Sept. 4th, 5th, and 6th

Hello again!

When I left you last, I was getting ready for my fieldtrip to the Dingle Peninsula (also known as the Beara Peninsula). I set out on Friday morning for our meeting point, which was about a mile and a half away from my apartment. I’m sure that I looked ridiculous, as I was carrying my backpack, stuffed to the seams with a towel strapped on, as well as my Macalester tour guide bag. We got on the bus and began out journey. Along the way, Daithí (our main leader) would tell us stories about the towns we were passing. Some of them involved the people and styles we are learning about in our classes, and others were just anecdotes about funny places he knows about. Many of them were given a Daithí-esque spin, making all of us laugh anyway.

Our first stop was in Cordal/Glountane at the home and school of Padraig O’ Keefe, a very influential fiddle master at the end of the 19th/beginning of the 20th century, who defined the Sliabh Luachra (pronounced Shleeve Loo-crah) style. There was a lovely little memorial to Padraig, which had two of his polkas inscribed on it – in the way Padraig wrote the music for his students. Both Daithí and Stella, our other leader, played a tune in memoriam for the great fiddler.

His House

Cool fiddle notation

Daithí

Stella

Our next stop was at Eamon Kelly’s – the great actor and storyteller – memorial. Although he was not a musician per se, he was essential in maintaining and bringing life to the Sliabh Luachra identity. He returned to the little town, almost every year. Knocknagree was our next stop – to see the building that Dan O’ Connell’s pub used to be, and where the great poet Eoghan Rua Ó Suillebháin died. The pub was the heart of the musical and dancing tradition in the area, bringing in musicians from all over the world to partake in a session. Johnny O’ Leary (accordian) and Denis Murphy (fiddle) were regulars at the pub, and became a famous pair.

Dan O Connell's old building

Eoghan Rua Ó Suilleabháin was born in 1748, and became on of the last great Gaelic poets. Daithí told us all sorts of stories about this ‘character’, as Daithí called him – he was kind of a trickster and a rake, but is poetry remains some of the greatest in the Gaelic language.

Eoghan Rua Ó Suillebháin's Memorial

We stopped in Rockchapel at Brú na Carraige, a center for the Comhaltas Celotóiri Éireann. The CCE is an international organiation whch promotes Irish traditional music, song, and dance. Jack Roche, one of the local CCE masters, gave us a little lecture, and then we head some authentic Sliabh Luachra music. Daithí then made us employ our new found dancing skills – the room was rather small, but we had a grand time. After dancing, we were given two special gifts – Daithí danced for us, and then he, Stella, and one of the students in my group played with the CCE men.

We finally arrived in Dingle. We checked into our hotel, and then quickly headed over to the Goat Street Café to eat dinner. I had a Leek and Courgette Soup and a Morrocan Tagine with couscous. I swear, I’ve made this dish before – chick peas, black beans, tomatoes, carrots, celery, raisin, and a ton of spices. It was delicious.

Immediately after dinner, we went to a folk music concert, which was lovely. There was a man who played the tin whistle and the Uillean pipes, a singer/songwriter guitar player, and two seán nos singers (old style), who also happened to play the accordian and the bodhrán (traditional drum).

The main dude.

After the concert, we went to a pub to kill a little bit of time, and then we headed to a different pub to hear some live Trad music. Daithí and Stella were both playing, and it was lots of fun. I went home and promptly fell asleep!

On Saturday (birthday!), I was the first to wake up in our room, and I took the first shower. I had about two hours to kill before breakfast was served, and so I decided to go out and catch the sunrise over the harbor. Unfortunately, there were a bunch of clouds, so I wasn’t able to see any color.

No color, but still lovely!

I went back to the hotel, and my friend Samm and I went back out, because she wanted to get some pictures. I was paying more attention to the cute little town around me that I sort of… fell down off the sidewalk. I skinned my palm pretty badly. Stupid stupid stupid. We went to a grocery store in order to get some first aid stuff. Sigh. We went back to the hotel, had breakfast, and then the group set out for the Blasket Island Center.

