Thanksgiving in Ireland

Thursday: Happy Thanksgiving from Ireland!!!!

To start our holiday off, we ate a traditional Irish breakfast. Check out the picture I posted. Not only are the breakfasts HUGE, but they are full of meat. Notice the black and brown circles on the plate. These are called black and white pudding; Another name is BLOOD PUDDING. On the first day I was here, I forgot what was in these and ate them. Let me give you a hint as to what they are made with,...one of the main ingredients is in the name (hello...blood....). Another part of this sausage looking food is animal intestine. Yup, I ate this.

After looking at another castle and a picturesque village, we eventually ended up Tralee for Thanksgiving dinner. I put a picture of my Thanksgiving meal up.

Despite the fact that the restaurant tried their best, it just wasn't like home. We all stood up and said what we were Thankful for at dinner time. This moment was actually the first time I have felt homesick on this trip. We all sat around and talked about what happens on our Thanksgivings back at home. All I could think about was my whole family, crowded in my Grandmothers kitchen, holding hands and saying our prayers before dinner. Man, my mouth is watering just thinking about the food my Dad, Grandfather and Uncles slave over all day. Although I had a moment of sadness, the rest of the night was wonderful. We danced the hokey pokey to an accordion player and watched American football on the TV until the late hours of the night.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!

Here are just a few pictures from my adventures today. The famous Temple Bar. All the pubs are so beautiful! The atmosphere is so welcoming and fun. I love all the live music!

I also took a picture of the rive and double Decker buses at night. I hate those stupid buses,...we have to ride them for an hour to get to the city. Today however, I had a funny experience, my roommate opened an emergency exit, thinking it was a window. The bus stopped,...right in the middle of the street and shut down. I almost died laughing. The bus driver had to run around the bus to find the problem. Luckily , cough cough, the guy next to us was "nice enough" to point out that the problem was us. Needless to say, we got a few stares.

On another note:

I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy and Healthy Thanksgiving. I will be traveling, so enjoy all the turkey and stuffing! I will be thinking of everyone. Watch some football for me! I'll write when I come back.

Happy Thanksgiving

Monday and Tuesday...

Monday and Tuesday

Over the past few days a lot has been happening in Ireland. Because we didn't have school on Tuesday, our whole group went to the oldest Pub in Ireland, the Brazen Head. The picture shows me stapling a dollar bill to the wall. At this pub, it is a tradition for any American to sign his or her name on dollar bill and tack them to the walls. There are dollar bills everywhere. I am now a piece of history at the Brazen Head.

The reason there was no school on Tuesday was because all the private sectors in Ireland were striking! The government is cutting salaries and taking away pensions, so on Tuesday, everyone striked. It was amazing not to have school, but also to watch the strikes on the streets. I can't imagine our WHOLE country uniting for a strike. It was truly mystical.

During the day on Tuesday, we toured the Jameson factory....I had so much fun!!! We also ate at another amazing pub. We were about to tour Trinity College when it started to pour (this has happened A LOT so far). The rest of our day was spent soaking wet and sitting on a bus. The wind and rain are a common thing here. One moment it is sunny and the next your drenched. Not ideal beach weather, Ill tell you!

I kissed that rock thing....

Felicia....I kissed that 'rock thingy' today.

Today I kissed the Blarney Stone. The first two pictures are of me kissing the stone. The last picture is of Blarney Castle. I nearly fell climbing, what felt like, miles of stairs to get to the top.
To break up the 4 hour drive we had to get to Blarney, we stopped at another castle (this is the third picture in). I have come to a very important conclusion this trip: there are WAY TOO MANY castles in Ireland. Each castle is unique and mystical in its own way and I really appreciate the architecture in each one, but there are just sooooooo many.

On another fantastic note: I bought Waterford crystal today. I now am going to need a third job when I come home (oops). The sale lady did a fantastic job selling me "exclusive" Ireland pieces. Apparently the pieces that I bought are only sold in Ireland (yeah right.....). I am going to believe her, however, to help me rationalize the money I spent. I bought four beautiful white wine glasses. The design, which I just researched, is supposed to be Celtic. Although I did not know this at the time, it is actually why I bought them. Because I am sure nobody cares about my purchase, I will stop this conversation before anyone falls asleep at their computer.

