Mumford and St. Patrick's Day!

So again I will apologize for not putting anything up in a while but it has been quite busy around here recently! This past week was my last week of classes. You may be thinking "What? You just got there!" Well you are right and that is exactly what  I am thinking too. This last week we incredibly busy as I had all of my assignments due in all my classes. These were the only assignments of the semester before finals so I was not at all used to doing work of any sort for my classes and I think this made it even harder to do.

A few weeks ago I went to a concert by the band Mumford and Sons. The concert was amazing, I was front row with my elbows on the stage and they played a heck of a show. Then after the show, one of the guys in our group waited outside for them and walked with them to a pub right near our apartment. We walked over to the pub and when I walked through the door I was face to face with Marcus Mumford! It was crazy because the owner locked the door right after we had gotten in so that no one else would come in and it was a really small crowd in the bar. I got to talk to all of the guys and they were all really nice and happy to talk to us common folk. They apparently love Minnesota! The kept going behind the bar to pour people beers and hand them out and they were in charge of all the music (they apparently love Paul Simon's "You Can Call Me Al", but who doesn't). It was quite an amazing night! The pictures below are both of Marcus, one with the group I was with and the other with the pub owner.

It was great to be able to celebrate St. Patrick's day in Ireland! We woke up and the group made a huge brunch which was awesome and a perfect way to start the day! After that we went to the parade which was fun but a little odd. It seemed more like a festival of cultures with little to no mention of the fact that it was St. Patrick's day. At one point they wheeled a 20 ft metal rooster down the street surrounded by chefs chasing around people dressed as eggs with huge egg beaters. This was made even more strange by the fact that there was no explanation at all as to what the hack this was supposed to be. At night a bunch of people from CSB/SJU who are studying in London got here to visit and partake in the St. Paddy's day fun. We went to a few different pubs and heard some great traditional Irish music and had a great time.

It will be great to now have some time off. I have been trying to figure out my travel plans for April and I'll try to put up my final plans when they are made on the blog. For now I am just relaxing and looking forward to my parents getting here!

Dingle!

Hello all! I am sorry it has been so long but the last couple weeks have been very busy as I had my first two assignments due (yes I have been here two months). One was a long philosophy paper and the other was a European Politics paper both worth fifty percent of my grade. The classes here are very different in that you are only graded on one assignment and then the final. It leaves not much to do as far as daily work goes but can tend to be a bit stressful when there is something to do because a lot rides on how well you do on it.

Last weekend I went with a few other people to Dingle, a city on a peninsula on the west coast of Ireland. Despite the goofy name and the all too easy jokes that can be made about it, it was really a cool town.  We got there on friday night and after a wonderful dinner at a Indian restaurant, we checked into our hostel. The hostel was run by an Aussie from Melbourne who was really a great guy and we talked a bit about how my parents had lived there. The Dingle Pub was the establishment of choice on Friday and we had a good time relaxing and listening to some great Irish music.

An ancient oratory

Saturday we got up early and rented bikes so we could bike all around the Slea Head which is the peninsula. We rented our bikes from a place named "Foxy John's" which is a hardware store/pub/bike rental place. Needless to say this place had character. Unfortunately there was a lot of fog which really limited what we were able to see of the beautiful views. The biking was a lot of fun though and we got to see a lot of ancient Gaelic houses, churches and other structures.

A celtic beehive hut

At the end of our 6 hour ride we were really tired and our legs had been put to the test. We decided to have a celebratory pint at Foxy John's amongst the tools and hardware supplies. That night was a lazy one as we were exhausted from a long day of work. The next morning before we had to leave to head back to Cork we went on a short little hike up a hill in Dingle that had a great view of the whole city and the harbor.

Foxy John's Hardware store/pub/bike rental

I am looking forward to this next week and St. Patrick's day in Ireland. I am not sure what to expect but have heard that it is not as big or as crazy as it is in the United States. The rest of this month should be really busy with more assignments due and hopefully I will find some more time to post on here. I am not sure that tales of me writing papers and studying, although very important, would really be all that interesting to read but hopefully I will be able to write about St. Patrick's day! I am sure I will.

A picture of UCC, my school!

A Weekend in Spain!

