Spring Break, Part I

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After a fun yet exhausting two weeks traveling throughout Europe, I got back to the U.K. late Sunday night.

We departed for Cork on Thursday, April 6, and thus began our European expedition. I was so excited when we finally landed in Cork. The air smelt of Irish countryside, which had an odd aroma of cow manure, but I loved it. Being Celtic Club Secretary '04, I felt as if I had finally made it to the homeland, and I was immediately enchanted.

The next day we went to Blarney to see the castle and kiss the Blarney Stone. The gardens surrounding the castle were gorgeous. Lush and green. The country is really so verdant, it's amazing. I loved it. We had a lot of fun at the castle with pictures and such, a stray dog, and the batshit Irish weather that switched from rainy to sunny at the drop of a hat.

We also had lunch in Blarney that day. The food in Ireland was awesome everywhere we went. That morning, I had the most scrumptious scone I've ever had in my life. If the Irish know how to do anything, it's greenery and cookery.

We walked around the city later that day, which was a fun expedition. I love Cork city. It's an eclectic mixutre of old and new, and the people are so nice.

On Saturday, we took the bus to Dublin. I was sad to say goodbye to Cork, because I loved it so. I really do prefer the country to the city, and I want to explore Ireland's West Country some day.

We wandered around Dublin a lot. The city is really cool; there is so much history that I know nothing about, so I'm glad that the others had agendas for us.

On Sunday, I headed to church, albeit it was hard to understand the priest's accent. Then, we met at Trinity College for the Book of Kells exhibition. Illuminated manuscripts happen to be an interest of mine, so it was really cool to see it. Then, we went to the Guiness Brewery for the tour. It was fun, if a bit long, but the views from the bar at the top were superb. Then, we headed to the Irish Musuem of Modern Art. Then, we went to Gruel. And I orgasmed.

Gruel is a restuarant that Kelsy found in her travel book. It reminded me of a Lower East Side, mom and pop diner, and the food was amazing! I had a beef stew thing with mashed potatoes and keeled over with the goodness.

We went out for a pint that night to commemorate our last night in Dublin. The first pub that we found was way too crowed, so we left and ended up at the Confession Box, a pub that I saw on the way to church. This pub wasn't crowded, but everyone was al least 55 and after a few moments of surpised awkwardness, we had our pint and chatted it up with some of the locals. One of the guys had been to the Philippines, and he did the whole, "oh-you're-Filipino-so-i-can-assume-that-you-know-a-lot-about-the-phillipines-too" thing, but I wasn't having it. And there was this other guy that kept on urging us to sing because it was live music that night, and by live music it meant that there was a guitarist and if people know the song they were to sing along. That pub was hilarious.

On Monday, I went to the Dublin Writer's Museum with Lauren and Melanie. The muesum really inspired to read some Irish literature, so now I just need to remember which authors and novels interesred me so I can find them and read them. We had lunch at the cafe in the musuem, and per usual the food was amazing.

Ireland was wonderful place. I loved the people. I loved the food. I loved the general vibe of the place. And I really want to go back and explore the countryside.

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