sausage.

after the market i had to figure out a way to fit my puffy jacket, a wool sweater, change of clothes, book, notebook, laptop, laptop charger, camera cord, large loaf of bread, sausage, and i'm sure three of four more things i can't remember at this point, into my tiny little backpack. (yes i was biking with a backpack)

this is what it looked like.

anyways.

after the market i started biking south.

i don't really know what to write about here.

the pictures do a pretty good job showing you what was going on.

very beautiful, very misty, very visually stimulating.

need i say more?

on OSI maps of Ireland they mark all the cairns, and standing stones, or megalithic tombs, and at one point i tried to climb up through a sheep field to a mountain top to find a stone circle.

my attempt was instantly thwarted by a huge bog.

so instead i looked at my map to see where there where other such attractions along my route.

i found a standing stone in the town of Belgooly.

i went into a pub to get directions, but that really didn't end up helping out very much. i tried to use my map to get a better set of instruction (since there's just a dot on the map, and not a set of detailed directions), but the locals were having none of it. they gave me so many different points to look for that i soon lost track.

i've learned that Irish people don't give directions the way that i'm use to. later that weekend Rita was telling me about directions she was once given that ended in "and then turn right when you see the white horse", she responded, "well what if the horse isn't there?", "oh it'll be there".

i took a good chunk of time out of my day to take the detour and to see the stone, so after a bit of confusion and map reading skills, i found the GAA pitch, and searched around until i found the stone.

and boy am i glad i went through all of that.

not long after Belgooly i rolled into Kinsale.

this so far was one of the coolest towns i've gotten to see.

i didn't spend a whole lot of time here, but i'm told that it's been a foodie mecca of Ireland for quite some time, something to make a note of i would say.

(Kinsale)

that night i arrived at Rita and Paul's completely spent.

i had stayed up late, gotten up early, and then biked all day, but there was more. my day ended with lots of great food, a bunch of great people, and champagne by the ocean.

on Saturday we went adventuring!

Rita, and my new friends Alice, Sandra, and Valentina, went to one of the better surf spots in the area. we didn't go surfing, seeing that the wind was blowing so hard that i literally almost fell over a number of times, so hard that at times sea foam was falling like snow from being kicked into the air by the wind.

we explored the coast from Garretstown all the way down to Castlefreke if you care to look it up. below are some narrated pictures.

the wild and windy sea

Sandra, Rita, and Valentina

the sea foam on the bluff above the water.

trespassing at Castlefreke

Castlefreke in the mist

action shot: almost getting blown off my feet

this is picture is taken while standing right outside Rita and Paul's kitchen window. they said that they stand in their kitchen in the morning and decide if the waves are worth surfing while they drink their coffee. pretty amazing location if you ask me.

thank you both so much for letting me crash. i hope i'll be able to repay the favor sometime soon!

that's all for this blog

be happy!

Andy

so we danced on the street corner

Oh man was this a fun day!

Last Friday I went to Kilkenny with Patrick, Skyler, and Fabs.

Kilkenny is a town about 75 miles southwest of Dublin by car.

We of course took the train for the day trip.

We thought it best to take the earliest train out and the 2nd to last train coming back.

It would give us the most time to explore. (edit: hahaha no it wouldn't!!)

What we didn't think about was how god damn early that meant getting up.

Our train left at 7:20am and i was woken up with a start at 6:50. Mind you, the train station is many blocks away 3/4 of a mile to be exact, and by the time we were all in the lobby we had about 24 minutes until the train left.

We ran. Poor Fabs is a smoker, and he just gave up and walked after a point.

I ended up running ahead with the ticket confirmation numbers, getting the tickets, meeting up haphazardly with the group with 56 seconds to go, running down the platform and jumping on the train at the last second. Not even joking.

It was a great way to start the day. As Skyler put it, "now that we've used up all our shitty luck it's going to be a great day!"

And it was.

I thought Kilkenny was great! It was a great size, and it seemed to have a lot going on. We got there pretty early, and people seemed to be walking to work still.