Morgan and I with Dani the nanny! (Stolen from Morgan's blog)

What a weekend! I took the bus from Cork to Dublin on Wednesday and stayed over night in a hostel. I had to wake up early in order to make it to my 7:30 flight to Madrid to go see Morgan! Once in Madrid I was immediately required to shake the rust off of my already broken Spanish in order to make it through customs.  After navigating my way through the airport I made my way to the metro station and boarded the metro towards the bus station. Once on the bus I quickly realized that the bus had assigned seats and I was sitting in the wrong one and was gently made aware of this by the kind lady shouting at me in Spanish. The strange thing was that the bus was half empty but everyone was crammed together in the front in their “assigned seats” yet the plane ride on the discount airline I flew to Spain did not have assigned seats at all.

It was so great to finally get to see her after talking over the computer (when they worked) for about 2 months! She met me outside the bus station and we were off touring the city and showing me where she lives and what she does! She was a fantastic tour guide for my weekend!

Morgan with the castle behind her.
What a cutie right?

Unfortunately I didn't get many of us together
because I only brought my camera out twice

Spain was absolutely amazing. Segovia is the city that Morgan is studying in and where I spent the weekend and it is unbelievably gorgeous. It is full of old buildings and lots of history. There is a large aqueduct that the Romans built that runs right through the center of the city and was in use until the 80’s. Just walking around the city is breathtaking. There are great old churches and a castle that inspired the castle at Disney world!

The Aqueduct

A really cool church in a city square called the Plaza Mayor

On Friday we walked around the city and Morgan showed me around her school which is a great old building located in a beautiful area of the city (not that there were any particularly bad looking areas). We then met up with the group and toured an old church right by the hostel that I was staying in. The tour guide told all about the church and its designs and I was impressed with the fact that I understood almost everything she was saying. I really wish I knew more Spanish and think I will have to keep learning because I really enjoy speaking it.

Morgan’s host family couldn’t have been nicer. They encouraged me to speak only Spanish and were very patient with what I was able to say.  Morgan's two little brothers are so cute and really fun little guys. When I first met the youngest one he looked like he was going to come over to me and say hi but instead, with a big grin on his face, he wound up and hit me right between the legs! What a nice introduction right? I had a few meals in their house and the Spanish food I had was phenomenal! They just kept bringing out more and more food! It occurs to me that I have said little to nothing about the food in Ireland and that is mainly because it is really nothing to write home about… quite literally I guess. If I were eating like they do in Spain there would be much more to describe but I fear that frozen pizzas and sandwiches with the occasional pork chop thrown in are not quite as thrilling to read or to write about.

One of the things I really loved about Spain, apart from the food, was the general culture and way of life. Everyday they have a siesta in the middle of the day from 2 until 4 or 5 at which point they go home and have a large lunch and relax during the middle of the day. After the siesta they go back to school or work until around dinner which is eaten around 9. The nightlife does not even begin to get going until around 11pm and people stay out until 6 or 7 in the morning!  Even when adults go out they stay out this late; Morgan’s host dad went out with his friends and got back at 7 in the morning. Another great thing is tapas. It is where you order a drink and get a free small plate of food with it. I couldn't believe how cheap it all was compared to the prices in Ireland and I am very jealous that Morgan gets to do that all the time!

On Sunday I begrudgingly had to leave and Morgan and I took the bus back into Madrid to spend the afternoon in the city before my 6:30pm flight back to Dublin. Madrid is also a beautiful city! We went to get sushi for lunch in downtown Madrid because I have been dying for some since I have been here and Morgan gets it all the time! After lunch we walked around this massive park right in the middle of the city called Retrio park. It had a big lake and a bunch of old statues and was bustling with activity and the sounds of people playing music. It was also mostly sunny and about 60 degrees which was a great improvement from the weather I have been experiencing thus far.

Arches in Madrid

Large statue at the lake in the Retrio Park

It was a fantastic weekend and its safe to say I have fallen in love with Spain. Everything about it and the weekend in general was just so great! It was so great to see the way Morgan was living and now I can picture where she is and what she is up to on a daily basis. It was so great to get to see her but so hard to leave. It is also nice to see that she is doing well and has a host family and group that are both really awesome and I am excited because we are going to get to travel together in April!

In a cave on our walk! (also stolen from Morgan's blog)

Pictures!

Hey there!

I decided to start a Flickr page to upload my pictures because I only put up a few in each post and the quality on facebook is really bad. I'll try to put up as many pictures as possible!

So here is the link. http://www.flickr.com/photos/59338915@N08/ 

Enjoy!

An Overdue Update

Sunset over Cork

Hello all!

It has been far too long since I have done this and I have a lot to say so I'll just get right into it!

