Blogs from Ireland, Europe - page 3

My fun filled weekend started off with an 8 am bus to Dublin with Sammi and Kyle. When we arrived in the city, we found the information office and got a map right away so we didn't get lost. Right down the street was a Carroll's. These stores are the most touristy places I have ever seen. It is a huge gift shop. There was so much green everywhere. I found some shamrock boxer shorts there and I love them. We decided to make our way over the the Guinness Factory Storehouse. On the way we stopped at a little cafe for lunch. We figured that because it wasn't busy and was a small place it would be good food. Boy were we wrong. The owner asked for Kyle's order 4 times and then when we ... 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 Randi and I adventured to Galway. After the 2 and a half hour bus ride, we pulled into the Galway Bus Station and a beautiful day! We checked into our hostel, The Galway City Hostel, and then went to find some food. We stopped into a pub called the Skeff. They were still serving breakfast so we decided to try our luck at an Irish Breakfast. It was the best decision we could have made. An Irish breakfast consists of sausage, bacon, an egg, black pudding, white pudding, and potatoes. Black and White pudding is not like the pudding you may be thinking of, it has a totally different taste and texture. It is more of a solid, but it tastes delicious. I also ordered a hot chocolate with the breakfast. It was so ... read more

Hi, I have now booked flights for our trip to Asia, I am flying into Singapore on the 18th June and wondering about accommodation, where are the best low priced hotels, how do we get from Airport to city cheaply etc. any help would be much appreciated. We are only staying for a couple of days but would like to see as much of it as we can.... 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

‎"What we address today is how you took this country’s terrible ‘secret’ and made it your own.Burying it carrying it in your hearts here at home, or with you to England and to Canada America and Australia on behalf of Ireland and the Irish people. But from this moment on you need carry it no more.Because today we take it back.... read more

Heading off to the airport in a couple of hours, hopefully will keep this blog somewhat updated. Every blog entry needs an obligatory picture really, so here's one of my awesome guitar collection. In the airport now, having my last pint of Guinness for some time. Well, I'll probably try the Guinness everywhere I go but I'm not hoping for much. Just testing out the features of the blog really, this isn't supposed to be the most interesting thing you've ever read.... read more

Hello all!!! I have been MIA the last little while, not from boredom or laziness of writing a travel blow, but more because life has been crazy busy the last little while. I am currently in Amsterdam en route to Copenhagen to visit my cousins, Andre and Jonas.... This past week has been nuts- because of this festival called Carnival. There are parades everyday, and parties every night in the street for a week. The idea behind it is that people eat and drink until they explode before they participate in lent, a fasting which lasts 40 days and 40 nights. I don't think anyone actually does this anymore (or if they do, less people do than before). I think now people just party for the sake of it. The amount of work that goes into ... read more

This weekend I took at trip to the Dingle Peninsula and Killarney. I stayed in my first hostel! We took the bus to Dingle on Saturday morning. We had a transfer in Tralee so we walked around until the next bus got there. There was a bunch of little shops and we stopped in a book shop. I found a book that was a rip-off of 50 shades of grey called Irish Shades of Grey. I bought two books there. One was traditional Irish Fairytales and the other talks about the little idiosyncrasies of Irish people that separate them from everyone else. They both are very interesting. The bus ride to Dingle was beautiful. We were on a winding road through mountains and farm fields. When we got to Dingle, we went straight to Jon Benny's ... read more