Blogs from Limerick, County Limerick, Ireland, Europe

So it was Student Race Day! As we were putting on our makeup and putting on our dressy clothes, everyone walking outside was in suits and dresses. I loved it! Everyone looked so nice. I had even bought a big, flowery hat for the occasion. We all went over to Reed's house before we got on the bus to go to the Races. Everyone looked so nice! On the bus, I met one of Brittany's friends from London, Kristy. She was a lot of fun to talk to. After the 30 minute bus ride to the track, the sun was out and it was actually warm. Of course, you can never expect this to last a long time in Ireland, especially Limerick which is the wettest county in Ireland. Right by the entrance was the warm ... read more

I attended the weekly Tuesday lunch series concert on March 12nd, 2013. I had the privilege of hearing Karen Tweed on the button accordion, Timo Alakotila playing the baby grand piano, and Timo Myllykangas accompanying on the acoustic double bass. It was held in theater 1 in the Irish World Academy Building. The audience ranged from college students participating because of the requirement for this essay to seniors that came just to hear music. When I walked in and sat down, I was curious as to what I was about to hear. The concert started off with just the piano playing legato, quiet music. After a few minutes, the accordion added in and played the same melody at first, but then it built into counteracting melodies. The music was so melodic and beautiful. It made you ... read more

This weekend was uneventful. I spent most of it in my room doing homework. On Saturday though, I went to a Munster v Osprey Rugby Game. In the end, it ended in a tie of 13-13. I expected Rugby to be like football. I have never been so wrong. They have to pass backwards, which I had known before. But they literally don't ever stop the clock. There were two halves and each was 40 minutes long. Also in the middle of the game, about half of the players on the field would line up and just push and turn. I still have no idea what they were doing. Going to the rugby game reminded me of being home. They had chants just like we do in America. They were selling hot dogs and I felt ... read more

Today I went on an open bus tour of Limerick city. It was absolutely stunning. The houses are so quaint and cute. There were lots of catholic churches. According to the tour guide, everything in Ireland is called St. Johns, like a few of the churches on the tour and a castle. He showed us the shopping district which will definitely help with my shopping needs while I'm here. One thing I found to be different was how they defined their houses in the more downtown part with colored doors. They did this to decorate their house without changing the outside too much. The houses more out of the main drag are so well kept and always have stone barriers around their parcel. Although it rained the entire ride, it was definitely worth sitting on the ... read more

The countdown is on with only 12 days to go before lift off and I decided to get this blog up and running cause I know if I dont do it before we take our first flight, Ill never do it. Hopefully I can keep this blog as less boring as possible but with some of the places we are going to before we hit Oz there should hopefully be a few crazy experiences. First stop will be Singapore and as promised above we are straight into the crazy experience by staying in the heart of the red light district (normal ladies and questionable ladies included). It should be an interesting stopover and I'm sure it will have many differences to the red light district in Amsterdam. So stay tuned for some dodgy photo's, chicks with................. ... read more

Airports are lovely petrie dishes of diversity. People watching is one of my favorite pasttimes, yet I so easily forget that the airport is one of the most interesting places to people watch in! Going to Boston I saw a few very stereotypical-looking Boston natives on their way home, proudly wearing their Redsox gear. I saw a few nicely-dressed hair-parted men over 6 ft. looking like they'd be returning from a business trip. Then of course there are the adorable little kids strapped into various gadgets who wave and coo at you while you exchange pleasant knowing smiles with their parents. All that was almost old hat to me. International departure gates, however, pose a whole new world—literally? But in a very good way! I joked with an Irish woman and her daughter in line for ... read more

Back in 2009, you followed Eric and I on our round the world trip, the M.P. After a few years in the U.S., we are back out on the road, again. This could have been called the M.P. 2, but it is a permanent journey, so it is now the L.P. or Life Plan!! Follow my new travel blog at www.ashworldtravel.com. Just like before, you can add your email address on the right side of the website. You will receive a confirmation email - just click on the link provided to confirm your subscription. Feel free to forward the blog along to any friends who are interested in travel as well!!! Thanks for your support in the past. I appreciate it!!... read more

So here I am - 2 days to go and its complete chaos in the house. I've turned into a pile maker - piles of stuff everywhere - stuff to go into the van, stuff that could go into the van, stuff that I'd like to take in the van but probably won't.... and thats not even starting on clothes. I've gone balloobas checking weather forecasts trying to decide how warm it could be in europe in December and thought I had my pile sorted... but then my friend called in yesterday and reminded me about the time we went to spain in May a few years back and I ended up borrowing clothes from her cause I was freezing and hadn't even packed a jacket... hmmmm. Anyway, it'll be fine - sure I can always ... read more