Kristina and Carolyn's Visit: Friday

The grand finale of Kristina and Carolyn's trip!

Friday the plan was to go to Howth, about forty minutes outside Dublin by train, if the weather was decent. Turns out the weather was decent enough so after mailing Kristina's many postcards at the UCD post office we hopped on a bus and headed into Dublin. After getting into the city we made our way over to the Famine Memorial on the banks of the river. On our way we ran into many people selling daffodils as a fundraiser for the Irish Cancer Society and Carolyn bought a bunch, which she later tossed into the ocean.

We looked at the Famine Memorial and then, to Kristina's delight, headed over to Connolly Station to catch a train to Howth. Kristina was very excited about being in a station that shared her last name and we took many pictures of her next to various signs. Then we hopped on the DART and were on our way to Howth.

Unfortunately the weather was not looking good when we got there. It was getting rather windy and by the end of our hike it had started raining. It didn't stop us as we made our way up the trail to get the gorgeous views of cliffs and the ocean. Here is a sample:

The magic of the self-timer.

It was getting a little damp in Howth so we decided to hop back on the train and get into Dublin for some lunch, going to a place called Kate's Cottage for some hardy Irish food. After lunch we headed over to The Temple Bar for some music, stopping at the James Connolly memorial on the way. Temple Bar didn't have very good traditional music that day but we enjoyed sitting down and relaxing never the less.

Kristina had been taking pictures of the various colourful doors in Dublin so we made our way down to the Georgian area of town, stopping for pictures along the way. The doors here really are fun and I never get tired of watching them fly by me as I ride the Dublin Bus. We also stopped in Merrion Square, which is the park with the Oscar Wilde statue (although there are probably about four hundred in Ireland). I showed them how it was done, climbing onto the rock where the statue sits. I did it fairly easily, but I had already had practice. Then Carolyn tried. Carolyn is a lot shorter than me and her shorter legs may have done her a disservice. For the life of her she couldn't get up. The funniest part came when she finally got both her feet on the rock only to fall backwards into the garden. Poor Carolyn. On her last attempt, as she made the hop over I held her to keep her from falling. I would have done this before but she wouldn't let me.

We walked around looking at doors a little more, then it was time to hop on a bus back to UCD. It just so happened that Brittany and Laura were on the same bus so we chatted with them on the way back. Laura had just gotten her hair cut and needed it dyed so Brittany was going to come up to our apartment and help her. We all gathered in the kitchen as Brittany dyed Laura's hair and then the Dsigs played a little cards.

Kristina, Carolyn, and I went back to my room after Britt left because they needed to get all their belongings in their suitcases and ready for bed. Laura came in to show us how her hair turned out and ended up chatting with us for a couple of hours. It was a good session of girl talk and made me realize how much I missed my slumber parties with Kristina.

The girls left the next morning at about 6 am. It was so nice to have them here and although I miss they could stay longer my room wasn't spacious with three girls sleeping/living there.

Kristina and Carolyn's Visit: Thursday

After spending the weekend in Galway and the Aran Islands I had to get back to Dublin for classes but Kristina and Carolyn continued their Irish vacation without me, going to the Cliffs of Moher, Cork, Blarney, and many other places along the way. I have to give them a lot of credit for making their way around Ireland by buses without missing one, despite the fact that they had no watch and were using the time stamp on Carolyn's camera for the time. They came back into the city on Wednesday night and we spent time together Thursday and Friday before they left this morning.

Thursday we tackled a lot in Dublin. Kristina was dead-set on going to the Castletown House, which was owned by the Conolly family. She desperately hoped that she was related and would someday inherit it but her dreams were shattered when she was told by our guide that her last name was spelled the wrong way (two N's). The house was about forty minutes outside Dublin and really beautiful and on a lot of nice land. When we got there they said that they had a large group scheduled to come and we would not be able to get a tour for an hour and a half. We pleaded with them and they arranged for a woman from the office to come down and show us around really quickly so it worked out great. The interior was so nice and it looked like a house Mr. Darcy could have lived in.

After taking a bus back into Dublin we went to Kilmainham Gaol. Loyal readers may know that I had already gone there once and was planning on doing some work/shopping while Kristina and Carolyn went but I enjoyed it so much the first time that I decided to tag along (not to mention I get in free with my Heritage card). This time I had a different tour guide which was nice because she focused on different things, including the role that women played in the revolution and civil war. Kristina and Carolyn really enjoyed the exhibit as well.

