Cahir, Co. Tipperary

This weekend's getaway was to the quaint little town of Cahir in County Tipperary with Laura, Carly, and Jess. We had seen a living social deal and decided to take the quick bus ride down for one night. We took the earliest bus and were on our way through Ireland's country side. Bus rides in Ireland are fairly tolerable (unless of course you have to go to the bathroom as the buses aren't equipped with bathrooms) because they are spent split between dozing off and admiring the gorgeous green scenery out the window. The bus dropped us off in Cahir and we took the two minute walk to our hotel. The Cahir House Hotel. It was gorgeous. Marble entry hall and little sitting rooms with roaring fireplaces (unfortunately I didn't get pictures of these because there were always people around and I felt creepy). The best part was the bed though. No bunk beds this weekend. It was fantastic. Unfortunately, our rooms weren't quite ready but they held our bags for us so we could start our adventure!

  Left: the outside, Right: our room, Below: our bathroom

After we checked in, we decided to explore town a bit. We stumbled upon a little farmers market, complete with cheese and butcher stands and even a fiddler! Then we meandered to a park that surrounded Cahir Castle. It was beautiful and so peaceful.

We continued our walk to the castle which was pretty awesome. We got to explore on our own and ventured into dark dungeons and onto the top of towers. It was pretty neat.

 

 Views of Cahir from the top of one of the towers.

 Left: view upstream to one of the churches. Right: the Castle and the SUN!

After our castle adventure we recharged by getting something for lunch at a cute little cafe and then we went back to the hotel to get our rooms. We hung out for a bit before setting out to walk around the town. We all really wanted to find authentic Irish souvenirs so we were hoping to find some cute little shops. Unfortunately, Cahir is a very very small town consisting of two main roads and only a handful of shops. We found one great store with souvenirs but that was about it. So since we had seen all of the center of Cahir we decided to branch out a bit. We ended up going on a long walk and found another castle-turned-b&b, a huge estate (guarded by vicious-looking dogs), and a church along the river. It was a very peaceful walk and the weather was BEAUTIFUL! The sun was actually out for the entire day and there were blue skies and flowers blooming. It was gorgeous. After our walk, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. The hotel had a restaurant in it and our meal was included thanks to our Living Social deal. I had salmon and it was phenomenal! We splurged and ordered dessert- brownies a la mode which was a very good choice.

We had big plans to come back down to the bar where there was supposed to be live music but we ended up cuddled up in our room watching "Take Me Out" (a great UK game/reality show) and the movie "Mummy." It was a great quiet night in. We woke up to go get breakfast which was also included in our Living Social deal (aka best deal ever). I didn't go for the traditional Irish breakfast of eggs, sausage, rashers (aka bacon), hash, blood pudding, beans, etc- I got the mini version of just eggs, sausage, and hash (blood pudding scares me) but it was still absolutely delicious. After that we decided we had seen all there was to see in Cahir and boarded the bus back to Dublin. All in all it was a great two-day break from Dublin and school. Even though there wasn't too much action in Cahir, it was a relaxing trip with good friends. Now its back to my last week of school before my two-week spring break! Can't wait!!

Slainte!

Northern Ireland

This weekend was a trip with the other BU program at DCU to Northern Ireland. Jess and I joined the group at DCU at 7:30 in the morning, meaning a very early wake-up call for us. We headed out for a two and a half hour bus ride and ended up at Stormont. Stormont is Northern Ireland's capital building- where the Lords and the Senate meets. We met a bunch of the politicians from the different parties and took a tour. It was a beautiful building. I particularly liked how everything in the building was symmetrical :)

Stormont

 Left: steps and driveway leading up to Stormont. Right: Inside foyer of Stormont.

Next stop was a lunch at Queen's College. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of the campus because it decided to downpour during our short stay. Then we headed out to do a tour of the city of Belfast and the famous murals. The murals were amazing. I didn't realize how much conflict there was still in Northern Ireland between Catholics and Protestants. A lot of the homes and public buildings still have wire cages around them. The Europa Hotel is the most bombed hotel in Western Europe and the third most bombed hotel in the world. The communities are still split by religion and are all surrounded by walls (some of which the murals are painted on) which are closed at night. The whole concept was baffling but very interesting to learn more about. 