The Blasket Islands are a set of Islands that were inhabited by an all-Irish speaking community until the 1950’s. A center has been built to commemorate and memorialize the people, the culture, the literature, and the hardships that were endured. After we watched a short film at the center, we were given a lecture by one of the only scholars to study the music of the Blasket Islands. It was very interesting – she played examples of how although many tunes were shared with the mainland, many were tweeked in a specific way, and the islanders wrote quite a few of their own as well. We had lunch, and then we were allowed to explore a little bit – I climbed down some cliffs, and was able to get some wonderful pictures. I also found some neat rocks – of course. I picked up two lovely, smooth, green sandstones, and a quartz crystal.

At the bottom of the cliffs - please exuse the raindrop.

The big island in the distance is the major Blasket Island

We returned to Dingle, washed up, and then went to a dance studio to learn some more steps – so much fun. We danced for about two hours, and then we were set free on the town. I walked around with some friends, poking our heads into shops, exploring, and having a grand ol’ time. We briefly returned to the hotel to freshen up before dinner.

Dinner was back at the Goat Street Café. This time, I had Carrot and Ginger soup, a Roasted Vegetable Roulade, and a Fruit Salad with a lovely spiced syrup. My friends and I went out to a pub for a little while, once again, killing a little time. Daithí and Stella went head to head with some people in a few game of pool or two. At 9:00, a DJ set up an all ABBA night. I ran as quickly as I could out of there. I don’t like ABBA. We went to another pub, and caught the last of one of the World Cup Qualifying games – Ireland won! That was wonderful – everyone was cheering and hugging. Good times right there. Since there were about 15 of us, we claimed a room in the back of the pub while we waited for the trad session to start. At 10, we went up front for some more music. The music from the night before was better (even Stella said so), but it was still fun. It was a lovely end of my birthday.

On Sunday, we went to Tralee to visit the Kerry School of music. Aiden O Carroll talked to us for over an hour on modern composition in Ireland. He was very nice, and had a great composition style – he played about 4 different pieces. He told us that he was ‘ unapolagetically tonal’. I don’t mind that at all. After leaving Tralee, we drove for while, and then stopped for lunch. We finally got back to Cork around 3:30. That gave us around 4 hours to ourselves before heading to a concert – Moving Hearts.

At 7:30, I meandered over to the Cork Opera House, where Moving Hearts were to be playing. I was a little skeptical, given the name ( I think it’s a little cheesy), but I was absolutely blown away by the end of the first song. Moving Hearts blends Irish Traditional Music, jazz, latin, and rock for a very unique and absolutely HOT sound. I had a blast. (Sorry no pictures – we weren’t allowed!) I went home and promptly fell asleep! I was exhausted.

I know this was a monster – I hope you enjoyed it if you got all the way down here!

August 31st, Sept 1st and 2nd

Hello all!

I’ve come to the conclusion that posting once every three days or so is going to be the best schedule, at least for me. I hope you don’t mind!

On Monday, I went back to class – this time, for a lecture on Irish Traditional Musicanditsevolution since 1960. In reality, we began in the 1920s, but who’s counting? It was fun, and our ‘tutor’ (as they call them here) is a musician/producer/set director etc. He brought a very different energy to the classroom, and I enjoyed it.

On Monday evening, I took a nap, as I was still rather tired from the weekend. Originally, my class was supposed to go to a concert, but the date has been moved to Sept 6 – Sunday – after our trip. So instead, I just sort of hung out – I was tired, and I figured it was a good idea.

On Tuesday morning, I woke up and checked the weather for the day: Sunny, with rain in the evening. Fine with me! I decided to take a walk before class, so I grabbed my things, and headed out….

… only to find it was pouring. Oh well. I still took my walk. I made my way to Sunday’s Well Road, which is the street the Music Department is on, and I instead turned the other direction. I made my way out, with no problem, but on the way home? Apparently, a black berry fell off a bush, straight down my front. My rain jacket was a light yellow, so I had a lovely red streak for the rest of day. Even more embarassing: I had a streak of berry on my jaw line all day, and I didn’t notice until Tuesday evening. WHAT?! I asked my friend Bridget if she had noticed, and she had, but told me that she thought it was just a cut. (On my jaw? Huh?)

