IRELAND!!!

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Hey all!!! Sorry this is so late in coming up, but here are some updates on my Ireland trip!! I'm actually in Madrid now, and I will post soon, but here's my diary from Ireland so far.... AMAZING 😊

Day 1- May 19th- Well, I arrived in Ireland!! The flight was fine, I couldn’t sleep but it wasn’t too bad. I arrived about a half hour late, and Trevor was waiting for me in the exit, sporting a pretty strange looking mullet!  We took the bus through Dublin back to his apartment, (which is TINY… and kind of dirty… but nice  ) and we took a nap. His friend german Jonas (pronounced Yonas) cooked us a mish-mash type dinner of veggies, potatoes, sauce, rice, and random things. . (For the record—he’s pretty much beautiful, and very nice—big blue eyes, charming smile, brown curly hair….he’s got this cute German accent, he’s so charming!! ) We then went over to a “(mu)stach bash”- a party where every guest sports a mustache! It was fun, I met people from all over the world!!! Trevor’s roommate, Federico, from Italy is very funny and nice, a very small little Italian man. I also met Trevor’s Italian girlfriend, a very sweet, pretty girl who was very friendly and nice! The party was fun, and I tried my first taste of Irish apple cider—sooo good!! It was a good night! Love it here already!!

Day 2- May 20, 2008- Second day in Ireland—I pretty much saw it all! I am sleeping in a bed in the empty room that belonged to Trevor’s other roommate, Kevin. There are no sheets, a blank comforter that is usually duveted, and uncovered pillows… Trevor gave me an airplane blanket, but I’m pretty creeped out sleeping on this dirty bare mattress!!!! And, to top it all off, his roommate returned this morning and came in, and was NOT expecting to see me in his bed!! I think I freaked him out pretty bad… haha… anyways….Today was my “Ireland in a day” day… Jonas has this ridiculous orange van that has three seats in the front, and this HUGE bed in the back—we all piled in (me, Federico, Jonas, Gulia, Kevin , Trevor, and this Finnish girl Emma) and we drove to Loughdam and took a BEAUTIFUL hike through the mountains. I honestly can’t describe how gorgeous the country side in Ireland is—EVERYTHING is green, and there is so much space. There are these huge rolling hills, and these quaint walls of pure rock (probably about a hundred years old) divide the plots of land. We took a walk up a country road and out through the hills, and saw spectacular views of this beautiful lake. It was honestly breathtaking. We saw some ruins of old houses, built completely of stones. We crossed a small river to reach a climbing rock. Jonas is an experienced rock climber, and he free climbed this giant 30 foot rock to hook up a carribeaner and gear. We each then in turn climbed the rock. I had really bad shoes with no traction, but I still managed to climb the face of it! It was exhilarating!! I then later got to the top from the back, and laid down on top of the rock. I looked around, and for the first time I could remember in ages, there was nothing but nature all 360 degrees around me. We were in this huge valley, with a lake on the left, beautiful green fields in the center, and huge, rolling hills peppered with large rocks. A tiny stream meandered through the center of the field, and the weather was beautiful (a bit cold, but nice and relatively sunny). It was such a moving experience—I don’t think there are enough words in the English language to describe how beautiful this island is! I love it! Anyways…. Then we drove back and stopped at the store to get fixings for dinner. It was Gulia’s last night here in Ireland, so we made chili. I made garlic bread, and Kevin made mashed potatoes (Kevin is full blooded Irish, he’s got such a cute accent! Very nice, charming lad  ). Dinner was great, and then we relaxed and a ton of Trevor’s friends came over for a small get together. It’s been a crazy day, but SO much fun! I think tomorrow we are going to Liv’s house—should be fun! I’m loving it here!!

Day 3- May 21, 2008- Today I slept in really really late, and it was the last day of a ton a Trevor’s friends, so it was kind of a sad day. Trevor’s girlfriend Giulia was leaving back for Italy, and so were a ton of other Italians. We helped everyone get ready and took them to the bus stop, and everyone was very sad to be saying goodbye. I spent some time with Kevin, Trevor’s roommate, the only true Irish boy I’ve met here. He was very funny and very nice, I was sad I didn’t get to spend more time with him! Then, we hopped on a bus into Dublin, and took another bus over to Liv’s house. Liv is Mary Lou’s old friend, who fell in love with an Irishman and moved here 20 years ago. She was very sweet and welcoming, and took us on a beautiful walk up a mountain on the Howth peninsula. There were Rododendrons (sp?) in bloom in so so many colors- red, pink, yellow, purple… they were beautiful! We took a hike with her dog Adam, and from the top we could see the coast and the Eye of Ireland (an island). Then we came back to her home and watched this big soccer tournament (the Champiopnship of EU soccer- two English teams faced each other for the first time ever). My jet lag finally caught up with me, and I fell asleep, but she prepared us a lovely dinner, and then we came home and crashed. Beautiful day!

Day 4- May 22, 2008- Today I saw Dublin!!! Trevor and I took the train into town. We had a brunch/breakfast with his Chilean friend, Diego, and Jonas (Who I’ve now completely developed a crush on)… Then we went into town and met up with Hugh, Liv’s husband, who is a professor at Trinity College. Trinity is Ireland’s oldest college, founded in 1592. The buildings, architecture, and ambiance of the campus are all ridiculous—its like stepping back in time. The campus felt like an ivy league, yet even more historic and classy. Hugh took us on some behind the scenes look on campus—he showed us staff buildings, took us around campus, and got us in free to see the Book of Kells. The Book of Kells is the oldest Irish copy of the bible- it was written in 700 or 800 AD, and is written in Latin but has traditional Gaelic artistry and craftsmanship. Even more impressive than the Book of Kells, though, was the long library in Trinity- it was this HUGE library, with vaulted ceilings and beautiful architecture of huge, sprawling arches. The library is filled with books (some as old as the 1700’s) and was breathtaking—I wish I could have taken pictures, but it wasn’t allowed…  Then, Trevor and I went over to the National Gallery of Island (basically like their national museum) and looked at a few artifacts and saw bog people. Ireland is filled with those famous bogs which have preserved bodies, including the skin, hair, and fingernails, for thousands of years. Most of the bodies showed evidence of violent deaths; they were very haunting but completely fascinating. Then we took quite a walk around main town Dublin, and it started raining a bit. We walked to the Christ Church, but they wanted 6 euro to go inside, so I simply took pictures from the outside. Then we went and got chipper (greasy food) and I sampled some good old fish and chips. They were SO SO good!! (and so so greasy…. ). Then we dabbled around a bit more before meeting Hugh again at my first pub- the Stag Head. I had my first pint of guiness (and loved it, for the record)! Then we walked a few streets over so Hugh could show us another pub (The Long Hall) and Hugh bought me another pint, this time of Bulmer’s, traditional Irish cider. Both pubs were very fun, and had great atmosphere inside. Then, Trev and I finally caught a bus back, where we made dinner with Jonas. A few of Trevor’s friends came over, and we hung out for a but before heading over to a party in the nearby neighborhood. The party was a large exposure to Irish people for me—all of the others were Irish, the most I had met so far. They were all very very friendly, but I ended up talking to a sweet young guy named Tom for over a half an hour before I realized he was blind!! (in my defense, it was kind of dark and I just thought that he must have been REALLY drunk…) We had a good time, and then headed back to Trevor’s with a few friends and hung out the rest of the night... I’m so sad to be leaving tomorrow, I’ve had so much fun in Ireland and I’ve met SO many people!!

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