Monday @ Limerick, Ireland

Friday Sarah and I decided to go to Limerick, Ireland which was only about a 2 hour bus ride from Galway. Sarah and I failed to do much research about Limerick so when we arrived we found a tourist station and mapped out our day accordingly. Outside the station Sarah realized the hard way that her glasses had broken on the bus ride.

First stop St. Marys Cathedral



Second Stop...King John's Castle King John never visited the Castle despite its popular name. He did, however, send his representative, Godfrey de Rupe, in 1216. The uses of the building were many. It was a strategic stronghold, an administrative headquarters, a barracks, and a prison. There was a revolt of prosoners in 1332. Around 40 years later it was captured by the O'Brien and MacNamara clans. Limerick City was granted custody of King John's Castle in 1427, but it was handed back by the end of the following century because the upkeep was so costly. The Castle's defences were improved prior to a major siege in 1642.






This is a reconstruction of a medieveal mint, similar to one that may have stood within this castle during the reign of King John, in the early 13th century. During the period when john was Lord of Ireland (1177 to 1216) he granted the right to mint coins to Dublin, Waterford, Carrickfergus, Downpatrick and Limerick. This was the first time in Ireland's history that coins were used on a national level. In the early days the process of minting was entrusted to the King's moneyer, Willem. The moneyer marked his Christian name and that of the town on one side of the coin and the head of the king on the other.

...of course I had to mint a coin in the castle. It turned out perfecto :)


***A kiss for the King***

Following the Castle we went to the Hunt Museum which was full of thousands of artifacts, some dating all the way back to B.C!!! The concept of time is hard to fathom. The easiest way for me to grasp the concept of timed pasted is according to generations. An artifact that was B.C would be over 200 generations old!!! WOW-ZA.
When we were leaving the Museum the rain started to come down so we decided to stop for lunch in a little pub by the river. I had a tuna sandwich, side of mashed potatoes and some hot water. yum-yum



The table next to us looked a little something like this...

No, gentlemen your eyes are not playing tricks on you. This IS actually a table built with a keg inside. No need for a waitress or menu. A one stop shop to heaven :)
After a lovely meal and seeing beautiful sights we decided to shop for a bit before catching the bus and heading back to Galway.

As if you already didn't know.. I have the most AMAZING, SUPPORTIVE, CHARMING, INTELLIGENT, ADVENTEROUS, FAMILY ORIENTATED, HANDSOME, ROMANTIC boyfriend that I thank god everyday for. Ever since I brought up the possibility of going to Ireland for school, he has supported me and pushed me to fufill these dreams of studying abroad. Now that I am here he has kept me strong each and everyday, taught me how to believe, and to trust in the unknown. Every morning I wake up to a wonderful e-mail inspiring me to take advantages of all the opportunities the day ahead is about to present, and today is another day like any other except this time I woke up to...


.. gorgeous flowers! Yes, he is truely the best! I love Mr. Andrew Chase Miller with all of my heart and soul.

"If I could reach up and hold a star for every time you've made me smile, the entire evening sky would be in the palm of my hand." - Unknown

After a perfect start, I continued my fabulous day by meeting the grandparents for breakfast at their hotel and then we all headed to church.

Mass was good, but the pastor spoke so incrediably fast that even with a pamphlet in hand I was not able to speak the verses as quickly as these Irish people were yelling them out. Craziness I tell you! At least we got our exercise (up down up down up down).

In the evening Sarah and I made tacos and burritos for the host mother Cindy, and her husband and children got her a chocolate chip cookie in the shape of a heart. Needless to say we had a very fun dinner. A great way to end an amazing day.


Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!! xoxo

Grandparents are here!!! :)

This weekend has been absolutely grand. The grandparents came in on Friday. I met up with them at 5pm at their hotel to have a drink and a scrumptious early Valentine's Dinner. The night started off with a toast to family support, and opportunity.

While at the dinner table I got to hear about all of their travels around Ireland starting with their arrival in Dublin, then off to Waterford, followed by Killamey, and Limerick. When I asked grandpa his favorite place visited, he quickly responded with the Stud Farm (a man after my own heart). He explained that the grounds were covered in tulips and pastures, with ground handlers everywhere taking care of the horse's every want and need. The cheapest horse on the property would sell for 3 millon dollars!! INSANE. At the same time I was listening to grandpa I was also enjoying a filet of Salmon on a bed of noodles and mixed vegtables. One word... AMAZING! Following the main course the waitress brought out the most adorable deserts I've seen in awhile, and boy were they as good as they looked.



Having grandma and grandpa here in Ireland is priceless. I have been blessed! After experiencing the best Valentine's present a granddaughter can receive, I left the grandparents to catch up on their sleep and met the girls at the eyemax cinemas to watch the movie Valentine's Day! The movie was not so great, but there was a bar in the movie theatres and I was able to take my drink into the movie with me. How cool is that? What kind of drink did I have you ask?... A Jack and Diet Coke of course!! :)

This morning Sarah and I met Grandma & Grandpa down at the farmers market. After missing each others phone calls it was a miracle that we found each other, but after spotting them I made a sigh of relief, grabbed an african sausage that Sarah raved about...