 Just a couple of the murals.

Then we headed to our hostel which was quite the adventure. We were put in an 18-person dorm. It was actually ridiculous. Thank goodness it was only one night. We got dinner and explored Belfast a little bit more- met some interesting characters at the hostel from New Zealand and other parts of the world.

The next morning we headed out to the Giant's Causeway which was absolutely gorgeous. There's the geological explanation about volcanoes forming the hexagonal columns and then there's the myth that it was formed by a giant in his quest for a wife. I like the mythological version better. 

 Chilling on some rocks, trying not to fall into the mossy water.

 Our next, and last, stop was Derry (or Londonderry). It is the only walled city left in Ireland. It was pretty cool to walk around a bit.

Then it was back on the bus to head back to Dublin. It was a whirlwind of two days but it was very educational and a good time overall. A lot of school work to get back to this week including a presentation and then its off to Tipperary for the weekend! We lucked out and found a living social deal so we will be staying at a real hotel! It'll be such a luxury!!

Slainte!!

Stockholm, Sweden

(Warning: this is going to be a VERY long post). Well this past weekend was a whirlwind! Carly, Laura, and I set out Thursday morning for the airport. We were a little nervous about how long it would take so we set out super early. We took the aircoach from campus to the airport and got through security in a matter of minutes. So all our paranoia was for nothing and we had probably about two and half hours to kill in the airport. Finally we boarded and were off to Sweden! When we landed, I stepped off of the plane and felt the first cold gust of what would be a very very cold weekend. However, at the time I didn't think it was that cold. Boy was I wrong. We went through immigration and sprinted to catch the bus to Stockholm city center. After an hour and a half ride which reminded me a lot of home because 1) all the snow and trees and wide open space and 2) they drive on the RIGHT side of the road. We made it into the city and got a cab driver who took us to our hostel (but not without trying to drive up a pedestrian road first... whoops). We were pleasantly surprised by the hostel. Though we were sharing the room with 9 other people, everyone in our room seemed nice and we lucked out with having the beds against the wall so we were at least a little secluded or as secluded as you can be in a 12 person room.

 

The entrance to our hostel.

Our 12 person room!

Once we put our stuff down and got situated we set our to get some food as it was way past dinner time! We didn't go too far cause it was cold but we stumbled upon a little pizzeria. According to our waiter, most Europeans (excluding Italians) agree that Swedish pizza is the best in Europe. So it was obviously our lucky day! We got three different types and shared and I must say it was delicious BUT it doesn't beat the pizza in the USA. They just don't understand the concept of tomato sauce over here. Anyways, we went home and crashed after that. It wasn't a very restful nights sleep considering I woke up every time someone came in or out of the door which was quite frequent but it was enough to keep me going the next day. After layering and layering and layering, we headed out to find breakfast. I searched long and hard for Swedish pancakes which my mom says are famous but I didn't see them anywhere. We settled on a little cafe where we were forced to order muffins and tea because we couldn't read anything on the menu. But it was delicious.

 Hornsgatan (the street our hostel was on)

Me with Stockholm behind me!

Then we set out to make our way to the Royal Palace. We surprisingly were very good navigators and found it just fine- even if it did take us a little bit longer than expected, resulting in frozen toes and fingers. Unfortunately, the Palace didn't open until noon but we took the opportunity to walk around Gamla Stan, the old medieval city center.

 Streets in Gamla Stan

 Left: side of the Palace. Right: the entrance to the Treasury.

In front of the entrance to the Royal Apartments.

Unfortunately, you weren't allowed to take pictures in any section of the Palace as the items in the Treasury are the crown jewels that are still in use for special occasions and the Royal Apartments are still used by the Royal Family. The Treasury was very cool- lots of bling bling. The Apartments were magnificent. Its amazing that we only saw less than a quarter of the Palace. We also went to the Tre Kronor Museum which shows the history of the Palace that burned in a fire before the current one was built. After we had seen everything there was to see at the Palace, we made our way back through Gamla Stan, stopping for some authentic Swedish chocolate and then headed back toward the hostel.

 Eating our HONEY-filled chocolate! SO GOOD!

