Scotland

Since I haven't had any pictures this month, this post shall have them in abundance.

Something I forgot to mention: we saw Avatar in 3D last Monday. It was an impressive thing, but I think that 3D cinematography needs to find it's sea legs before the medium really takes off. Certain 2D conventions, like changing the focus of a frame to direct the viewer's eye, don't really work in 3D (or, at least, I haven't adapted it yet).

So Wednesday morning, we left for Edinburgh. Our flight left at 6:30 in the morning and I was up at half three. We fortunately made it onto the correct plane and were in Edinburgh within two hours. Our hotel wasn't expecting us until noon, so we grabbed breakfast and walked around the neighborhood. Not a touristy location, but lots of cool shops. We checked in, napped, then headed into city center. Edinburgh's city center is a castle on a huge hill, something I feel we lack in America. Enjoy pictures:



The castle's hill was surrounded by a rather nice park. Statues and flowers and stuff.



One of the things I noticed about Edinburgh was how green the city is. Everybody has a little garden out front (all very well-maintained) and some of these seem like tiny parks. People stuff their interiors (by the windows) with flowers and bushes and trees. Streets were tree-lined, sometimes twice.

Things were mostly closed by the time we go out to the city center. The next day, we meant to go on a Highland Tour, a bus tour to see some of the countryside and the highlands. We tried walking to city center, but made a wrong turn (or, rather, planned a long route) and missed the bus - our early wake-up was in vain. Unyielding to despair, we walked to the National Museum. There were many fine works there, from Raphael, Titian, Da Vinci, and Boticelli.



And Harviestoun. Here's me enjoying a particularly excellent example of craftsmanship. From the museum, it was a short walk to the Walter Scott monument.


This spire's exterior was covered with character's from his stories. Fun. Even more so were the views offered from the top.



Old Town. Old. Medieval old. Edinburgh is filled with old buildings. Like this one, part of Old Town:


Point of interest: Old Town is entirely uphill, no matter which direction you travel in.


Princes Street, the main thoroughfare for the city now (the castle and Old Town would be to the left of here). Also, New Town. Not quite as old as Old Town, but still (mostly) a couple of centuries old.




More castle pictures! Woo!



Clayton Hill. Deceptively hard to walk towards, even if you follow the street leading straight towards it.


When we made it to the top, the views offered were choice. Here's Emer looking pensive as she gazes upon the city. From here, we booked it into Edinburgh castle.

The palace, where the crown jewels were kept.

The castle was (as you may have guessed in the previous pictures) quite large. The crown jewels of Scotland were stored there and I learned much about the history of Scotland. There was quite an interesting exhibit about when the castle was used as a POW camp during the War of American Independence. We stayed there, enjoying the castle until the place closed and we were kicked out. We were about to leave, but we noticed a crowd forming and decided to wait to see what the fuss was about. As it turns out, a new governor of Edinburgh Castle was being installed. Much pomp and circumstance.


There was a kilted marching band. Yes, that is a bagpipes and brass band.


The new governor, leading his escort. There was a regent of the Queen there. In part of the ceremony, he walked up to the castle walls and knocked on the gates. I kid you not, a guard appeared at the top of the walls and shouted "Who goes there?" This happened after a half hour of bagpipes playing right outside. Someone didn't get the memo about a new boss.

The next day, we woke up early again and made our way into city center. Emer insisted upon taking the bus this time though (it's only 1.8 miles to walk). We managed to catch our Highland bus tour and left for Loch Lomond. I have no pictures of this for two reasons. Firstly, midges were as thick as fog near the lake. Secondly, the batteries ran out. When we stopped for lunch and a hike at Loch Katrina, we picked up some new batteries and let the camera go wild.




As you can see, the lake was beautiful and the weather followed suit. The highlands were particularly awe inspiring. Our final destination was Stirling and Stirling Castle.


Stirling has a sweet cemetery.


Stirling, a tower whose name is unknown to me, and the Highlands.


Stirling palace. The castle has held a distinguished place in Scottish history, as the single road into the Highlands went through Stirling. Both William Wallace and Robert the Bruce fought important battles within a few miles of the castle. Despite it's significance, I felt Edinburgh has the better castle.


Stirling does have tapestries and an active tapestry workshop. This tapestry is part of a seven piece series "The Hunt of the Unicorn".