I had been looking forward to Tuesday evening for quite a while, and I was quite excited when it arrived. Around 7:20, I walked over to St. Finbarre’s Cathedral, and took my seat for a lovely concert from the New Cologne Philharmonic Orchestra. The Program?

• The Four Seasons – Antonio Vivaldi

Break

• Divertimento in D Major KV 136 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Concerto in D minor Op. 9 No. 2 for Oboe and Orchestra (2nd Movement – Adagio) -  Tomaso Albinoni
• “The Tears of Jaqueline” for Cello and String Orchestra – Jacques Offenbach
• Concerto in C Maor BWV 1055 for Oboe d’amore and String Orchestra – J.S. Bach

It was INCREDIBLE. The first violin soloist in the Four Seasons was superb – he has a sweet, clear tone, even in some of the more … violent phrases (1st Movement of Summer, for an example). In my experience with the Seasons, many groups take Summer too slowly for my liking, and the NCPO did not dissapoint in anyway – they flew through it. I was in the front (ish) and I was left breathless. I don’t know how they did it!

The oboist was wonderful as well, but I could not take him seriously at all. His sound was one of the best I’ve heard live, but they way he played combined with his facial expressions made it difficult not to burst out in laughter. Luckily, the second violinist felt the same way, as I saw him smirking most of the time.

More on the second violinist – from a completely extra-musical observation: he was my favorite of the group. He seemed to be having a grand ol’ time up there. He and the violist would often catch eachother’s eye after something silly (mainly the oboist’s face) happen, and silently laugh a little. I loved watching him.

The cellist was absolutley outstanding. It is commonly said that the cello is the instrument that most closely resembles the human voice. This cellist made her cellos sing like an angel. Period. The end.

After the program ended, we were lucky enough to receive a 2 part encore: “Gabriel’s Oboe” by Ennio Morricone and a Piano Sonata from Schubert (I didn’t catch the number). Both of them were beautiful.

I wish I could have taken pictures, but they asked us not to – even without flash.

Needless to say, I rather enjoyed myself. In addition to the lovely music, I was lucky enough to sit next to a lovely girl, Maevy, and we talked for a while. When we left, we were both heading in the same direction, so we walked together. I ran into her again on Wednesday, and we exchanged phone numbers.

I ‘slept in’ on Wednesday, and then went to class.We had a two part workshop: 1 hour on the bodhrán (the traditional Irish drum), and 1 hour on the tin whistle. I had a grand ol’ time. The workshop was followed by a two hour lecture by Daithí about regional styles in Irish Traditional Music, specifically the Sliabh Luachra (pron. Shleeve Loo-hra) style and region. We will be travelling there this weekend for our long field trip, and I’m quite excited about it.

After class, my friend Bridget and I were walking home, when we were stopped by an old man. What happened next? The Strangest moment of my life. He grabbed our hands, and asked if we were both singers (we are). He then proceeded to ask us who the most ‘famous woman in all of the United States’ was. We rattled off some names of famous women, but he kept repeating the question. Then he got distracted and told us a story about a girl playing piano.

Eventually he told us that the most famous woman was St. Catherine of the Mohawks. Then… he asked us who our favorite saint was. Bridget said Bridget. I said… I don’t know my saints very well, but I would have to say Francis of Assisi. Apparently, that was his as well, and he told us a story about that though.

He kept grabbing our hands and holding them. Weird. Eventually, we broke free, and then proceeded to laugh awkwardly the entire way home. I wish I could have taken a picture of the scene, because I’m sure it was hilarious.

After getting home, I hung out with my flatmates for a while, and we watched a special on sharks. Interesting. The graphics sometimes got a little cheesy, but the science seemed to be fairly solid. As in, everything I know about sharks was mentioned, and interviews were conducted with some leading experts).

I then proceeded to read some Cosmo, play around with photoshop, and go to sleep. Hopefully I will do something interesting today – a session, perhaps? A walk? We’ll see!