My birthday was two weeks ago and what a birthday it was! A big group of us went to the Franciscan Well, a pub across the street and a favorite of mine to start off the evening. Much to my surprise, a cake was brought out saying happy birthday from my family! My wonderful mother, in classic Carol Wolfe style, had arranged to have a cake made and delivered to the pub as a surprise for my birthday. We went to a few more pubs before the night was over and had a really great time!

Thanks Family!

Last weekend our group went on a day trip to Kinsale and to Blarney. Kinsale was a great little town but unfortunately we found ourselves there in the morning and in the middle of the off season as far as tourism goes and not much was open. We had some fantastic Fish and Chips at a little restaurant and walked around the town.

The harbor in Kinsale

After a short while, we boarded the bus and headed to Blarney to see the Blarney Castle and to kiss the Blarney Stone. Touristy, though it was, it was a really cool place! The grounds of the castle and the area around it is just beautiful and there was a lot to see. We climbed our way to the top of the castle up a dark narrow spiral staircase to the top where the rather unremarkable Blarney Stone is located. The stone is just a stone laid in the side of the castle that makes up one of its exterior walls. I had heard stories of the locals going up to pee onto the stone that all of the tourists kiss so I was a bit relieved to see that they had a bottle of disinfectant sitting next to the stone. It was probably just put there to put our minds to rest but either way, I was there and I was going to kiss that rock, urine stained or not. After laying on my back, grabbing onto the hand rails and being helped over the edge by the employees, I kissed the stone and was apparently given the "gift of gab"...eloquence and all that good stuff.

Blarney Castle

This weekend most of our group went on a trip through the university to the Ring of Kerry. The trip took us to county Kerry where we explored all there was to see. We went to castles, forts, museums, the beach... the works. Though the weather was not cooperating (windy, rainy, no real surprise), the most amazing thing was just to be able to see the natural beauty of this place. One of the highlights was Killarney national park. I know I have said it before but the amount of green is stunning. We drove through the park and hiked through a world of green and out to a waterfall.

We got back last night and went to a pub that was playing the Super Bowl. Because of the time difference the game started at 11:30pm here. All of the pubs have to close down at 2am but this one locked its doors at 2am so no one would be seen by the police entering or exiting and we were able to watch the entire game! The interesting thing is that they do not play any of the commercials here and just have a few old football players that no one has heard of to talk during the breaks. When the game was over we were ushered out the side door into the ally and the Garda (police) were none the wiser!

I hope to get back to posting regularly!

A Very Busy Weekend

The weekend began early saturday morning when a few of us decided to venture off to the seaside town of Ballycotton. It promised to be an adventuresome day as we knew very little about where we were going and more or less just picked it at random. Skepticism began to creep in when about six of us got on the bus and the bus driver said "well the population of Ballycotton just doubled with all of you" but we were undeterred. When we arrived in the bite-sized fishing town we were greeted by a beautiful view of an island with a lighthouse underneath a great looking sunrise and with that, the nervousness subsided. As amazing as the views and natural beauty of this area was, it soon became apparent why this town was not highly recommended by the native Irish people. The town had only one store and three pubs (there is about 1 pub for every 300 people in the country of Ireland). Thankfully we had not come to hang out in the town but rather to climb out to the cliffs and to enjoy some of Ireland's natural beauty.

After a quick meal in a great little pub, we realized that the tide had gone down and created a perfect, albeit rocky and slippery, path out to one of the islands. We carefully navigated our way out to this island covered in some of the greenest grass I have ever laid eyes on. The views were extraordinary and it was really cool to be out on a completely natural island where I can only assume few people go. We spent the rest of the day climbing all over the cliffs and seaside rocks and caves and sufficiently wore ourselves out.  All in all it was a great day and made better by the fact that we had no expectations going into it.

View of the lighthouse island from the island that we climbed out to

******

The Paps were the destination of the second hike through the Mountaineering club. "The Paps", we were told, literally means "the breasts" and that the ancient celtic people saw these mountains as the breasts of their goddess of fertility. An interesting theory no doubt. When we got to the base of the mountain it was terribly foggy. We could barely see the mountain at all and the fog only got thicker as we ascended. Just when we thought we would not get to see any of the amazing views that day, we actually climbed out of the clouds and found ourselves looking down on them. It was one of the most incredible views to be standing on top of the mountain looking down on clouds. It looked as if we were on an island and the adjacent peaks were quite literally "peeking" up through the veil of clouds. At that point the view opened up and we were able to see why the mountains had the name that they did.