(the Kilkenny commute)

If you were standing in the spot where the picture above was taken, and you turned around you would be this:

This is Kilkenny Castle, and the first really castley looking castle i've seen yet.

We explored a bit and discovered that they had a tea room. While we waited for the tour(that we ended up opting out of) to start, we got tea in the castles old kitchen.

(i got palace garden tea)

After deciding that we'd rather explore more of the town and area instead of taking a tour of very nice looking rooms, we took off into Kilkenny.

As we walked down the main drag we saw a "man shop", and of course immediately entered.

This, as it turns out, is just a mens clothing store. Normally i would have lost interest upon entering, but this clothing store was full of amazing tweed jackets, Sherlock Holmes pipes, and three piece suits. We looked around a little and wound up talking to this little old man who i took to be the owner. He seemed to want to talk to us forever, and ended up telling us basically the whole history of Kilkenny in about 5 minutes. "my father came here during the great potato famine from Dublin to work on St. Mary's Cathedral. He was a stone mason, and he came because there was work, which meant food".

He was a cool dude, and was very helpful in suggesting some places to check out.

Next we wandered around Kilkenny's back allies and discovered the Black Abby. Outside the Abby a crazy lady feeding stray cats tunafish and parked illegally told us about St. Canice's Cathedral (below), and the afore mentioned St. Mary's (which was so large it can be seen from almost anywhere in town)

This place had a great graveyard, and sat atop a big hill. We learned later on that it was 1200 years old. Really old.

Next we went and explored St Mary's, but only for a bit because earlier we had purchased tickets to tour the Smithwick's brewery.

This ended up being a great time.

At first our guide Ronan was a bit overzealous with the history of the Smithwicks family.

It seemed like we were standing there in a circle for like 45 minutes hearing about how Edward Smithwick was such a great guy, and how he did SOOOoooOOOo much for the community of Kilkenny. It's not that it wasn't true, or impressive, it was just boring!

We would soon realize that all the stuff that Ronan had told us would some into play during the walking part of the tour. Once we started moving around the brewery all the stuff he had just taken forever to explain came to life. All the different generations of Smithwick influence became very obvious and we then understood why he had gone into such depth.

We saw this old shell of an abby right in the middle of the brewery.

It's a Franciscan abby, and it turns out, not coincidentally, that Smithwicks is a Franciscan style beer. Next to the abby there was a newer chapel where Ronan told us was the perfect place to say an "Ale Mary". Very funny at the time.

We also got to see the actual modern brewery and all the good stuff that goes along with that.

Before walking into the building that housed the 7 or 8, million pint hoppers, Ronan said to us, "in the unlikely event that we have a gusher, which is when a pipe bursts and all million pints come pouring out of a hopper, i guarantee your safety, but please, don't worry about me, in fact, just leave me. Many a night i've dreamt of reaching a state of nirvana while being consumed by the fizzy goodness of Smithwicks, sometimes it even helps me fall asleep."

The guy likes his Smithwicks, what can i say?

So much so that he took about 20-30 minutes to pour 9 pints. He said that part of the tour was experiencing a craft pour, where you fill the glass in little increments so that the bubbles in the head stay very tiny, and in turn the head stays extra thick.

(Craft pours, with the biggest Smithwicks fan i've ever met. Ronan)

I must admit however, the final product was a work of art, and tasted just as good as it looks.

Kilkenny was a great time. I'd go back in a second.

We had some extra time at the end of the day and ended up walking along the river. By the time we reached the town again it was getting dark. We really did get a full Kilkenny day.

(Cool well)

Till next time

be happy

Andy

i've been trying to find what's been in my mind

I know i know.

It's been over a week, but in my defense, we were all focused on our first week of classes, and i didn't do a whole lot since my trip to Greystones.

That was the week.

Once the weekend came Hannah and i took off to explore Waterford!!!

It was.....not that great.

I mean, it was alright, and there were some cool things to see, and we had fun, but it wasn't amazing.

(quant street)

We thought, "oh let's go checkout Waterford Crystal!!"