August 29th-30th

According to the Bus Eirann website, the bus to Killarney set out at 9:00. I left early to get some trail mix for the road, and I’m glad I did, as it turns out the buss was leaving at 8:30!

I hopped on, expecting a 4 hour ride, but was surprised a second time, when we arrived in Killarney at 10:00! I checked into my hostel, and quickly went over to the meeting spot for a guided walk of the Killarney National Park. I had read about Richard and his tours online, but since they began at 11 and I thought I was going to arrive in Killarney around 1, I didn’t think that I was going to be able to go on one!

Neptune's Hostel

The meeting point was directly across from St. Mary’s Cathedral, and I still had a little time before the walk began, so I decided to take some pictures. I managed to get some lovely ones of the exterior, and then decided to venture inside to see what I could get. I did NOT realize that it was going to be full of parishioners. I took one step inside, and then quickly made my way out! I felt too uncomfortable walking around with a camera instead of a rosary – everyone stared at me the moment I walked in, and I’m not one to be the center of attention. Oh Well. I headed back to the guided walk meeting point.

St. Mary's Cathedral

After a few minutes, a pair of girls arrived, and soon after that, at third. The four of us sat around awkwardly waiting for the guide to arrive, not speaking to each other. All of a sudden, the guide arrived – in his car, with his two gorgeous red Irish Setters, Rua and Goram (Irish for red and blue). We all introduced ourselves, and set out.

The very beginning of the 6 hour hike

Rua

Gorm

Richard was an excellent guide – he took us all around the Naitonal Park on less traveled trails to beautiful sites. He grew up in Killarney, and he knew all the lore and history of the park.

Rua and Gorm (Red mom and Blue pup!) were two of the sweetest, most wonderful dogs I have ever met. They were so friendly, and I loved them. During the few drives we took, Gorm climed into my lap and would sit there with her head on my shoulder. So sweet. Richard kept saying that I was adopted into her family.

Gorm and Me - a new movie?

At one point, he showed us a tree that had been planted for Queen Victoria in the 1870s. Since then, it has been ‘tradition’ for the youngest girl to climb it. Or at least that is what Richard said. We compared ages… I was the youngest by at least 3 years! I made my way up, but getting down was a little more difficult – I accidentally sliced my finger and my shin, but not too badly.

I only climbed a little ways.

I won’t go into to many details for the rest of the hike, but as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words! Here’s a good 5K.

Torc Waterfall

Killarney National Park

Killarney National Park

Killarney National Park

Killarney National Park

The guided tour was originally supposed to last 2 hours, but since Richard didn’t have any other customers that day, it was extended to over 6! Halfway through, Richard invited the 4 of us to his house for tea, before setting out again.

The three other girls were simply lovely – all of them were from Germany, and we exchanged many stories about our travels, our studies, and our homes. It turns out that one of the girls is living in the same apartment building in Cork that I am! I hope that we can catch up again.

One of the girls were staying in the same hostel as I was, so we had dinner together, and chatted some more, before both of us headed to bed! I was exhausted.

At around 10:30, the one other person I was sharing the dorm-style came in to the room. When he opened the door, I woke up, but just closed my eyes and waited to fall back asleep. He must have thought I was asleep or something… I don’t know what it was, but I definitely heard some grunting coming from the other side of the room. Um. Awkward to the max. I just kept my eyes closed and tried to fall back asleep.

It happened again a couple hours later. Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

At 6:30, I woke up, and got out of the room as quickly and quietly as I could. I ate some breakfast, checked out, and headed off to Ross Castle.

The castle itself has an interesting history – it was the last in Ireland to fall to Cromwell’s Army. However, it was much smaller than I expected! I wandered around, and then headed off on to Ross Island. By this point, keep in mind, it was lightly raining…

Ross Castle

Looking out from the castle

Hurrah for self-timers

Near the castle

I made it over to the copper mines – Europe’s oldest! One of them is about 4000 years old, from 1800 BC (Bronze Age). It was neat, but rather unimpressive, sadly.