Another highlight of the third day was finally taking a picture of ourselves that looks alright. I've gone through a few dozen photos that only show half of my head, or only a single one of Emer's eyes are visible. It sounds like a simple task in theory, but you know what they say about theory and practice.

The next morning, we left for our (thankfully not so early) flight and enjoyed being back home. Yes, I had haggis. Every morning for breakfast. Delicious.

Tomorrow we'll be going into Dublin again, then I will be heading back to Dayton on Tuesday morning. This month has really flown by, but I can't complain. The month with Emer has been absolutely fantastic.

The Streets of Dublin

I've got one week left in Ireland before returning home. This month certainly has flown by (as months tend to do).
Over this past weekend, Dublin hosted the World Street Performer Contest, bringing street performers from all over to perform. I was expecting a sort of chaotic, bazaar-like scene with fire-eaters and sword-swallowers crowding every corner. Instead, it was a much more organized and relaxed affair. The contest took place in Merrion Square, a small park a little ways from St. Stephen's green. There were two 'stages' (open areas of grass) for the performers to show off their stuff. The quality of the performances ranged from highly entertaining to painful and predictable. Canada, in particular, had a mediocre showing. And I did get to see fire consumed that evening.
We rounded off Saturday evening with Butler's hot chocolate (because it's never too warm for hot chocolate) and had dinner at Bewley's, an extremely old restaurant. Apparently, the Bewleyes are almost as old and respected a family in Dublin as the Guinesses. The food was good, the restaurant was all decked out with statues and old paintings, and craic was had.
Fair weather continued throughout the weekend and the days have been filled with small pleasures. We went back to Blessington for a Sunday dinner, where I met Emer's sister and youngest brother. We brought back a trunk full of desserts. Monday afternoon was particularly sunny, so we spent the afternoon outside reading books in a field. Today, we went back into Dublin (Emer had an interview with a child counseling service) and took a bit of a walk about the place.
I really feel like I'm getting to know Dublin and how to get around. A natural enough consequence of spending so much time there, I suppose.

Tomorrow morning (waking up at 4:00), we're leaving to catch a 6:30 flight from Dublin to Edinburgh. We'll be spending three nights looking for adventure and attempting to understand the accent.

Viking Hats

Last Friday, I came to the shocking realization that I have been in Ireland for almost two weeks and hadn't yet worn a viking hat. Seeking ot remedy this situation, Emer and I booked a trip with Viking Splash Tours. They give you a tour of Dublin on an old DUKW ("duck"), an amphibious bus from WWII. You get to wear a viking hat and shout a viking roar to the "unsuspecting Celts" on the streets below. The bus goes down both the streets of Dublin and the Grand Canal (what's a viking voyage without getting your feet wet?) The tour guide was one of the best I've ever had. He really was in the spirit of the thing and told terrible, terrible jokes. I liked him for both.
Apart from the splash tour, its been a fairly quiet week. The weather continues to be much nicer than I expected, but a few rainy days forced us to doss inside all day (not that I have anything against dossing.) We made falafel again and have had a few other dinners with the flatmates. We've been watching a movie more or less every night with them as well. Last night was Resident Evil, a deliciously bad movie. It seemed like half the movie was done in CGI that's over a decade old, which made it even better. Not that I'm mocking the graphics - not after the computer graphics class I took last semester.
Sorry for taking so long between these last updates, I'll keep up the blog more faithfully in the week and a half I've got left. There'll also be more pictures. Promise.

The weather's gone bad...

It's been a pretty exciting week for me across the pond. The unnaturally good weather we had the first day continued until a few days ago. I actually was able to work on my tan here in Ireland - who'd have thought? We've spent the days outside as much as possible, walking along the canal or going to the Dublin Zoo.
The Dublin Zoo, in particular, was very nice (it was warm enough to wear shorts that day, honestly.) We got to see the penguins get fed, baby giraffes, and a pair of hippos charge a duck that dared to swim in their pond. (The duck escaped safely.) After the zoo trip, we walked into town and had a delicious dinner (suki yaki) at some Asian restaurant.
However, the weather's taken a turn for the worse. Or rather, a turn towards normality. It is once again cloudy and rainy and everything I've come to expect from Ireland. Most of yesterday was spent making falafel, which turned out much better than expected. It tasted delicious, but the texture wasn't quite what good falafel ought to be.
Today was spent meeting Emer's parents (dad and step-mother) up in Blessington. They were very nice people, feeding me and serving lots of tea. I think I had six or seven cups this afternoon. We took a walk along beautiful Lake Blessington and I enjoyed the views offered by the country roads. Blessington is right next to the Dublin Mountains, so the landscapes and scenery offered was choice. After our lakeside walk, we stopped back to her folks for dinner (and more tea). I got along famously with her family, or at least the part I've met so far.
Another day, another delicious meal. I've been eating too much here :)