After Kilmainham we took the bus back into the city. I had to do a little shopping (including getting a new polka dotted dress; I seriously didn't remember the last time I bought a new outfit) and then we went to dinner. Carolyn wanted to try a place called Cafe Fresh, which was a vegetarian restaurant. It had really great food and was really affordable, therefore Dinner = Success.

After dinner we tried to go to the Garden of Remembrance but we never would have guessed that it closed before 6. We peeked through the bars of the gate and were somewhat able to get the idea. I felt bad that Carolyn and Kristina couldn't really visit it while their time here.

We got some dessert and then headed over to the Woolshed, an Australia bar that the Wolfpack was at to watch the Australian football game. Laura is a big fan and being eleven hours behind and in Ireland was not going to stop her from rooting for her favorite team. We went there for a couple of minutes to say hi and then headed home to get ready for karaoke.

Once we got back to UCD it was obvious that we would not have enough energy to party with Brock Jones, the karaoke master, that night. Instead, we had girl talk and went to bed early because we had to fit a lot in the next day.

Inishmor

Cliffs near Dun Aengus on the Aran Islands

Inishmor (I've seen about four different spellings) is the largest of the Aran Islands and Kilronan is the biggest town there. The population is about 2,000 people and the island is two miles by nine miles. The only way you can get there is by ferry; one is at 10 am and the other is at 6 pm. I also know from experience that everyone you pass on the street says hello to you. It has been my favorite place that I have visited in Ireland and I got to share it with Kristina and Carolyn.

We woke up and headed down to breakfast at the Pier House Bed & Breakfast. The man of the house told us that he had lived on this tiny island his whole life, something that I don't think I could do. After a hearty breakfast we went across the street to Aran Bike Rental to rent bikes for the day. Each bike only cost ten euro and it is for sure the best way to tour the island. Inishmor is so rustic that I think being in a car would spoil it. The bike rental guy showed us the best trails to take and we were off! Enjoy our bike tour:

Kristina and Carolyn beginning the ride

The Landscape

Horses, which we met up with later.

Dun Aengus, a Late Bronze Age fort on the cliff. As the cliff erodes chunks of it continue to fall in the ocean.

We spent the longest time just taking pictures at the top of the cliffs. We had nowhere to be and there is a great possibility that we will never be back so we snapped away. Also we were right on the cliffs; we could just look down and see the ocean beneath us. This is Kristina and me in our matching Delta Sigma Pi sweatershirts. Precious.

Waves crashing against the cliffs. Being up there is humbling because the ocean seems so powerful. Not to mention one misstep and you're falling 100 feet.

Loving every minute of it!

Carolyn cheating death on the edge of the cliff.

Cows grazing. Those stone walls have no mortar so they can easily be moved when the animals need somewhere else to eat.

Seals! We headed over to Seal Cove on our second time around the island (we got back from our first round at 2 and the ferry didn't leave until 6 so we decided it to take advantage of our time on Inishmor).

Many seals. They are kinda funny looking things, but I bet they think the same thing about humans.

Carolyn was very excited about the seals so we went to great lengths (literally) to get close to them. I'm glad that Kristina, who can be kind of a klutz, made it safely over the seaweed covered rocks.

Carolyn petting a horse in the distance.

We had a lot of fun petting the horses. There were three adults and a colt.

Stonewalls that were all over the island. I love the patterns the rocks make.

After looking through all of my pictures I was kind of disappointed because none of them capture what the island was really like. One of my guidebooks described it as "moody, heart-stopping beauty that can be interpreted as starkly romantic or monotonously bleak." I really like this description. Riding around here it looked like a movie set for rustic Ireland.

Galway with the Dsigs

Streets of Galway

The original plan for Kristina and Carolyn's first full day in Ireland was to wake up at 6 am and catch an early bus to Galway, but waking up at 6 am was asking a lot so we hit the snooze button for 2.5 hours. We then were out of the room by 9 and caught the bus out of Dublin.