Not so neat

I made it over to the copper mines – Europe’s oldest! One of them is about 4000 years old, from 1800 BC (Bronze Age). It was neat, but rather unimpressive, sadly.

I then proceeded to Governor’s Rock, which just turned out to be a nice look-out point over the lake. I then wanted to go to O’ Donahoe’s Library/Library Point… but on my way over, it started to pour. Luckily, I was exactly at the fork in the road between Library Point and back to town. I wasn’t sure how much longer it was going to rain, so I decided to play it safe and head back to town. I made a very, very good choice. It rained the entire 4 km back.

I barely missed the bus, so I just hung out at the station with my book – I didn’t mind at all. I’m currently reading Spook by Mary Roach – if you’ve never heard of her, I highly recommend everything she’s written.

I got back to Cork, and preceded to take a hot shower – I didn’t realize how sore I was! I did all my hiking with my backpack on, and although I didn’t have much with me, it certainly made a difference! The rest of the day, I’ve just hung out with two of my flat mates – Quinn and Hope – watching bad (and some good) TV. Just what I needed, and what I continue to need.

I’m sorry about the two monster posts! I hope you didn’t mind reading!

August 26th, 27th, 28th

Hello all! Sorry for the long absence – I’ve just been very busy enjoying my time here, and I haven’t had any blogging time. However, jamming 5 days worth of things is a little much, so I’ll split the days into two chunks.

I left off on Tuesday excited about the lecture I was to receive on Wednesday. I didn’t have class until 9:30, but I wanted to explore the area around the music building some more, as well as get some practice in – the Italian songs (Vivaldi, Cesti, and … one more – I’ll remember and let you know later) are really coming along, but the four Schubert songs are slightly more difficult. I think the language is getting in the way – for the next run through, I’ll just focus on notes, not words. Silly German and its non … romantic origins.

On the way to the Music Dept

On the way, other side of the pond

The famous Shakey Bridge

Almost there!

UCC Music Department

Unfortunately, my enthusiasm and love for musicology were the only two things that kept me awake that morning – I sat there hoping, pining, praying for some little new tidbit that I either didn’t know, or wasn’t clearly explained in the page the lecturer gave us that morning. I won’t go into the gruesome details, but I quickly found myself missing a certain Italian musicologist at Macalester. A huge shout out goes to Mark Mazullo for being a wonderful, outstanding, amazing professor.

Anyways… Let’s see. Wednesday afternoon, eh? The problem with not blogging everyday is that I soon forget things if they weren’t absolutely amazing. I think I wandered around for a while in the city, just exploring some more. It obviously wasn’t very exciting, as I don’t remember it at all.

On Thursday, I didn’t have class until 2 in the afternoon, but I didn’t want to just laze around in the morning, so I set off on another adventure. Just east of Cork, the small village of Blackrock overlooks the river. I set out, walking along the river on a lovely walking path. I planned on taking some pictures for you, but my camera died after the first picture – lesson learned: check the batteries before leaving. I made it out, which was quite lovely, and then promptly turned around, as it began to rain. I definitely plan on going out again, as Blackrock is home to the Blackrock Castle Observatory.

I was a little apprehensive about Thursday’s lecture, as the one on Wednesday was painful. However, I was pleasantly surprised! It was lead by Siobhán (pronounced Shevan), one of the world’s leading experts in the Irish Harp. We learned about the history of the Irish harp, which is much more interesting than the normal harp, let me tell you, as well as performance practices, the revival, and the Irish harp in Diaspora. Amazing.

On Thursday evening, I wandered around a little more, and then fell asleep early – the Blackrock adventure wore me out! The lesson from Wednesday was continued on Friday, and I went to class fearing the morning. Luckily, it was score based – we actually listened to parts of the Messiah. Whenever I became bored or … intellectually pained, I simply began to analyze.

II: E Maj. I V I ii6/5 V I IV V

… yep. Or something similar.

My original plan was to go out that evening by bus to one of three towns, but after getting home from class, I realized that it would be better to bus out on Saturday and stay the night through Sunday instead. I caught up with some of the girls I met at orientation and had a grand ol’ time. They really are fantastic. I also met some of the girls in their apartment building/Early Start Programme. I had a wonderful time! I went home, booked my hostel room, and got a good night’s sleep in preparation for Saturday. Read the next post for my adventures on Saturday and Sunday!