Here you can see the two further peaks are the paps

The ancient celtic people built nipples on top of the peaks... why not?

The weekend was just incredible with two days packed full of beautiful views, lots of hiking and plenty of fresh air.

Well, today is my birthday so I am sure there will be some festivities tonight! I will hopefully update again soon!

Another Week Gone By

Another great week has come to a close. Classes went really well and I am enjoying the laid back nature of Irish school. I am a bit embarrassed to admit that I only have class three days a week (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday) but it is really nice to have lots of time to read, play guitar and explore the city. I got another taste of how relaxed it is here as my professor for my Irish Politics started off the lecture by saying "I see that some students have schedule conflicts with this class but the lecture notes are online and just come when you are able". This is not something that you would hear an American professor ever say.

Last Sunday was my first hike around the mountains at Mahon Falls.  We started bright and early and boarded the bus at 8:30 at UCC.  The beginning of the hike was quite steep as we ascended the mountain and served as a nice reminder of how out of shape I am and how I need to keep coming on these hikes! Once we made it to the top of the first peak we had a long hike on top of the plateau across boggy grass. I was, up until this point, quite unfamiliar with bogs but was quickly introduced and was very happy with the investment I made in waterproof hiking boots.

The views were absolutely spectacular from the top of the mountain. We overlooked green fields and lakes that resembled exactly what I thought I would be seeing in Ireland. It was quite overcast and so pictures really do not do it justice but I will put a good one up anyways. Fortunately it did not rain on the hike and actually the weather here has been great for the past few days. You really begin to appreciate the sun and a nice day when it rains as much as it does here.

On wednesday I went rock climbing with the mountaineering club. I went by myself which is a great way to meet new people. After we went to a local pub and had free pizza! I am really excited about getting the chance to do more climbing here as well as the hiking. It is strange how I am more involved with things here than I am at home. I am just trying to do and experience as much as possible!

I am quite pleased to say that I just got a new camera today from my parents as a birthday present. A big thank you goes out to them and also to Chris Sheehan for a great camera recommendation. I hope to take a bunch of photos now and am excited to share them with all of you! I am going to a seaside town called Ballycotton in the morning and then my second hike on sunday so there will be no shortage of sights to document and pictures to put up on here! Until then, Cheers!

Rain and Wind in Cobh

I peeled my eyes open this morning to the sound of my Irish phone telling me in its oh so comforting robotic voice "The time is 7:35, Time to get up!" This is a voice I can already tell I will come to dislike quite a bit in the coming months. I looked out the window and was greeted with the now familiar sight of a grey sky heavy with rain.  Today would not be ordinary however. Apparently I was, as of yet, unaware of  what Ireland's weather was really capable of but it would not take long to find out.  I put on my new waterproof boots, pants and raincoat and after a bit of debate with a few fellow travelers, decided we would spend the day in Cobh, another sea side town we were told we had to see. After a long wet walk on sidewalks strewn with the remains of broken umbrellas, we boarded the train and about 20 minutes later we had reached our destination.

The moment we stepped onto the platform we could tell the wind was really howling quite hard and the rain was coming down in sheets. We trudged on however through the streets and after a stop at a small coffee shop, we ventured up to a massive cathedral that sat atop the hill and overlooked the cove.  With no trees or other buildings on top of the hill, we were hit with the full force of the wind.  I was so strong that you could legitimately lean against it. The only comparison I can draw is to the wind that you feel as you exit the Metrodome and are swept out onto the sidewalk.  We finally entered the Cathedral and it was huge! There was incredible gothic architecture with ornate stonework and beautiful stained glass.  I apologize for the sub-par photography but I was running out of battery and couldn't really mess around to get things looking right. (I wish I brought the better camera).

Really the only useable outdoor shot from the day because of the weather showing some of the multicolored houses on the hill.

After that we had Lunch at the Supermac's which is basically an Irish McDonalds (classy, I know) and then proceeded to the Cobh museum.  Cobh was the Titanic's last port of call and so they had a really interesting exhibit about the history of the Irish emigration after the famine and the Titanic. This was a cool way to end the day and a great way to dry off a bit before our trip back.

Tomorrow promises to be another full day as I am getting up quite early again to go on a hike on some Irish mountain somewhere.  That is just about all I know but I'll do my best to post something again tomorrow night about the days adventures!