(p.s. Mom and Dad, look for the package in the mail. When you receive them, treat them like your babies. Put them high up so the dogs don't eat them....you never know.....its possible with my dog)

Sick, but nothing is going to stop me from seeing Ireland!

I am sick of being sick. I guess the weather has finally caught up with me. Despite fighting a migraine ALL day, I still enjoyed myself.

After searching for a route to the Boyne and pushing through inches of water (everything was flooded!!!), we finally made it to our first destination. I learned (for the fourth time) about the most important battle in Irish history,...the Battle of the Boyne.

The next site, the temple passage in New Grange, was more my stride. The passage way we walked through was 5,000 years old. It is 1,000 years older than Stoneheadge and 500 years older than the pyramids. Everything about this site was mystical. One of my posted pictures shows the outside of the passage (no pictures could be taken inside, however). Back when there was no means of transportation (not even horses were domesticated yet), people moved HUGE rock over 400 miles. The site was build with no plaster....literally all that is holding up the passage is rock against rock. Scary but AMAZING. Even cooler,...check out the rock in front of the passage. Can you see the carvings? So cool, right? It gets better I promise! The reason this site is so impressive is because of what happens during the solstice. For only 7 minutes over a five day period, the sun perfectly aligns and illuminates the inside of the passage. The construction of the passage is so genius and precise, that it is said that the stone age humans that created this structure were light years more intelligent than our scientists today. What mystified me even more is that fact that no one can be sure why this passage was created. There are many conjectures, but no real answers. Some believe the passage was used by sun worshipers for religious ceremonies. Some believe the passage was used for burial purposes. Some believe the passage created as art for arts sake. Who knows? Honestly, I am happy not knowing...

The last site we visited was Trim castle. The other two pictures are from this area. Can you guess what famous movie star walked these grounds not too many years ago? Probably not...Mel Gibson! This is where they filmed Brave Heart. Very fun.

Music to my ears

Here is a little music for your enjoyment. I was walking down a street one day and ran into these musicians. It was truly grand to just sit and listen to the music. Hope you enjoy as much as I do!!!

I want to dedicate this blog to all my favorite musicians (Brandon, Cole and Felicia).

Wicklow Tour

Welcome to the beautiful Wicklow mountains. After taking a scenic tour up the mountain, our first destination was the Glendalough Monastic site. Monastic buildings located on this site dated back to the 10th century!

Fun fact about the Irish cross: In one of my picture you will see a grave yard with the remains of a church behind it. Look for an example of a cross. Before St. Patrick came to Ireland, the region's religions was paganism. When St. Patrick came to Ireland, it is said that as to not upset the Pagan culture, he meshed the christian cross with a cirlce (which represents the sun(and other earth materials) that the Pagan's worshiped). This is one theory that I was told today. Many Christians believe that the cirlce encompassing the cross symbolizes everlasting life. I do not know what your beliefs are, but I thought I would share both of these interesting theories.

After touring the monastic site, we took and hour hike up the mountain to view the waterfall (which I took a picture of). By the top of the mountain I was sweating and out of breath. Guess I should start to get in shape, huh?

We ended our day in the Powerscourt House and Gardens (This is the first picture that is shown). The Powerscourt Gardens is a collection of flowers and shrubbery, sculpted in artistic ways. To be truthful, I was slightly disappointed because most of the flowers were dead. The green grass was quit pretty, but all together I was unimpressed with this site. I did, however, have a wonderful scone from the gift shop.

Just another note:

Thanks to anyone that is reading my blog. Are you tired of my scenic pictures yet? It is so hard for me to even describe everything I am seeing. All I can say is that Ireland needs to go on every one's bucket list!

To all my students: Thanks you for listening to what I have to say. If you go away to college, you should take every opportunity available to you to tour other countries. Study abroad! I am learning valuable life lessons everyday. I miss you all! (P.S. Twilight opens on Friday,..I know a few of you have started your countdown! I will see it and then we can compare notes)