We then quickly learned that there were no tours on Saturday (if at all), and we could only see the showroom. It was still amazing, but not what we (or at least i) had been expecting.

(although there was this super cool horse drawn chariot, the size of like.... a huge pig. that's the best i've got. like a giant pig. i'm having a very difficult time thinking of something that size. My Head Resident Claire's suggestion when asked, (what's "this" big?), was, "a medium sized ..boulder?" So, whichever is a better mental scale for you, giant pig or medium sized boulder, go with that. Anyways. It was something like €17,000, which comes out to be $23,173. Too bad they didn't have a giant pig.....or boulder.)

Moving on.

We walked the streets and explored the city park, but still....eeehhh?!

We found the oldest civic building in Ireland, this old tower,....kinda boring.

Maybe the coolest pictures were of this old shell of a church that's pictured below.

One thing that we had not come prepared for was the weather. It was not only frigid cold, but also windy as hell being on a river and near the sea. We didn't let it stop us, but it defiantly took it's toll over the course of the day.

One more thing that put a strange twist on the adventure were the people.

For the most part they were very nice, but we also encountered some of the first rude Irish people of our trip.

It actually became sort of funny after the forth of fifth time.

We had planned to try and take a short bus trip from Waterford out to the seaside to a little village called Dunmore East, but we ended up deciding that we would rather not freeze to death on the south coast of Ireland. Not that day at least.

After enough exploring we decided to try and trade in our return tickets for an earlier train home. We failed, and having been beaten down by Waterford, we ended up just sitting in the train station.

This ended up being one of the best parts of the day.

We watched many "characters", we were stared at by the man at the ticket counter, for a very long time, we bought many treats from the snack counter, we tried writing songs (Hannah has an amazing one going), we watched family's reunite and say their farewells and leave on the trains we wished we could be on, and last but not least, we continued to freeze our asses off.

While Waterford wasn't my favorite so far, i still had a great time, and Hannah and i made the most of the polar like conditions.

till next time.

be happy

Andy

and i will never grow so old again

S0, like i said i would, here goes the best day yet.

After our last bit of orientation Saturday morning i had the itch to explore. I tried to wrangle up people to go with me somewhere, anywhere, but after getting zero bites i took off alone.

The cliff walk from Bray to Greystones had come recommended from Dr. Robinson, so i caught a train down the coast to Bray, the Irish version of a seaside resort town about 10 miles south of Dublin.

Bray from up on the cliffs.

As i started up the path i kept thinking "this is amazing! i can't believe this is really happening"

Around every corner there was something better. Like really, it kept building and building. After a while i stopped getting surprised by how cool everything was, and just started ambling along in awe.

A few pictures may help you understand.

4 miles from Bray i walked into Greystones.

Nothing "special", a wealthier little seaside town, and also the last stop on the southbound DART.

The train left for Dublin every half hour, so i asked where to get the best pint in town and was sent to W.H. Dann & Son for a Guinness.

While i sat at the bar with my Guinness i chatted with the bartender. His name was Finn.

(Of course)

He asked me how i was enjoying County Wicklow. WHAT!?

I had unknowingly walked into my second county along the cliffs from Bray.

(i also tried bacon crisps! they look like little strips of bacon. awesome!)

After that i ran to catch the next train, and fortunately i failed because while waiting on the platform i met Lisa, a really nice woman originally from Chicago who lives in Ireland now. She was kind enough to share some of her must do's and must see's with me while on the train back to the city. This was super helpful because, well, i don't know anything about this place other than what i explore myself.

If anyone has been to Ireland, or even if you know someone who has been here, please ask them what they'd love to do or see again. Then, promptly comment me that information, or send me a email. In Dublin, outside of town, on the west coast, wherever. I'll look it up, write it down and then go exploring.

Also, i know i've said this already, but it's worth saying again. If you know anyone that you think would like to see this blog, or better yet, follow it, please pass it along: http://andyinireland.blogspot.com/

That's it for today.

More to come soon i'm sure!

be happy

Andy