First Week of Class

I have just finished my first week of class! I finally think that I have gotten squared away after a good deal of confusion.  Apparently class registration is a bit more relaxed here than in the states. The first few days we were encouraged to just go try out a bunch of classes and then register later for the ones that appealed to us.  When I asked a counselor when a certain class was meeting, she informed me that the professor for that course was on maternity leave and no one was quite sure when she would be back or when the course would start.  Her best guess was "within the next couple of weeks".

On Wednesday I went to the Mountaineering club meeting and am really excited about being in it.  There are weekly hikes around mountains here in Ireland as well as indoor rock climbing 2 days a week.  I went out and bought hiking boots and waterproof pants for my hiking adventures. I will post some pictures and stuff as soon as I go.

The Legend of Tom Barry and a Day on the Sea Side

The view from my apartment overlooking the River Lee 

Ah so much to say! After a rather rainy and uneventful day yesterday, the evening turned out to be anything but. A few of us went to a pub just down the street for a good bit of crack (crack meaning fun to the Irish... not the drug).  Within minutes of getting there I started up a conversation with an old Irish man by the name of Tom Barry (pictured above with my roommate Matt and myself).  I had heard, from people who had been to Ireland that talking to old guys at the pub is a great way to spend an evening but I was quite unaware just how great it would really be.  We talked for about 2 hours and the man told his whole life's story.  As I sit here attempting to convey how this conversation went I find myself at a bit of a loss.  He had a lot to say and was an extremely interesting individual.  I must be a hit with the old guys as I had quite a few more interesting encounters with other old men including one strange string of events that ended with an old guy hugging me repeatedly and confessing his love for me...

Today we went on a trip out to the cities of Youghal (pronounced like y'all) and Ardmore, both seaside towns. We first toured the cities of each and then went on a seaside cliff walk in Ardmore. The views were incredible and it was a really nice change of pace to be able to get out of the city and see a part of the country that looks like what I had always thought of Ireland looking like.  It really is very green.

I have to say I have been quite happy with my Irish experience so far and am excited for whatever will come next.  If I had to come up with one problem with Ireland so far it would have to do with the complete lack of leprechauns prancing about because if I have learned anything from Lucky Charms commercials it is that they are everywhere in search of pots of gold and rainbows.  I suppose I will be able to deal with that though...

Oh right, that whole "school" thing...

After a few days now of generally milling about the city of Cork, classes began today.  I took a lovely morning walk to the campus and realized that it was the first time that I had been all by myself in these last couple of days. The solitude was really nice. The walk is about 15 minutes to campus which is really not that bad but quite a haul compared to the few minutes it takes to get around at csb/sju.  I am still trying to find the "Link" bus but I am begining to think that they dont even have one! The campus is really amazing with large buildings and great common areas. I will have to put up pictures but I suppose I will first need to take some.  I hope ill be able to do this tomorrow.

Though I thought my sleeping schedule had finally bagan to normalize I was proven wrong in the last couple of nights. I slept until 2pm yesterday and then could't for the life of me fall asleep last night. Hopefully a bit more rest will do me good.

Class today was pretty good, I had my European Framework class and then an ethics course called Questions in moral theory.  The second is a philosophy course which I think I'm really going to enjoy... a real head scratcher.

Ireland has been great so far! I think I am going to go to a more rural area this weekend and am excited to see a bit of the countryside!  More updates to come!

Here I find myself on the Emerald Isle

So here I am!  I find myself in Ireland and after a couple days into the trip I cannot help but think how fast it all went.  I was just sitting around at home in minnesota and now all of a sudden I am living in Ireland for 5 months.  The first day here was full of running around the city of Cork and doing my best to familiarize myself with my new surroundings as well as the anticipation of going to my first Irish pub.  That dream would ultimately have to wait until the next day as jet-lag got the better of me and my two hour nap at 4:00pm (16:00) turned into a 5+ hour nap and I woke up a bit before 10 and found everyone else in my group asleep.

The next day saw the arrival of the last of our group members and finally a visit to the pub!  It was a real hole in the wall called the Franciscian Well but has great character and is right across the street from my apartment. I am ashamed to admit that I have been in Ireland for 3 days and have not yet had a Guiness but the pub makes its own beer and I felt like I had to try some of them.  We heard on the news the other night that the pubs of Ireland are in trouble as a result of the hurting Irish economy, the smoking ban and the grocery stores selling cheep alcohol.  It looks as thought I will need to do my part to help out these hurting pubs and stimulate the Irish economy... this should not be all that difficult a task.


The apartment is pretty cool and has a great view of the river and a lot of the city as well.  I will put pictures on here soon.  It has been great so far and I can't wait for classes to start and to dive right into things!