August 24th and 25th

Hello all!

Yesterday was the first day of my Early Start Semester Programme. The group of us met Daithí, our main leader. He’s rather wonderful – he reminds me somewhat of Fung, my advisor back at Mac, only Irish instead of Chinese. After everyone arrived at the meating place, we left for the UCC music department, which is off campus a ways.

I promise some photos soon – I plan on taking some tomorrow morning!

We arrived at 9:30 or so. An outline of the next month was given to us, as well as the assignment expectations. I’ll have two papers, two blog entries (imagine that!), and one exam to look forward to. We will be going to several shows as a group, the first of which is next Monday – Moving Hearts. From the 4th – 6th of September, we will take a field trip to Kerry for some music, dancing, and a general good time. This means, my birthday will be celebrated at least twice – once with my Programme, and another time with all my other friends!

From about 10- 12:30, we had a lecture outlining the history of music in Ireland, or rather, Irish music. Given that we covered over 300 years within 4 hours, I feel like I got a pretty good idea of Ireland’s musical heritage. For many of the traditional types of music, Daithí would pull out the appropriate instrument and play something for us – fiddles, the wooden flute, bodhan… the only things he didn’t play himself was the harp (not exactly transportable) and the Uillean pipes (he did do a nice little dance of it though!). We heard a variety of forms – a jig (gigue! ha!), several reels, a polka or two… and a few straight up songs as well.

In the afternoon, after a brief break for lunch, we began our Céilí Dancing lessons! Oh boy. We learned several dances – a two hand (couple’s) dance, several multiple couple dances (4, 6, and 8 person), a set dance. Goodness. So crazy. Its quite difficult! Our music was provided by an accordian player and a mandola player.

At 3:15, we were released, and I went to get my UCC ID card. I’m officially a student now! I now will be able to score student discounts on flights, buses, etc. Yay!

I returned home, and hung out for a while. I cooked some mushrooms and peppers around 7 or so to eat today. Dinner maybe? I fell asleep very, very early after reading some out of Spook, by Mary Roach. I think I got in a good 5 pages before falling asleep.

I woke up today bright and early around 6:25. My blisters are healing…. but not enough to go for a walk/run/jog/thing. I hung out in my room, checked my mail and all of that good stuff, and then prepared to get in the shower, but then I saw that Ciege, a good friend of mine was online, so I chatted with him for a while. THEN I got in the shower and headed off. On the way to the Music department, I stopped by Tesco to get a folder, and then continued onwards. I was very early – 8:45 or so – and so I ran through my voice music. Oh boy. I have some work to do.

The lecture today was “Introduction to Irish Popular Music”, lead by Anna Dode. She was lovely – very nice. In this lecture, the issue covered the issue of ‘popular’ music (and every bit that it covers) from the late 18th century to the 1960′s.

It feels so good to be in the classroom again. I love the flow of ideas and making all the connections in my mind. It feels a litle strange to be here, I must admit. I know I am only one of a few music majors in te programme, which gives me a small head start, but I feel that Macalester has prepared me very well in the issues of music and identity, nationalism, and globalization. These are all concepts that are deeply rooted in my understanding of music, but I think I am rather alone here. Some of the other students know what ethnomusicolgy, but beyond that… I seem to be a loner. I think that my academics are going to be just fine this year. I will definitely give it my all (as I do with most things), and try to amp up everything with extra readings and what not.

When class was dismissed, I met up with some friends. We went over to the Boole Library, and got our passwords for computer access. Tomorrow, I hope to get my computer set up for wireless use on campus.

My friends and I then went to get lunch – the two that were hungry decided on Subway, which although is fine with me (Vegetarian friendly!), was a little disappointing, given its something we can get in the US.

I headed to the public library after eating to get a library card, but I need proof of address to get one – tomorrow! I wandered home, and here I am. I have no idea what I’m doing tonight…. we’ll see!