Back in Ireland

Hello again, faithful readers. As evidenced by this new post, I am currently back in Ireland. While I was staying here last semester, I met Emer, the most amazing and beuatiful girl in Ireland. We saw each other for two of the three months I was in Ireland and decided to try a long-distance relationship shortly after I returned. After five months, it is decidedly less long-distance.
I arrived in Dublin airport yesterday after quite a journey. I spent the long weekend in New York City, visiting and being touristy with my dad and Vicki. Although the city was much larger than I expeccted, we managed to pack quite a bit into the two and a half days I stayed. We saw the Statue of Liberty and floated by Ellis Island, but apart from that we stayed within Manhattan. We saw Wall Street, the Emipre State building, walked to the top of the Rockefeller Center, and took a couple of bus tours around - one around downtown and one around uptown. I was only able to see Central Park from the outside, which was a bit of a shame, but it's a good reason to go back to NYC :)
After all of the walking and sightseeing, we made it through the harrowing New Jersey Turnpike and to LaGuardia airport. My flights had to be rerouted because of the stormy weather coming through the Great Lakes, but my final destination time was (thankfully) unchanged. After landing, I managed to stumble through Customs and I found Emer. My luggage apparently took a detour, though. We took a cab home and I promptly collapsed and fell asleep.
Today was unnaturally warm and sunny (at least for Ireland), so we've spent most of the day outside so far. We've walked around campus, revisiting all the old buildings I used to take classes in. After spending an hour or two basking in the sun in the Garden of Life and Death (seriously), we spent a bit of time walking around town as well then stopped for ice cream in the shopping mall right by the canal. A very good start to what is hopefully a very good month.

Finally Finished, Farewell

The week before was a nice week. I went to Dublin twice this past weekend. On Friday, Arlette and I were invited to a reception / lunch by the Lord Mayor of Dublin. She was doing this for international students. Never one to pass up free food (especially free good food), we both attended. We met a lot of other internationals. An American here or there, a few Russians, and your standard assorted Continentals (French, Spanish, Italian, and German). Several ambassadors also attended, so I chatted up the Indian ambassador. On Sunday, Arlette, Ita, and I went back to Dublin to see some more sights and such. We saw the Kilmainham jail and walked by the Guinness factory on the way to St. Stephen's Green. We were to meet Dan Shannahan there for lunch at Wagamama (awesome name, I know). We would've walked around Guinness factory were we not already late for lunch. Or on time, I suppose, if you're Irish. Lunch was delicious and we wondered around the decked-out mall nearby. Once we got back home, I made the last flat dinner - the famous American Breakfast for Dinner. Again, delicious.

I've finally finished my semester. This past week has been quite busy. I've had SQL assignments, two 3500 word essays, and two exams. It feels nice to be done with it all. Of course, that means my time in Ireland is coming to an end. I've got some mixed feelings about that. I am really looking forward to coming back to the States, seeing family, watching sports like a proper American, etc. Yet I feel like I've been on an adventure for the past three months (which seems like much longer than three months. I feel like I've been here for ages.) and I don't quite want that adventure to end. I've landed in a foreign country and knew a single person (brother of a friend). I've been all over the country (north, south, east, and west) and was able to spend nine days in Paris. I've met some amazing people here and made some great friends. I've learned a lot about Ireland, America, and myself. (I also learned a little of that college education stuff). I feel culturally educated now. Good job me.

There are many things I'll miss about Ireland. Guinness is probably in the top three. Or two. The people I've met are up there as well. I'm gonna miss the friendliness that everyone seems to have - where you could wander into a pub, sit down next to someone, and have a new best mate. I might miss the Irish accent, even though I haven't given it a second thought for the past few months. I might even miss Euros and how coins are actually worth something.