...and then took the grandparents into Taaffes (my favorite pub) to get warm and for coffee. I must admit that the pub looked much different without 300 people standing shoulder to shoulder. Poor grandpa could not get warm. Luckily he found an open fire in the pub.

We then wandered throughout town, looking at one of the Spanish Arches in Eyre Square assembled in 1649 and also an arcitectural piece.


In the square we caught the #1 bus which took us down to salthill (aka the beach). The first thing we all said was "Man does it smell". The tide was out. The rocks and seaweed were wet which gave the beach an awful odor.

After a lovely time on the prom we caught a cab back to my host house where I cooked dinner and had another opportunity to relax and enjoy the grandparents company. The day was GREAT! The morning can't come soon enough. I will be meeting grandma and grandpa for church :) Goodnight! xoxo

Grandma and Grandpa Smith have officially made it here to Ireland safely. I will not see them until Friday afternoon, but in the e-mail I received from them this morning they are well on their way to having a good time!

Northern Ireland

The last 24 hours I have traveled as much of Ireland as I could possibly pack into that amount of time. The day started off by leaving Galway at 1:45am and head to Dublin. I tried to be smart and sleep on the bus so that I was well rested for the remainder of the day, but I slept a little too hard and missed my stop. I finally woke up when the bus driver turned on the lights and said last stop. When I woke up I was at the Dublin airport. So here I am an American girl, lost in the Dublin airport at 4:45am, nothing is open, and no one is around to talk to, so I caught a cab back into Dublin City. (that was one expensive nap). After arriving in Dublin I had an hour before catching my next bus from Dublin to Belfast at 6:00am. Once in Belfast I transfered onto the Paddywagon tour bus which was a guided tour that took me through the Northern U.K.


The first stop on the tour of the Northern U.K was the Carrick-A-Rede Bridge. Carrick-A-Rede means the rock in the road. The road is the sea route for Atlantic salmon on their westward journey past Carrick Island. For over 350 years, fishermen have strung a rope bridge 30m above the sea to allow them to access the best places to catch the migrating salmon.





After facing my fear with heights, I aboarded the the bus and we headed to the Giants Causeway. The legend has it that an Irish Giant, Finn MacChool, built the Causeway to reach Scotland to fight the Scottish giant, Benandonner. As Finn crossed the Irish Sea, he saw that his Schottish adversary was much bigger than him so he fled back to Ireland. Benandonner gave chase. Finn's wife, Oonagh, saw Benandonner approaching in the distance. She hid Finn by dressing him as a baby and putting him to bed. When Benandonner arrived, Oonagh told him that Finn was hunting adn invited him to wait. When she showed Benandonner the 'baby', the Scottish giant got quite a shockL if the baby was that big, waht size must his father be! Benandonner took fright and fled back to Schotland, ripping up the Causeway as he went so Finn could not follow. Two ends of the Giant's Causeway remain today: one here on the North Coast and the other at Fingal's cave on the Scottish island of Staffa.

This is what's left of the causeway.




This is the mountain I am sitting on top of in the below photo. If you look closely you can see people standing on the edge (they look like ants)



The Giant's Chair

The Organ
Following the Giants Causeway the tour bus took us through 1 hour 1/2 of beautiful countryside as we travelled to our next destination, the city of Derry. In Derry I was able to get off of the bus, visit the murals of Derry and the site of Bloody Sunday.

Just experienced my first American dinner since I have been here. The menu: hamburgers, hot dogs, pasta salad, and deviled eggs. MMMmmm MMMmm Delicious. The host mom BBQ'd the meat while her son held an umbrella over her head (it was raining outside)Sarah and I made the pasta salad (penne pasta, sweet corn, bell peppers, olives, and balsamic vinigarette). In approximately 5 hours I will be on a 6 hour bus ride up to Belfast with Paddywagon tours :) check out my itinerary at http://www.paddywagontours.com/viewtour.php?id=55&&day=05&&month=02&&year=2010

Pictures and Commentary to follow on Sunday!!!
Have a wonderful weekend everyone.
xoxo

In every green place I've been to therehave been bugs. Big ones, small ones, fat ones, long ones, skinny ones... you get the point. Since I have been in Ireland I have not seen a trace of a bug. There are a million birds and the occasional domesticated animal walking itself around the city but as far as crikets, spiders, mosquitos, flys, etc. I have not seen one. Today on my relaxing walk home I almost stepped on a worm!!! (I think it was an earthworm but I did not cut it open to check to see if it had 5 hearts or not)I know to you an earthworm is probably no big deal but its the first sign of any small creature here! Just thought I'd share the moment with you all :) Love you xoxo