Tomorrow’s lecture is Introduction to Western Art Music – Woo hoo! I’m very excited, as this is one of my true loves. Very much so. It will be given by the head of the UCC music department. I most likely will have to take very few notes tomorrow, as a certain Mark Mazullo has given me a very good background from the 17th – 19th centuries. However, I’m always up to hearing about it, so it will be a lovely refresher.

Take care everyone!

August 22nd and 23rd

Foreword: if you would like to see all of my photos, check them out in my Picasa album.

On Saturday, I met up with 3 wonderful gals that I met on Friday – Kirsten, Anna, and Ellen. They go to St. Norbert’s college in De Pere, WI. I guess us mid-western gals stick together! I met Kirsten and Ellen at their apartment, Anna joined us, and then we headed out to thrift! Who knew that Cork would have so many thrift stores! I got an adorable coat for 8 euro, and a cute top for about 3. I didn’t take any pictures – sorry!

Sunday, I woke up early, as normal. I knew no one else would be awake for a while, so I set out on an adventure.

Bad: it was going to be super rainy all day.

Good: I don’t care at all.

I got a bus ticket to Blarney – a little village north west (ish) of Cork City. I hopped on at 8 am sharp, and I was not surprised at all to find that I was the only one on it. It took approximately 20 minutes to reach the village.

Bus stop

When I got got off, I saw everyone heading into the church. I wandered around the village, and didn’t see a single other soul.

Immediately north of Blarney proper - Castleowen

From the high point in town

The church I saw everyone enter

Sunny Vale - ironic, given the storm clouds

Ignore the face. See? Rain gear! Look closely - coat AND vest

Outside of the village

Boysenberries!

I wandered back to the castle around 9:30, when the doors opened. I bought my ticket, and wandered up the path to the castle.

Blarney Castle

For those of you who know about the Blarney Stone – this is the place. The Stone is the “Stone of Eloquence” – when you kiss it, you receive the ability of flattery. You can bet your bottom dollar that I gave it a nice wet one, but I didn’t manage to get a picture. Sad.

After exploring the wonderful castle, I took a great walk on the ‘Woodland Path’. I took so many photos along the way – these are just a handful.

The beginning of the path

The Ice House

The waterfalls near the Rock Close

I got back into Cork around 1, and then joined up with some friends for lunch. I then headed to Penny’s, and got two pairs of jeans, two pairs of leggings, some more boots, two belts, and a scarf for 15 euro. What?! Outrageous. Amazing. Win.

I took a nap, and have spent the rest of the day lounging around, saving the energy for tomorrow!

Love you all.

August 21st

Sorry this is so late – I’ve been rathe busy the last few days, so I’ll catch you up as I can!

Orientation was on Friday – most of it was spent in a lecture hall, listening to speakers. I’m very excited about the semester to come! I start classes tomorrow morning at 9. Ah!

We took a ‘tour’ – my own walk around campus was more tour like, but I did learn some things. Unfortunately, I’m ‘not supposed to tell people about those neat things’. Sigh.

The main Quad - really a tri, as it was never finished.

The door to the president's office

The lion was defaced by an anti-monarchy protestor

The main tower of the Quad

After orientation, there were a few events planned for us – a movie, bowling/pool pub, and a night club. I met some amazing people – we are going to be fast friends.

The movie was I Love You, Beth Cooper. I didn’t want to see it, but it exceeded every one of my expectations. It was hilarious!

One thing I learned at the pool/bowling pub – goodness gracious, I SUCK.

Pool!

Part one of team ACE - Anna

Part 2 - Cara

Part 2 - Emma (Me!)

The pub

Yeah. I bowl.

My new friend Chris

Bowling shoes are classy

I didn’t end up going to the nightclub – I’m just not a big club person. Instead, I went home to get a good night’s sleep.

I am so happy I participated in all the events – I originally was not going to, because the flatmates I went with to the morning session  mentioned how lame and stupid all of those things were. I thought they were going to be lame, but I wanted to meet other students. My flatmates were totally wrong, and every minute was wonderful. They missed out. BIG time.