I've taken some more pictures of Maynooth town and its pubs. Oh pubs. You will be missed as well.

The road leading up to North Campus. The shopping mall is the big building in the back.

O'Neills. Jazz nights on Tuesdays and Rock and Roll on Mondays - the music was always good. As the second smallest pub, it had quite a cozy feel.

The Mantra. The upstairs is the closest thing Maynooth has to a nightclub and the only place in town to charge cover. The downstairs was more traditional and had a pub quiz every Tuesday. This place just opened up last year. It used to be the dive bar but is much snazzier now.

This is the Roost. Yes, everything in this picture, except for the chimney way on the right-hand side. There are four different bars and two separate dance floors inside. The Roost had live music Sunday through Thursday nights. My personal favorite pub.

Church. I went here on Sundays. It was conveniently located on the way to the pubs.

There are two other pubs - the Student's Union pub and the Clocktower. I never went to the Clocktower because it's just a little too far away. The SU pub is notable for the three euro pints they had every Monday. As a student, I often felt compelled to take advantage of this offer.

This will be the last post in my blog. I've enjoyed writing about my experiences and adventures and I hope you've enjoyed reading. I'd like to thank everyone who read this blog, especially those of you that commented and made me feel loved. Extra kudos to you.

I'd like to say something profound in Irish here, but my vocabulary is pretty limited. I think 'goodbye' is 'slawn' or something like that, which I suppose will do.
S'long and slán.

Internet was down yesterday

But I was bored, so I wrote a blog post. Here ya go.

I have less than two weeks left in Ireland. For some reason, two weeks seems like a huge milestone. Fifteen days is a lengthy span of time, but thirteen days is hardly any time at all. Two weeks today I'll be heading up to Chicago (which I'm really looking forward to).
I've got quite a bit of work to do in the meantime. A computer program or two, some math worksheets, and two essays with six thousand words between them. Obviously, the essays are the greater part of the work to do. Apart from that, I have one single exam to take the last week.

I'll leave the better part of my ruminations on leaving Ireland for next week. This week, I'll speak of America - land of the free and such. Here's the top five things I miss most about the good ol' US of A.
1) Chipotle. You have no idea how much I crave this. I think I could eat it three times a day for a month.
2) Peanut Butter. Ireland has peanut butter in the same way America has Guinness - a pale imitation of what it should be. A proper PB & J is next on my "To Eat" list.
3) Snow. It's not cold enough in Ireland to get snow. Chirstmastime doesn't feel the same without snow at some point.
4) Friends and family and what not.
5) Cheap alcohol. A tray of Budweiser (18 500ml cans) costs 28 Euros (roughly 42 real dollars), whereas a case back home (24 330 ml cans) is less than 17 dollars.. A pint in a pub is six real dollars if you're lucky.

Don't feel bad, friends and family. You managed to beat out cheap booze.

I've received some housing information for Dayton next semester. I'll be staying with international students in Gardens Apartments on Stewart. I really liked the little cultural exchanges that occurred between my flatmates and I this semester and I'll try to continue that.

Happy St. Nicholas Day to all. Despite the lack of snow, I am full-out in the holiday spirit and very much looking forward to Christmas. I was promised a pumpkin pie to myself since I wasn't able to have any for Thanksgiving.

Before we depart for the semester, I promised Arlette a list of things she should do when she and her husband visit America. I've compiled a list, but I want to know if you guys can think of anything they need to do, eat, visit, or try in order to truly experience America. The less region-specific, the better.
- Visit Cedar Point (a little region-specific, but they are huge roller coaster fans).
- Eat at Chipotle.
- Eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Use Reduced Fat JIF brand peanut butter.
- Eat BBQ chicken wings, funnel cake, chocolate peanut butter pie, pumpkin pie, crab cakes, and an alfredo pasta dish.
- Dunk Oreos in milk.
- Root against the New York Yankees.
- Eat Twinkies, possibly deep-fried.
- Don't go to New Jersey.
- Go to a baseball, football, or basketball game. Attend the tailgate, if it's a football game.
- Good beers: Arrogant Bastard Ale, Honker's Island, Mad Anthony's, Yuengling
- Go camping. Eat S'mores.
- Go to a drive-in movie theater.