 

Sunset over Hornsgatan.

 Carly and I after sushi!

After we were filled with sushi we decided to see what Stockholm had to offer in terms of nightlife. However, we were not too keen on venturing too far so we ended up at an Irish pub, how ironic. We stayed for a little bit but were exhausted so we picked up some chips from a street vendor and called it a night!

The next morning we decided we'd had enough of walking in the cold and we were planning on venturing a lot further so we decided to get the Tunnelbana instead.

 Laura and Carly in the Tunnelbana!

 The semi-frozen river. It was amazing how fast the water was moving.

 City Hall

 Moi!

Me with a lion?

We walked a little while before making it to our destination: the Royal Opera House. We signed up for a guided tour and it was definitely worth it. It was beautiful and the history behind it was incredible.

 The circle in front of the Opera House.

 The ceiling and the chandelier.

Left: the stage- they were building the sets for that nights performance. Right: the Golden Lobby

The entry hall.

We also got to see the Royal parts of the Opera House-- the Royal Lobby and the Queen's room but we weren't allowed to take pictures in there. So after the tour we headed out to get some food. We went to the Ostermalm Saluhall (food hall) for a taste of traditional Swedish food.

Ostermalm Saluhall

 Making our way through all the kiosks of pastries, meat, vegetables, fruits, cheese, everything you could ever imagine.

 My authentic Swedish meatballs.

Laura, Carly, and me in a square in Ostermalm.

Afterward we walked around that area for a bit, going into lots of little shops for warmth along the way. We walked through Gamla Stan once more and then headed back to the hostel to rest before getting Thai food for dinner! Made me miss Boston and Noodle Street but it was delicious. Then we called it an early night. We woke up the next morning and had to check-out of the hostel. So we got some breakfast and made our way toward the bus station with our bags. We still had a couple of hours to kill but didn't want to walk too far with our bags in the cold so we settled into a little coffee house and read our books while drinking tea and coffee. Then we boarded the bus which took us to the airport where I was finally able to de-layer! All-in-all it was a great trip! Stockholm is a beautiful city and I'm glad I got to see it! I'd definitely go back, though I'd probably choose the summer for my next visit! 

Now it's back to the "real world" of school work before next weekend's trip to Northern Ireland! 

Slainte!

Kilkenny

Today the Cultural Society had a free trip to Kilkenny. We left a very cloudy and rainy Dublin to head south to a very cloudy and rainy Kilkenny. Surprise surprise. Good thing I have curly hair (looks like I'm not going to get very much use our of that straightener you convinced me I needed to bring, Mom)! Anyways, we started off at the Rothe house- a series of three houses and gardens owned by the Rothe family hundreds of years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Rothe plus 12 children!! It started as one house but as the babies kept on coming they built additional houses. There's a lot of history behind the family and the houses but I won't bore you. As the tour guide explained certain events throughout history it was neat that I could connect them to what I'm learning in my Irish history course.

 Left: Front of the Rothe House. Right: The top floor of the first house (this picture is mainly for you Dad but I thought it was cool).

 The gardens at the rear of the property.

After we finished our tour of the Rothe House, we headed to Langton's Hotel from a lunch of tea, tea sandwiches, and a cup of soup. It was delicious though not very filling. We were given a couple of hours to walk around ourselves so we stopped at a cute little restaurant and I fulfilled my remaining hunger and my bagel craving. Then we toted around a couple of the little shops in the village before heading over to get a closer look at the castle.

 Kilkenny Castle from the river.

 Me in front of Kilkenny Castle.

Unfortunately we didn't have enough time to go into the castle. Apparently it is in very good condition- furnished and everything. In much better shape than Blarney Castle that we saw last weekend. I think I'll definitely add Kilkenny to the to-do list when Mom and Dad come visit. Overall it was a great day despite being cold and rainy. Maybe I am getting used to this weather. Though there is not a chance you'll see me walking outside in 40 degree weather in just a jumper (aka a sweater) anytime soon like these Irish kids. Crazy. Anyways, I'm off to get ready to go meet some friends. One of my friend's friends is here so we are going to show him a traditional Irish pub. Don't worry- I'll stay far away from the Guinness.

Slainte!