Once we got into Galway our first task was getting tickets for the ferry that we had to take that night into Inish Mor. We got those at the Tourist Information place and then walked along the seaside into the center of town where all the shops and restaurants are. On Saturdays there is a small market around St. Nicholas Church so we browsed around there for little while. Carolyn and I got pretzels and Kristina and Carolyn also got crepes for a crepe stand. The owner was having a lot of fun cooking their crepes and even let them come into the small stand to take a picture.

One of the objectives we had going to Galway was getting an authentic claddagh ring from which originated around there. Serious shoppers that we are we browsed around for the best price and the perfect ring, ending up  at Thomas Dillon, the "original" makers of the claddagh ring. I don't know exactly what the qualifications are for being the original but their rings are the only ones that are allowed to write "original" on the back of their ring. They also had an exhibit at the back of the shop showing the first claddagh rings and telling their story. With the help of Kristina and Carolyn, enablers extrodinaire, I ended up purchasing a sterling silver one, which has a lifetime guarantee. All in all, I'm really glad I got a claddagh ring to remember my trip to Ireland.

After getting Kristina's mother some Ireland wool yarn we got on the shuttle that would take us to the dock for the ferry. It was a fairly long drive and then we had to take the ferry for about 45 minutes, leaving us at about 2 hours roundtrip with waiting. The Ireland v Scotland rugby game was on that day and the Irish, as of most of Europe, are very passionate about their rugby. Therefore the game was on the TVs on the ferry and everyone riding would cheer or moan with the game.

Watching the match

We pulled into the dock in Inish Mor, the largest of the Aran Islands. Our B & B, the Pier House, which Carolyn booked was right at the end of the pier (you probably could have guessed that) and we made our way over there. We ran into the man of the house coming out of the driveway and he said that we must have the wrong place because he had no reservations for that night. Carolyn panicked slightly and told him that she certainly made reservations. He brought us inside and realized that he had written our reservations for the wrong day and there was definitely room at the inn because we were the only people staying there. We dropped our stuff off in the room and headed out to find some dinner.

We ate at the Bayview Restaurant which had a fairly good selection and amazing garlic bread. After a short dinner where Carolyn and Kristina argued over who should have what sugar packet (because each had a different Irish proverb on it) we went out in search of some Irish music. We were told to go to Joe Watty's which was up the road about 7 minutes. The walk was kind of scary for me because it was so dark. The island is so vacant and there are barely any street lights so we were wrapped in darkness. Carolyn and Kristina said that they felt perfectly safe on the island but I always think of the worst case scenario.

We got to the cozy little Ti Joe Watty's and the music was going to start in about ten minutes so we got a table and some water. The music group of the night was a group of three boys, two of which were probably younger than us, and who looked like brothers. They played traditional Irish music, along with some contemporary pieces, and during "Galway Girl" a girl ran up and started Irish dancing. I got the local flavour there and it was a lot of fun. The boys were fairly good and near the end another older man took over for the guitarist. I just loved the feeling of the island and its people.

I'm thinking about trying to bring live Traditional music to Champaign.

Hello Kristina and Carolyn!

I had some visitors from 'merica.

On Friday morning Kristina Connolly and Carolyn Wott, fellow Deltasigs, came to visit me in Dublin. After bringing their stuff into my room and showering we were ready to hit the city. We had planned on doing the New Europe tour of Dublin and found the tour at the meeting spot they said but it was done within an hour leading me to believe that we caught it halfway through. Curious that they would be at the start point at the exact time the other one was supposed to start but who knows. I tried to cover some of the other sights of Dublin for them, like Dublin Castle, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral, and O’Connell Street but it would have been once to hear what the guide would have said. The hour we were on the tour was great though and I have a couple more stories about Bono. You know what they say, Dublin is a city of 1.3 million people and 3 million Bono stories.

After looking around the city we were dragging so we headed into the pub to listen to some music and relax. I wanted to find some nice traditional music but of course all I could find were guitarists playing “Wonderwall.” We settled down in The Quays Pub and talked it up with some English men there for a bachelor party. In Ireland you meet friends wherever you go.

At 6 Brittany and Laura came downtown to meet us for dinner, which we also had at The Quays. We talked and ate and then it was time to head back to UCD because we were pretty tired. Kristina and Carolyn hit the hay early while I stayed up and did some work. We had an early day tomorrow and had to be ready for adventure.